Route 146 begins in downtown
Providence at I-95 northbound exit 38 (there is no direct access from I-95 southbound; access to Route 146 is via surface streets). Locally it is known as Old Louisquisset Pike, and is a narrow four-lane
freeway with no shoulders and a simple
Jersey barrier median separating oncoming traffic. The first two interchanges are partial access only, with
Route 7 (Douglas Avenue) and
Route 246 (Charles Street) and provide access between Route 146 and I-95 via surface streets for where there is no direct access (southbound I-95 to northbound Route 146, and southbound Route 146 to northbound I-95). The first complete interchange is a diamond interchange with Branch Avenue, followed by a partial interchange with
Route 15 (no northbound entrance to Route 146). The next interchange, with Route 246 a second time, provides the access missing from the Route 15 interchange. At this point, now in
North Providence the "Old Louisquisset Pike" designation leaves to follow Route 246, and the Route 146 freeway becomes the Eddie Dowling Highway. Near the southern boundary of
Lincoln, there is a southbound-only offramp (no other access) with Route 246, while the northbound side abuts Olney Pond in the
Lincoln Woods State Park. Two
partial cloverleaf interchanges follow with Twin River Road and
Route 123/Breakneck Hill Road. The next interchange northbound is a
right-in/right-out terminus of Sherman Avenue, while southbound has access to Route 246 here. A single onramp provides Wilbur Road an entrance to northbound Route 146 next, then a modified cloverleaf interchange with
Route 116, followed shortly by a full cloverleaf interchange with
I-295 and the southern terminus of
Route 99, which is a short connector freeway to the city of
Woonsocket. Route 99 access is a northbound exit/southbound entrance only, the other directions need to use surface streets for access. North of this interchange, the road turns into an
arterial road with at-grade crossings and driveway access through the southern part of the town of
North Smithfield, Rhode Island. A stoplight marks the only major intersection, an at-grade crossing with Sayles Hill Road, which doubles back and has a right in/right out interchange with southbound Route 146. At the partial interchange with
Route 146A (northbound exit and southbound entrance) the freeway resumes, now called the North Smithfield Expressway, which has three interchanges in the town:
Route 104, Pound Hill Road, and a complex interchange with School Street and Route 146A that also provides access to
Route 5 and
Route 102. Approximately north of this interchange, the freeway continues into Massachusetts as
Massachusetts Route 146, the Worcester–Providence Pike. ==History==