PAWTUCKET - State officials have announced that the state's central branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles in the city will close for good on Thursday, Aug. 19.
The new DMV headquarters, at the Forand Building, 600 New London Ave., Cranston, is scheduled to officially open on Wednesday, Aug. 25, leaving a one-week gap with no main DMV location.
Opened in 2004, DMV's 100 Main St. location in the Pawtucket Apex building is planned to hold the future mixed-use Riverfront Commons development, according to the property owner Andrew Gates.
According to a news release, other DMV branch locations will continue to maintain their current schedule. The Woonsocket and Middletown branches are open 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; the Wakefield branch is open 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; and the Warren branch is open 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Online and mail-in transactions will be accepted and processed during the move. In addition, AAA locations across the area will continue to accept and process transactions for AAA customers.
Road tests appointments will be honored during the one-week transition period, and the DMV safety and emission garage will remain open to the public from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Written exams for permits and licenses, including commercial drivers' licenses, which are typically only given at the Pawtucket DMV branch, will not be available from Aug. 19 through Aug. 24.
Rhode Islanders who need to take the written exams during that period should make arrangements to do so before Aug. 19, or wait until the new DMV headquarters opens on Aug. 25.
State officials have also announced that the Rhode Island Mall branch DMV location will permanently close on Saturday, Aug. 7. To accommodate the closing, the Wakefield DMV branch will expand operations to four days starting Wednesday, Aug. 11.
Customers with road exams scheduled in Pawtucket through this Friday, Aug. 6, should go to the existing Pawtucket test site at the Lynch Arena on Andrew Ferland Way.
Customers with appointments scheduled for the Pawtucket site after Aug. 10 must go to the new 325 Melrose St. facility in Providence.
From the ValleyBreeze.com