The freeway heads eastward, crossing over the Pawcatuck River and into Rhode Island.

Route 78 crosses over White Rock Road and Canal Street, entering the community of Stillmanville.

There, the highway comes upon a small, partial interchange with High Street, which connects drivers to Route 3.

[2] In the mid-1950s, the Rhode Island Department of Public Works (RIDPW) put forward a proposal to create a four-lane "relocation" of Route 3 in Westerly.

This relocated highway was to connect with Interstate 95, and when planned, the route was to exist farther east then it does currently.

After a number of head-on collisions, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation added medians to the highway,[6] and in 2004, the bypass was given the memorial name of Veterans Way, which was proposed in 2002.