A system for communicating optical traffic between ring networks includes a first optical ring network and a second optical ring network. Each optical ring network is operable to communicate optical traffic comprising a plurality of wavelengths. The system includes a first ring interconnect (RIC) node and a second RIC node, and each RIC node is coupled to the first and second optical ring networks. The first RIC node is operable to communicate optical traffic between the first and second optical ring networks, and the second RIC node is operable to communicate optical traffic between the first and second optical ring networks when the first RIC node is unable to communicate optical traffic between the first and second optical ring networks. The second RIC node may be operable to determine when the first RIC node is unable to communicate optical traffic between the first and second optical ring networks.