PROVIDENCE – Gov. Daniel J. McKee on Monday announced he has tapped a senior aide to oversee the R.I. Department of Transportation's response to the failure of the Washington Bridge – adding to speculation that the administration's support for RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. may be eroding.
In an emailed statement, McKee spokesperson Olivia DaRocha said the administration has
"dispatched" Senior Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Almond “and charged him with providing oversight and cross-agency coordination for all operations related to the Washington Bridge.”
The governor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the administration still has full confidence in Alviti's leadership.
A retired police lieutenant and former town administrator for Lincoln, Almond joined the McKee administration in 2021 and “has a background in both municipal leadership and public safety that will position him well for this role,” DaRocha said.
The I-195 westbound side of the bridge was temporarily closed to all traffic on Dec. 12 after engineers found “a critical failure” of some of the bridge’s original components dating back to the 1960s.
Initially saying the bridge may be reopened by March, state officials on Jan. 22 acknowledged that the bridge may need to be torn down and rebuilt, depending on the findings of a review currently underway by engineering contractors.
Wendy Schiller, Brown University political science professor, said Almond’s appointment “signals the increasing sense of crisis associated with this bridge failure and McKee's recognition that this will be the defining issue of his term as governor.”
“If Almond can become the point person and offer more information to R.I. residents about the severity of the bridge defects, that will help McKee,” she said. “But if Almond fails to be more transparent than the McKee administration has been up to now, it will do more harm than good.”
Last Friday, McKee disclosed that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of the Inspector General are looking into the state’s handling of the closure and are requesting documents dating back to 2015, the same year Alviti became transportation director.
In a Monday statement, RIDOT spokesperson Charles St. Martin said “We welcome the support and look forward to working with Joe Almond on all matters related to the Washington Bridge.”
R.I. Republican Party Chairman Joe Powers on Monday renewed calls for the General Assembly to create a state Office of Inspector General, an "
impartial entity" that could conduct independent investigations "
to ensure transparency and accountability."
"An independent Inspector General is crucial not only for a thorough examination of the decisions leading to the bridge closure but also as a means to regain the general public's trust," he said.
The McKee administration also announced on Monday it is urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to show “flexibility” on whether the state should qualify for funding under the Stafford Act –
which offers financial assistance to states responding to major disasters –
“and any other support that FEMA may be able to offer Rhode Island.”
(UPDATE: Adds comment from Schiller in 7th and 8th paragraphs and comment from RIDOT in 10th paragraph.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.