PROVIDENCE – What would typically be a routine budget hearing for the head of the R.I. Department of Transportation in any other year quickly turned Wednesday into a probe about the impact of replacing the Washington Bridge on infrastructure projects in the rest of the state.
Speaking before the House Finance Subcommittee on Environment and Transportation on Wednesday, RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said his department is slated to repair 147 bridges by the end of 2024, along with plans to hire 20 workers to clean up litter along the state’s highways.
Those repairs are all scheduled as part of the state’s $7 billion, 10-year RhodeWorks program. Getting those new hires can only happen if the state approves RIDOT’s proposed $816.7 million budget for fiscal year 2025, which is what brought the state’s transportation chief to the State House basement.
“This year we are in [a] good operating position,” Alviti said about RIDOT’s budget.
But the five-member subcommittee had their focus squarely on the need to replace the westbound bridge over the Seekonk River, many of whom wondered if it might divert attention from infrastructure projects in their districts.
Demolition of the Washington Bridge is expected to be complete by March 2025. State officials say they expect to open the new bridge some time in 2026. The estimated cost of the project ranges between $250 million to $300 million.
Rep. John Edwards, a Tiverton Democrat who is a member of the full Finance Committee, said his town has four road projects that have been “deferred multiple times” even before the state shut down the Washington Bridge. He said he was worried they could get pushed again.
“I don’t want to have my constituents reaching out to me saying, ‘Why is this ow going to be 2028?’” Edwards said.
Alviti replied that there should be no interruptions to those projects or any under the state’s Transportation Improvement Program.“All of them on time and on budget, that’s our current plan,” he said.
Rep. George Nardone, a Coventry Republican, wondered why RIDOT didn’t begin work on the Washington Bridge before 2021.
“Knowing that it outlived its shelf life, why wasn’t that [bridge] first priority knowing the intrinsic value of that bridge on commerce?” Nardone asked.
Alviti responded that the state’s 2016 RhodeWorks law mandated RIDOT conform to “asset management practice” — a plan which determines the lifecycle of state-owned property and when they need to be invested in.
“That’s how every other project in the state is being determined,” he said.
Subcommittee members also questioned what’s being done as the state prepares to replace the bridge. Alviti said crews are working on repairing some of the broken anchor rods to stabilize the cantilevers and allow access to the bridge by the yet-to-be determined demolition contractor.
Advertisements for the demolition bids are scheduled to be issued at the beginning of April. The company or group that will design and build the new bridge is supposed to be selected by the end of July, according to the timeline presented to the media on March 14.
Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson, a Warwick Democrat, wanted to know who is responsible for letting the bridge get in such disrepair. Alviti said that will be determined by a forensic audit he previously stated is set to be released by next week.
“Can I safely assume that the companies that were conducting the inspections previous on the Washington Bridge are no longer being employed by the state?” Vella-Wilkinson asked.
“Every company and agency involved in that is under review,” Alviti responded. “As the governor had said recently, we will be pursuing any and all action that’s appropriate for responsibilities.”
The subcommittee also heard budget presentations from the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and Turnpike & Bridge Authority. The hearing for RIPTA’s proposed $143.7 million budget drew comment from over a dozen transit riders and advocates, all of whom pleaded to the subcommittee to give the bus agency more funding as it faces a budget shortfall of $18 million in fiscal year 2025.
Christopher Shea is a staff writer for the Rhode Island Current.
