Latest news with #Alviti
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
$427M to rebuild Washington Bridge by November 2028, McKee announces
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rebuilding the westbound Washington Bridge is expected to cost $427 million and be completed by November 2028, Gov. Dan McKee announced Friday, delivering long-awaited news about the project. McKee said the state has hired Walsh Construction Co. of Chicago to rebuild the heavily traveled bridge that abruptly closed to traffic in December 2023 after a structural failure. Walsh Construction won the contract after a lengthy competitive bidding saga that began just months after the bridge closed. State officials initially in early 2024 estimated the bridge would cost between $250 million and $300 million, though they cautioned at the time those figures were highly preliminary. A later, more concrete estimate put the price tag at $368 million, making the new $427 million estimate a 16% increase. 'I understand that this has been a challenging time for those who rely on the Washington Bridge, especially in the early days before we were able to restore six lanes of traffic,' McKee said at a State House news conference. The rebuild contract is only one part of the overall cost of the Washington Bridge crisis. When demolition and emergency costs are added to the overall total, taxpayers are currently expected to pay $571 million for the infrastructure failure, according to a Target 12 analysis of state documents. 'The bridge is part of a major artery in Rhode Island that impacts thousands of people every day,' he added. 'We owe it to you to deliver a bridge that is safe and will ultimately make your life easier.' More than 96,000 vehicles traveling on I-195 Westbound drove over the bridge each day before the closure, according to the R.I. Department of Transportation. The state has since rerouted traffic on the eastbound Washington Bridge, a newer span, to go in both directions with additional lanes. RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said the new bridge has been designed to carry 80,000 vehicles every day for 100 years. (Alviti said he expected daily traffic to be lower than pre-closure levels because of the reopening of the Henderson Bridge, another connection between Providence and East Providence.) 'We're ready to build this bridge,' Alviti said. While the bridge was initially expected to reopen within a few months after its closure, further inspections revealed it couldn't be salvaged, and it is currently being demolished. But the effort to engineer a quick process for constructing the new bridge failed last July when no companies bid, leading the McKee administration to regroup and change its approach. The initial price tag for demolition was set at $40.5 million, but that cost quickly ballooned to nearly $100 million after the McKee administration decided to expand the project to include tearing down the bridge's substructure. Walsh Construction has built other bridges throughout New England, including the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, also known as the Q Bridge, in New Haven, Connecticut. The losing bidder will be paid $1.75 million as a consolation prize for participating in the process. Eli Sherman (esherman@ is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook. Ted Nesi (tnesi@ is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi's Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook. Alexandra Leslie (aleslie@ is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook. Download the and apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch or with the new . Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
McKee to reveal cost, timeline, winning bidder for Washington Bridge on Friday
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A year and a half after the abrupt closure of the westbound Washington Bridge, Rhode Islanders are set to learn how long it will take to build a replacement and how much it will cost. Gov. Dan McKee will hold a State House news conference Friday at 10 a.m. to announce which of the two finalists has won the contract for the new bridge, his office announced. The state closed the 56-year-old bridge with almost no notice during rush hour on Dec. 11, 2023, after a structure failure was discovered, leading to major traffic problems and widespread than 96,000 vehicles traveling on I-195 Westbound drove over the bridge each day before the closure, according to RIDOT. The state has since rerouted traffic on the eastbound Washington Bridge, a newer span, to go in both directions with additional lanes. While the bridge was initially expected to reopen within a few months, further inspections revealed it couldn't be salvaged, and is currently being demolished. The state's effort to engineer a quick process for constructing the new bridge failed last July when no companies bid, leading the administration to regroup and change its approach. The two finalists chosen in December as part of the new bidding process were Walsh Construction of Chicago and a joint venture between American Bridge Co. of Pennsylvania and MLJ Contracting Corp. of New York. The governor's office describes both as 'nationally recognized bridge building groups.' The losing bidder will be paid $1.75 million as a consolation prize for participating in the process. During his monthly interview on 12 News at 4 last month, R.I. Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti described the proposals presented by both groups to officials as 'very impressive.' The bidding process is secret so no information has been released about their plans. (Story continues below video.) The state initially estimated the new bridge would cost $368 million and be open by August 2026. Officials long ago stopped saying if they thought those goals were still achievable, though they never ruled it out, either. Rhode Island's congressional delegation has so far secured $221 million in federal grants to help offset the cost of the bridge project. In the meantime, a separate $98 million project to demolish the old westbound bridge is proceeding. Demolition of the substructure was completed on Feb. 21. The state expanded the project last year to also include demolition of the old bridge's underwater substructure, and that work is expected to supposed to be finished by mid-December. Separately, the state has filed a lawsuit against various companies that worked on the bridge over the years. McKee and Alviti have repeatedly expressed confidence in the structural integrity of the eastbound bridge, which now has considerably more weight on it due to the added westbound vehicle traffic as well as temporary concrete barriers. Alviti said last year he still expects the eastbound bridge, built in the 2000s, to hold up for its full expected lifespan of 75 years. Ted Nesi (tnesi@ is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi's Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New lanes to open this weekend on I-95 North in Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — More travel lanes are coming to I-95 in an effort to improve traffic flow on the highway. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced Wednesday that it is preparing to implement changes as part of the Providence Viaduct Project. 'They're going to be very beneficial to traffic and congestion in this area,' RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said. RELATED: New bridge opens connecting I-95 to Route 146 According to Alviti, the viaduct project originally came out of a need to fix 'almost a dozen' structurally deficient bridges in the area. With additional funding, the project also aimed to address congestion in the capital city. While Alviti noted that the two relatively new through lanes that carry traffic past downtown Providence onto I-95 North helped alleviate congestion, he also acknowledged the new traffic patterns have caused further problems. 'The remaining portions of the construction that had been taking place created new traffic patterns for traffic coming onto 95 North from Atwells Avenue, from Route 6 and 10, and from downtown Providence,' Alviti explained. 'All of these entrance ramps crossed onto the highway just before the state office exit ramps and the 146 exit ramps … that created a lot of conflict in traffic coming onto the highway at the same time traffic was moving off.' To address this issue, RIDOT will be opening additional travel lanes on I-95 North and the northbound Providence Viaduct service road at Exit 38. RIDOT said crews will begin working to open the lanes on Friday, May 30. The new lanes are set to officially open on Saturday morning. Those lanes will allow all merges to happen on the service road, getting rid of the 'chronic congestion' around the entrance and exit ramps. 'This makes it safer and makes it easier for people to navigate through,' Alviti added. ALSO READ: I-95 lanes shift in Cranston as major bridge project continues In mid-June, there will be some overnight lane closures while RIDOT works to pave the roads. RIDOT said the I-95 North Viaduct carries 220,000 vehicles every day. Download the and apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch or with the new . Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is federal funding for Washington Bridge rebuild over troubled water? Depends who you ask
Traffic flows both ways on Interstate 195 on the eastern side of the Washington Bridge at 4:35 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. The progress of the demolition of the western side is shown. (Rhode Island Department of Transportation) Twenty-three Democratic attorneys general, including Rhode Island's Peter Neronha, have spent 18 days in an escalating legal battle with President Donald Trump and his administration over an attempted federal funding freeze. Front and center in the flurry of federal court filings: the fate of the Washington Bridge, which relies on $220 million in federal grants awarded under the Biden administration to cover the still-unknown final cost to rebuild the westbound highway. The bridge funding was again featured in an updated complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island Thursday, in which the AGs sought Chief Judge John McConnell Jr.'s reinforcement to force federal agencies to release grants and aid, some of which have been inaccessible since Jan. 20. As of Wednesday, there has been no confirmation that the Washington Bridge funding is unaffected by the freeze, the AGs wrote. Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr. struck a very different tone when summoned by lawmakers to provide an update on the bridge project at a hearing Thursday. Eight things to know from a three-hour Washington Bridge oversight hearing Alviti insisted the pair of U.S. Department of Transportation grants already awarded to Rhode Island for the bridge replacement were not subject to the funding freeze. 'We lobbied strongly with the Federal Highway Administration that our particular projects did not fall into categories that that pause was intended to,' Aliviti said. 'It was not intended to impact projects other than projects having to do with certain policies like the Green New Deal policies, DEI policies.' In an email Friday, Charles St. Martin, a RIDOT spokesperson, said the Federal Highway Administration shares Alviti's view that the Washington Bridge is not among the federal programs and awards at risk of losing funding under the Trump administration's executive orders. 'In addition to the Attorney General's suit to lift the pause, the Governor and our congressional delegation continue to work at various levels of the administration to ensure the grants move forward, St. Martin said. 'We are confident that will happen.' Still not enough reassurance for Sen. Mark McKenney, a Warwick Democrat and chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight. A day after the hearing, McKenney said he appreciated Alviti's confidence but recognized the need for caution. 'I hope it's well-founded confidence,' McKenney said in an interview Friday. 'Whether it is, I don't know. If I were a betting man, I would not be planning on that being the case.' Neronha was not available for comment Friday. If I were a betting man, I would not be planning on that being the case. – Sen. Mark McKenney, a Warwick Democrat and chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight Alviti's confidence contrasts with the widespread confusion that descended across the nation after the now-infamous White House budget memo was issued on Jan. 27, and rescinded two days later. Even after McConnell issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 31, barring federal agencies from freezing funds, state agencies, research institutions and grant beneficiaries are still not able to access the money. Take, for example, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER), which has been locked out of $125 million to support energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives for nearly three weeks. The funding was awarded to OER as part of a pair of Biden-era funding packages: the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Daniel Schwei, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney representing the Trump administration in the AGs lawsuit over the funding freeze, contended the bipartisan infrastructure law and accompanying tax package was not subject to the temporary restraining order. McConnell dismantled that interpretation in a new order Monday, explicitly stating that funding from both Congressional packages must continue to flow to state agencies and other beneficiaries. The Justice Department subsequently appealed McConnell's order, but the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals declined its request for an administrative stay, which would have prevented McConnell's order from taking immediate effect. And yet, trillions of federal dollars for environmental programs, infrastructure, education, research and health and human services remain blocked, the AGs' Feb. 13 complaint alleges. Robert Beadle, a spokesperson for OER, confirmed in an email Friday morning that the agency still can't access federal funds for its programs. A separate U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that has helped Rhode Island improve competitiveness for specialty crops for the last four years was frozen on Jan. 30, with funds still not available as of Wednesday, according to the AGs' complaint. A hearing on the request for a more permanent block against a funding freeze is scheduled in federal court in Providence on Feb. 21. Whether Rhode Island even needs federal funding to see the Washington Bridge project through to completion was called into question during Thursday's oversight hearings. Minutes after stressing the importance of federal funding for replacement bridge projects across the state, Alviti told state lawmakers that there's enough money even without the federal grants to complete the bridge project. 'We have always made it a practice at DOT to have a plan A, plan B and plan C in place on any of our projects, and to make damn sure that before we start a project, we have the assurance of having the funds in place to be able to execute that,' Alviti said. By Alviti's calculations, the state already has $713 million available to cover the bridge rebuild, offering ample wiggle room beyond the $400 million price estimate as of May 2024 . That includes up to $334 million in borrowing against future federal transportation funding — $140 million of which was authorized by Rhode Island Commerce Corporation in July — plus $50 million leftover from a prior federal grant, $35 million in unspent federal pandemic aid, and up to $100 million available through the state's long-term capital projects budget, Alviti said. 'It would be extremely advantageous for us to have these two funds, and necessary for us to have these two grants, or these three grants, actually move forward and be provided to us, but in their absence, we have the funding in place … to be able to build a bridge,' Alviti said. But debt taken on by the state and repaid with future federal transportation funding may rely on the assumption that federal transportation funding will be available —- which might no longer be a guarantee. 'The notion that anything is a guarantee under Donald Trump is pure folly,' Rep. Matthew Dawson, an East Providence Democrat and attorney who formerly served as deputy chief of the AG's criminal division, said in an interview Friday. 'If the director wants to have optimism, that's his business. But I am not looking to him for guidance on that.' We are confident that will happen. – Charles St. Martin, a RIDOT spokesperson on availability of federal funding McKenney saw Alviti's optimism as an attempt to win back public trust that has steadily eroded since the bridge was abruptly shuttered nearly 14 months ago. But, 'Trust is won back by actions more than statements,' McKenney said. Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for Gov. Dan McKee's office, issued a statement Thursday touting the progress achieved in demolishing the derelict bridge and advancing a solicitation to find a contractor to build its replacement. 'We are committed to accountability, which is why we are collaborating with the Office of the Attorney General on legal action,' DaRocha said, referring to the state's ongoing lawsuit against 13 contractors hired for design, construction, and inspection services on the existing highway. DaRocha did not address the separate, federal lawsuit over the Trump administration's funding freeze, or potential implications for the Washington Bridge. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Boston Globe
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
R.I. will step up inspections on 24 ‘complex' bridges
And the DOT released a list of the 24 complex bridges on Friday, showing they range from the Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge to the Point Street Bridge over the Providence River. A list of the 24 "complex" bridges that the Rhode Island Department of Transportation will be inspecting more frequently. R.I. Department of Transportation During the hearing, legislators said many residents have lost confidence in the Department of Transportation following the Advertisement 'We have a situation where a serious deterioration — dangerous deterioration — was found,' said Senate oversight committee Chairman Mark P. McKenney, a Warwick Democrat. 'And it wasn't found in a regular inspection.' Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Officials have said they shut down the Washington Bridge westbound after 'So I think Rhode Islanders are concerned,' McKenney said, 'that we are following best practices to make sure we're inspecting every bridge in the state the way it should be — thoroughly, perhaps more often.' 'Both of those,' Alviti said in response. 'We have instituted practices that both increase our surveillance and the level of detail at which we analyze and inspect more complex bridge structures.' Representative Thomas E. Noret, a Coventry Democrat, asked Alviti which other state bridges, besides the Washington Bridge, have been designated as complex. And, Noret asked, 'Can we ensure that we're going to continue to make sure that complex bridge structures with this designation are going to be inspected and we don't run into this problem again?' Advertisement Alviti promised to provide legislators with the complex bridge list. 'We'll have, for each one of those, a different protocol dependent upon the type of elements that make up that bridge,' Alviti said. 'We have created a set of policies and procedures for them that is documented in our bridge policies memo that now is part of DOT policy and will stay part of DOT policy.' If any other complex bridges are built in the future, they will be added to that inventory and treated in the same way, Alviti said. 'It's a more finite method of inspection that is more finely tuned to the precise type of construction on each of those bridges,' he said. Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
