Saturday, April 13, 2013
Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Tiverton) is urging residents to testify before the House Committee on Finance.
Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Tiverton) is urging residents to testify before the House Committee on Finance later this month on bills that would derail plans to institute tolls on the new Sakonnet River Bridge. The bridge spans Portsmouth and Tiverton; however, many residents in area communities, including Bristol, Middletown and Newport, have expressed concern about the plan. Two bills dealing with bridge tolls are scheduled for a hearing, 2013-H 5137, which is co-sponsored by Representative Canario, and 2013-H 5644. Both would repeal the transfer of authority for the Sakonnet River Bridge and the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge from the Department of Transportation to the RI Bridge and Turnpike Authority…
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Rep. Gallison says the Turnpike and Bridge Authority should give the public more chances to oppose bridge tolls.
Rep. Raymond Gallison (Dist. 69, Bristol and Portsmouth) says the fight against bridge tolls is "certainly not over" and more workshops should be held. The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority will hold two bridge toll workshops this Saturday at the Roger Williams University Conference Center. The first workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to noon. The second workshop will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Gallison released the following statement on Wednesday in response to the workshops being scheduled. Chairman Dalington can say that Saturday's workshops may be the only opportunity for East Bay, Aquidneck Island and Southcoast residents to comment on the toll rates but he doesn't set the policies and laws for the State of Rhode Island that…
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
A piece of legislation will be debated today that would stop the toll proposal as well as prevent rate hikes on the Newport Pell Bridge.
A piece of legislation will be heard by the Senate Finance Committee today that would not only avoid tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge, but also prevent toll hikes on the Newport Pell Bridge and prevent the reinstatement of tolls on the Mount Hope Bridge. It was introduced by Senators Louis DiPalma, Walter S. Felag Jr., Christopher S. Ottiano, David E. Bates and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed. How the Bridges are Paid for Today A quasi-public agency, called the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA), is responsible for the Newport Pell Bridge and the Mount Hope Bridge. Its five-member board is appointed by the governor. Currently, RITBA does not receive state or local tax revenue. It pays for the maintenance of the …
Monday, January 7, 2013
The following information was provided by the Town of Middletown
The Town of Middletown received a notice from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) dated Friday, Jan. 4, concerning the proposed transfer of the Sakonnet River Bridge from RIDOT to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority for the future tolling of that bridge structure. It states that RIDOT will continue to collect written comments regarding the impacts that tolling would impart on the local communities through January 18, 2013. You may submit comments to: customerservice@dot.ri.gov, or Rhode Island Department of Transportation 2 Capital Hill Providence, Rhode Island 02903 Attn: Customer Service RIDOT will consider these impacts as part of the environmental impact statement re-evaluation that it submits to the …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Hundreds of residents turned out for the first of two bridge toll hearings on Monday night.
Michael P. Lewis, director of the Department of Transportation (DOT), opened the first of two bridge toll hearings on Monday evening. The second hearing will be held tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Tiverton High School. Many audience members held "no toll" signs. Lewis also encouraged residents to fill out a comment sheet. "The bulk of the hearing is for you," Lewis said. "We will be here as long as you need it tonight." Lewis began with a history of the proposal. In the 2013 budget, the governor approved the authorization to transfer ownership of the Sakonnet River Bridge to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA). "The transfer has not happened yet," Lewis said. The Sakonnet River Bridge will be complete in spring 2013…
Monday, December 3, 2012
A major vehicle crash shut down the Sakonnet River Bridge on Monday morning. The bridge has since been re-opened.
Two police cruisers were struck during a multi-vehicle crash Monday morning on the Sakonnet River Bridge. This is the second major vehicle crash to occur on a Portsmouth bridge in the past three days. On Saturday night, a Barrington man was killed and five other people were injured after a head-on collision on the Mt. Hope Bridge. No injuries were reported in the crash on Monday. According to The Providence Journal, the Sakonnet River Bridge was shut down for more than two hours Monday morning after a dump truck carrying rocks sideswiped a vehicle and struck a police cruiser. The truck was passing a minor two-vehicle crash at the time. A second police cruiser was also struck. The entire incident involved seven vehicles, according to …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The workshops will be held on Dec. 3 at Portsmouth High School and on Dec. 4 at Tiverton High School. Both workshops will be held from 7 to 10 p.m.
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation has organized two workshops next week to allow the public to learn more and ask questions about the financial challenges the state faces in maintaining four of Rhode Island’s largest bridges, and the possibility of tolling the Sakonnet River Bridge. Where and when The first workshop is set for Monday, Dec. 3, at Portsmouth High School, according to a press release. The second workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 4, at Tiverton High School. Both meetings take place from 7-10 p.m. In addition to speaking at the workshops, the public will have the opportunity to provide written comment on the proposal. RIDOT is hosting these meetings to gain public input on the possible location of a tolling …
Monday, October 22, 2012
In political science, the lesser evil principle is that of two bad choices, one is not as bad as the other, and should therefore be chosen.
Tolls might come to the Sakonnet River Bridge. It’s the proposal Newport County loves to hate. Petitions are inside dozens of Middletown businesses, residents have organized protests and Patch readers have engaged in, ahem, spirited debates. The Middletown Town Council even passed a resolution in opposition to the proposal. Nobody likes tolls. Nobody likes getting a cold either. But for Middletown, one could argue tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge could be the lesser of two evils. Here is why. A quasi-public agency, called the Rhode Island Bridge and Transportation Authority (RIBTA), has been responsible for the Pell Bridge, previously known as the Newport Bridge, as well as the Mt. Hope Bridge, which carries drivers into Bristol…
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The southbound lanes of the Sakonnet River Bridge will open on Friday, closing the old bridge to all traffic.
Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) this afternoon announced that the new Sakonnet River Bridge is scheduled to open to Route 24 southbound traffic on Friday, Sept. 28. This opening will remove the 18-ton weight limit for all vehicles. “With thanks for the patience and perseverance of the two host communities of Tiverton and Portsmouth, and the dedicated efforts of RIDOT, we welcome the full opening of the new Sakonnet River Bridge,” said Chafee in a press release. RIDOT broke ground on the new Sakonnet River Bridge in April 2009. Through a $163.7 million contract with Cardi Corporation, RIDOT is providing an improved structure that is 2,265 feet long and approximately 96 feet wide. There are …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Gov. Lincoln Chafee and state Department of Transportation Director Michael P. Lewis toured the new Sakonnet River Bridge with members of the media on Monday morning.
State officials were reluctant on during a project tour on Monday to pin down a price, location or even to confirm if tolls would be eventually be installed on the new Sakonnet River Bridge. What is clear is that the state must increase revenues to the state Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA) by $4.3 million annually to cover existing debt service and by millions more to cover the maintenance and operations costs of the two new bridges brought under the authority's control. RITBA Director Buddy Croft did not return calls to Patch by press time on Monday and the state Department of Transportation (DOT) did not have the figures available. "There will be a public process with multiple hearings to tell how we feel," said Gov. Lincoln …
Joe Sousa
7:16 am on Saturday, April 13, 2013
Our Legislature has set a record for Killing Businesses . Over the top regulation taxes and now tolls. I don't think the bankruptcy of RI is far away. No Hope ! more ›