Fed funds to fix bridges
Infrastructure money allocated for projects around the Valley
A state plan to accelerate some $2.1 billion in transportation projects as a result of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes about $70 million worth of road and bridge jobs in the Blackstone Valley that will begin this year or next instead of three or more years from now.
Gov. Dan McKee foreshadowed the initiative in his State of the State address this week, and he and Transportation Director Peter Alviti later released a detailed list of the projects and how their timelines would be changed as a result of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill.
“Thanks to the hard work of our congressional delegation that made sure Rhode Island got our fair share in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, we are able to speed up 100 road and bridge projects across Rhode Island – putting tradesmen and women to work creating safer roads, safer bridges, and more bike paths,” said McKee. “Rhode Island is ready to put these dollars to work and the good news is – we have a plan to do it quickly.”
There are roughly a half-dozen projects in the pipeline in Woonsocket, Pawtucket, Cumberland, Lincoln and North Smithfield that would be among the most significantly affected. They include:
● Two road reconstruction jobs in Cumberland, including a portion of Route 122, from Route I-295 to the Lincoln line, and all of Angell Road, from Route 122 to Diamond Hill Road. The projects carry a combined price tag of roughly $13.5 million and the start schedule for both was pushed ahead by three years, from 2025 to this year.
● Improvements to Bridge Group 48, in the Arnold Mills section of Cumberland, a $5 million job, has been moved ahead by nine years, from 2032 to 2023.
● Bridge Group 26 across the Blackstone River in Woonsocket – about $39 million worth of work, includes repairs and improvements to five bridges that was scheduled to start in 2026, including the Fairmount Street Bridge, Singleton Street Bridge, Sayles Street Bridge, and two spans on South Main Street. They’ve been merged with work planned for the River Street Bridge, including some historic preservation, so that all six will now begin this year, according to RIDOT spokesman Charles St. Martin.
● The reconstruction of a section of Route 95 in Pawtucket, from Lonsdale Avenue to Exchange Street, a job expected to cost about $4 million, will begin this year instead of 2025.
● In Lincoln, Twin River Road, from the Douglas Turnpike (Route 7) at the Smithfield line, all the way to Les Pawson Loop in Lincoln Woods State Park, will be rebuilt at an estimated cost of about $4 million. The job will begin this year, six years earlier than originally planned.
● The reconstruction of a stretch of the Douglas Turnpike that runs from the Providence line to Burrillville, passing through a large swath of North Smithfield, has been pushed ahead from 2026 and is now scheduled to begin this year. The work is estimated to cost about $8.3 million.
The full list includes millions more in road work in the Blackstone Valley, but the timeline for those projects is either unaffected or the work isn’t scheduled to begin as quickly as the aforementioned.
In general, St. Martin stressed, the type of “work” that begins in year one of a project involves design, not construction. Often, construction begins the following year, but schedules for different projects vary according to how complicated they are.
Alviti said that for the first time, RIDOT put a higher priority on accelerating projects that are “greener, cleaner and more equitable” than traditional planning.
The list includes 22 projects associated with bicycle paths, 63 with pedestrian walkway features, 87 that will improve the quality of stormwater and 86 with safety improvements for roads and walkways.
“With these new funds, we are renewing and strengthening our commitment to improve not only the condition of our infrastructure, but also the resiliency,” Alviti said. “And we will enhance our commitment to alternate modes of transportation and carbon reduction initiatives. We are going to be more mindful of our effect on the environment and do our best to reduce emissions wherever and whenever we can.”
Overall, the federal infrastructure bill allots RIDOT an additional $576 million of federal funds over a five-year period to invest in state transportation projects. RIDOT has determined that the additional funding makes it possible to accelerate its 10-year plan and begin construction of over 100 projects valued at $2.1 billion, an average of four years sooner.