Vote on Sakonnet Tolls, Infrastructure Fund, Due Next Week

Residents of Aquidneck Island are waiting with bated breath as state lawmakers try to figure out what to do with tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge and a sweeping transportation and infrastructure funding bill that would drastically change the way state roads and bridges are maintained.

A Senate spokesman on Wednesday told the Providence Journal that a Senate bill on the infrastructure bill is due next Wednesday. It was delayed before a Senate committee last week after lawmakers continue to work on text to find consensus with House leaders.

Meanwhile Rep. John Edwards of Tiverton said he expects the transportation infrastructure fund will become a budget article, which clouds the path for passage since all sides have to be on the same page for anything to get done.

The act (2014-S 2335) would establish the Rhode Island Transportation Infrastructure Fund as a restricted receipt account within the Rhode Island Intermodal Surface Transportation Fund. Additionally, ownership of the Sakonnet River and Mount Hope bridges would be transferred to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (DOT) and the ability to toll those bridges would be revoked.

“We listened carefully to the Aquidneck Island residents and business owners who have exercised their democratic rights in speaking up for what is fair regarding bridge tolls in the East Bay, and now we’ve acted,” said Sen. Louis P. DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton), primary sponsor of the bill. “I think this demonstrates the strong commitment of the General Assembly to the people it represents. The legislation provides a solid plan moving forward, and I hope my colleagues on the Finance Committee will support it.”

Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Portsmouth, Tiverton), sponsor of the House companion bill, noted: “I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in both the Senate and the House to finalize a long-term, statewide plan for the maintenance of our state’s bridges and roads. We share the same common goal: to ensure a fair system that will protect the integrity of our local economy while improving Rhode Island’s infrastructure.”

The bill further requires all funds and revenue generated by the establishment of the uninsured motorist identification database be deposited into the Transportation Infrastructure Fund.

Earlier this month, DiPalma said he expected it to pass out of committee and get before the full Senate.

The current version of the bill has been modified from an earlier version submitted at the start of the legislative session. 

In the old version, ownership of the of the Sakonnet River Bridge and the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge would have been transferred to the state Department of Transportation. The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority would kept ownership of the Claiborne Pell and Mount Hope Bridges.

The current version would give the RITBA ownership of the Pell and Jamestown bridges under the assumption that they're less expensive to maintain, and ensuring tolls on the Pell bridge would not go up.

The new version also eliminates a provision that would have diverted sales tax revenue collected from online purchases into the transportation fund if Congress passed the Marketplace Fairness Act. But since that hasn't happened, it's no longer part of the bill.

It is unclear what the new changes to the bill might be, but details are likely to come soon as the next hearing rapidly approaches.