East Bay Businesses Feel Isolated By Tolls

Seasonal businesses across the East Bay speak out against tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge.

  Seasonal business owners in the East Bay are worried that a toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge could alienate their already inconstant business. In a business that is largely motivated by weather, business owners at Tiverton and Portsmouth's popular summer-time eateries agreed that a toll would be a deterrent to customers. "The sales tax dollars from small businesses over here help the whole state and I can't imagine we're going to end up making more by adding this toll," said Domenic Bitto, who owns the Tiverton seafood shack Evelyn's Drive-In with his wife. Bitto, like other business owners in the region attended hearings with the state Department of Transportation in protest to a Sakonnet River Bridge toll. "We get a lot of people who …

•  45 Comments
• Videos (1)

Little Compton Considers Joining Portsmouth In Suit Over Tolls

The Little Compton Town Council has invited Portsmouth officials to discuss the possibility of joining the town's lawsuit against the RITBA and other players in the Sakonnet River Bridge toll.

  Little Compton officials are considering joining a lawsuit against the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority and several other defendants in response to proposed tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge. Portsmouth filed the lawsuit on April 23 in U.S. District Court that accuses RITBA and Michael Lewis, director of the DOT, of violating the Federal-Aid Highway Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.  Passed in 1969, the act requires government bodies to complete an environmental impact statement before launching projects such as constructing a new bridge. The Portsmouth complaint alleges that RIBTA, Lewis and the Federal Highway Administration did not fulfill this obligation when the initial impact statement on the construction of…

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)

TELL US: Will You Avoid a Sakonnet River Bridge With Tolls?

Residents in Portsmouth and Tiverton say they plan to drive around the Sakonnet River Bridge to avoid bridge tolls.

  Bridge tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge are not expected to begin until this summer, but area residents are already changing their daily routes to avoid these extra fees.  Despite pending legislation, the town of Portsmouth's lawsuit and outcrys from many communities, the Department of Transportation plans to transfer ownership of the Sakonnet River Bridge this summer. The new owners, the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, plan to install bridge tolls on the span between Portsmouth and Tiverton.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, I asked Portsmouth and Tiverton-Little Compton Patch readers if they were already changing their daily routes to avoid bridge tolls.  Here's what a few, who plan to change their route, said:  Allen Thibault …

•  34 Comments
• Photos (4)

Toll Opponents Take Fight to State House

Aquidneck Island residents traveled to Providence Thursday to protest bridge tolls.

•  11 Comments
• Photos (6)

Feds Approve Tolls for Sakonnet River Bridge

The federal government approves a plan for tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge.

  The Federal Highway Administration has approved a plan to bring tolls to the new Sakonnet River Bridge, announced the Rhode Island Department of Transportation today.  The FHWA issued a Revised Record of Decision (RROD) approving the addition of an All-Electronic Toll Collection (AETC) for the new Sakonnet Bridge.  The RROD concurs with RIDOT’s Final Environmental Impact Statement that the imposition of tolls on the bridge does not create any new significant environmental impacts.   According to the DOT, the FHWA recommended the following measures to enhance the overall effects of the addition of tolls to the bridge: Toll collection is expected to begin this summer.  RITBA recently approved a toll schedule of $.75 for vehicles with …

•  28 Comments
• Photos (1)

Lou

3:28 pm on Thursday, April 25, 2013

Yes, that would be fair. But I-195 is a federal/interstate highway v Rt 24 over the Sakonnett Bridge which is a state road. Feds don't want to approve any new interstate tolls, but if states want to add tolls to their roads, they can't say much since the states pay for and own those roads.   more ›

Portsmouth To Sue DOT Director, Turnpike and Bridge Authority

The Portsmouth Town Council will file a lawsuit against several defendants, including the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority.

  The Portsmouth Town Council will file a lawsuit against several defendants, including the state's Department of Transportation director and the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, in response to proposed bridge tolls on the new Sakonnet River Bridge.  The council voted unanimously Monday night to file a complaint in U.S. District Court in an effort to stop tolls, reports The Sakonnet Times. The complaint to be filed is attached in its entirety at right as a pdf. The complaint accuses the RITBA and Michael Lewis, director of the DOT, of violating the Federal-Aid Highway Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.  The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority voted to establish toll rates last Wednesday despite pending …

•  50 Comments
• Photos (2)
• Documents (1)

Local Yocal

12:04 pm on Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Yeah let's look Robert E, The Mt Hope bridge is older than time itself and the Turnpike authority has done a brilliant job of maintaining a bridge that is to narrow and obsolete. Last I checked the Newport bridge is still standing strong as well. Get over the toll, be lucky you don't live in states like I had that charges $8 and more to cross. Portsmouth has little standing here, they are just …   more ›

RITBA Sets Toll Rates for Sakonnet River Bridge; Collection To Begin in July

The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority voted to establish tolling rates today for the Sakonnet River Bridge.

  Tolls are expected to be in place on the Sakonnet River Bridge by July, said the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority chairman after the the board established toll rates this morning. Drivers with a Rhode Island E-Z Pass transponder will pay 75 cents to cross the Sakonnet River. Drivers with out-of-state transponders will pay $3.75 per trip and travelers without an E-Z Pass transponder will be billed $5.25 per trip. "For the first time, we will be offering a discount for people driving back and forth more than once a day," said David Darlington, RITBA chairman in an interview after the RITBA meeting in Jamestown on Wednesday.  For local drivers, regardless of the number of trips over the Sakonnet River Bridge in a single day, the …

•  87 Comments
• Videos (1)