RITA files request for details on RhodeWorks plans

November 30, 2015 6:57 pm

By: Rebecca Turco
Email: rturco@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Trucking Association (RITA) filed a public records request Monday with the Department of Transportation for details trucking officials claim they have been denied.

“We think this debate should be more transparent,” said Bill Fischer, spokesperson for RITA. The association filed the request in order to receive more specifics on the RhodeWorks plan aimed at fixing the state’s roads and bridges.

“We’ve had multiple requests for this information,” explained Fischer. “We do not want to have a combative relationship with this governor. We want to work with this governor to fix our roads and bridges.”

In the records request, among other things, RITA asks for a map with the toll locations that were used in an economic impact study released last month. And, the full report of a recent study on truck traffic volumes in the state (a summary report was released last month).

The governor’s office has said those locations can’t be finalized until the Federal Highway Administration approves them.

“We know they need federal approval,” Fischer countered. “That doesn’t mean they can’t put this information out into the public domain so that everybody has a clearer picture of what this would look like.”

RITA has been adamantly against the truck toll proposal since day one. As an alternative, officials there want to increase the diesel tax and truck registration fees. “We’ve put solutions on the table to fix our roads and bridges,” Fischer said. “We just don’t believe in tolling.”