East Providence feeling the effects as Washington Bridge shutdown hits 50-day mark

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Tuesday marks 50 agonizing days since the Washington Bridge shutdown, as the city of East Providence continues to get hid hard by traffic.

East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva says since Dec. 11, 2023, they’ve been reassessing the situation and trying to make changes when necessary to handle congestion in the city.

One example of those changes is having certain roads be accessible by residents only.

“Thank god. This is a temporary fix, but we need a new bridge. Let’s all be real folks,” said Tom Deflaco, an East Providence resident.

“We’ve been trying to reassess and make changes where necessary to try to alleviate that congestion,” DaSilva said. “Working closely with the DOT to try to get some relief to our residents.”

With so much left up in the air about what is next for the bridge, some are calling for a State of Emergency.

City Council President Bob Rodericks sent a letter to Governor Dan McKee last week inquiring about such a decision, but DaSilva is not sure a State of Emergency would be productive.

“Declaring a State of Emergency – if there’s no additional resources or no benefit to us as a community, or to the state…then a declaration is just a declaration,” explained DaSilva.

With the federal investigation into the Washington Bridge currently underway, there may be no federal funding just yet, but DaSilva welcomes the investigation.

“I think having a set of eyes that are removed from the situation is not a bad thing,” DaSilva explained. “I think that the DOT and the governor welcome that review. Everybody wants to know how we ended up where we are.”

He added if the investigation finds that someone was in the wrong, they should be held accountable.

“If there’s anything that’s found where somebody along the line, whether it’s an engineering firm or somebody, dropped the ball, then accountability needs to be front in center,” DaSilva said.

DaSilva went on to say they have been told from the beginning of the closure that the city will be reimbursed for extra expenses like signage and DPW staffing.

“We had extra rescue personnel that we manned,” DaSilva said. “We had a couple extra rescues that were in operation because we were in complete gridlock in the early days.”

“We did have some additional expenses with DPW staffing and signage and stuff like that,” DaSilva continued. “We are putting together almost like an invoice for the state, and, from the very beginning, we were told we would be made whole on that.”

Meanwhile, police and civilian traffic control details are being billed to RIDOT, so the city is not taking a financial hit on either aspect.

The same goes for the $2o bonus for police officers working traffic.

So now, the question is, how much is this costing taxpayers in the Ocean State?

ABC 6 reached out RIDOT to find out, and is waiting to hear back.