RIDOT announces delays to Washington Bridge timeline

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Near-endless traffic has become a part of life for communities around the Washington Bridge, spanning from Providence to East Providence.

But there was a silver lining, knowing that, with a three-month deadline, RIDOT officials said the work would be finished.

As work has continued, that has seemed less and less likely, as was confirmed in a press conference Monday.

“It’s indefinite as of now,” said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti. “And we’ll keep you abreast as the analysis progresses.”

That analysis covers a range of things, including a forensic review of the bridge pins that caused the shutdown and other deficiencies RIDOT has found.

Nothing is off the table for the department right now, including a full reconstruction of the bridge.

“It could be a repair of the existing structure, although extensive, it could be a reconstruction of various components of the bridge structure, or it could be a complete rebuild of the entire bridge,” Alviti said.

While this work continues, Alviti says RIDOT is looking at the rest of Rhode Island’s bridges to make sure these issues are not going to pop up elsewhere.

“Our bridge engineers are looking at other bridges in our inventory to make sure that none of them contain the kind of critical elements that this particular bridge did,” Alviti said.

Over the past week, 11 East Bay Legislators reached out to RIDOT, asking Alviti to provide more regular updates on the work.

Legislators sent a letter saying that “opening the I-195 bridge and unburdening our communities from these issues are our priority and focus.”

Moving forward, legislators told Alviti they “look forward to receiving these regular reports regarding the construction and reopening of the bridge soon.”

Alviti confirmed Monday that RIDOT will work as quickly as possible, and more updates will be forthcoming.

“I don’t think any of the scenarios we’re looking at are going to be a few years from now,” Alviti said. “I think the term in which we’re looking to get the answers from our consultants is more near term than that.”

“And certainly, as we go along,” Alviti continued. “We’re going to keep everybody abreast of the information, as we’re doing today.”