Truck tolls rake in over $7 million in first year

By: Amanda Pitts

alpitts@abc6.com

@APittsABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Making truckers pay up at the tolls is proving to be a lucrative business for Rhode Island.

In just one year, the two tolls on I-95 in the southern part of the state have brought in $7.2 million, and by this time next year, that number is expected to jump even higher.

“They’ve been doing a bit better financially than we anticipated.”

Director of Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Peter Alviti, said the department estimated making $7 million from June of 2018 to June of 2019.

“It confirms that the traffic counts, both in number of trucks that are going through this corridor, are exactly what we predicted.”

While those opposed to the tolls have said the gantries will force truckers to avoid the state entirely, Alviti said they found the diversion rate to be near zero.

Pushback from the trucking industry has the state caught in a legal battle, but Alviti said RIDOT has been consulting with their legal team, who has been making sure they’re following all the rules legally when it comes to charging at the tolls. He said Tuesday that he is not worried.

“We have all the confidence in the world in our legal opinions.”

The newest and third toll, spanning Route 6 in Providence, will be up Tuesday night. From then, they’ll be popping up at a rate of one per month from now until next spring until there is over a dozen total.

RIDOT combined two tolling locations on Route 6 that were less than a mile apart, saving the state over $2 million in construction costs.

All of the money made on the tolls will be allocated to specific bridge reconstruction projects.

“We have a large number of bridges in the state that need to be reconstructed. The money from those tolls are going directly into the reconstruction.”

It’s estimated they’ll make $25 million this year, and $45 million annually once all are operating.

“That will assure the continued maintenance and operation of this investment that we’re making in rebuilding our infrastructure here in the state”

The Route 6 toll will start charging truckers on August 13.

© WLNE-TV 2019