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Sakonnet River Bridge

Thursday, May 9, 2013

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 …

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Without Sakonnet Tolls, Bridges Face $17 Million Funding Shortfall

Tiverton's legislators told the Town Council on Monday that any plans to subvert tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge would need to fill a $17 million funding gap.

Tiverton's legislative delegation told the Town Council on Monday that any efforts to undermine the the placement of tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge would need to address a $17 million annual funding shortfall. According to Sen. Louis P. DiPalma, to maintain Newport County's four bridges - the Newport Pell Bridge, Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge, Mt. Hope Bridge, and the Sakonnet - will cost the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA) $38 million annually over the next 10 years. Effectively, the revenues from a Sakonnet River Bridge toll would do more to pay for maintenance projects on the RITBA's other older bridges, as the Sakonnet River Bridge is a state-of-the-art new construction, said Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. Dist. 70…

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