McKee, officials push for passage of infrastructure bill

McKee joined U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse (both D-R.I.), U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) and DOT Director Peter Alviti in front of North Kingstown’s Tower Hill Road bridge, a state span that is awaiting a $17 million rehabilitation, to make the pitch for passage of the bill in the House of Representatives.

Design work on the project isn’t expected to start until 2025.

“We can start this work sooner if the state receives an influx of federal infrastructure funding,” McKee said.

The Tower Hill Road bridge is heavily traveled, carrying vehicles to and from the beaches in the summer and serving as part of the route to access the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge.

Members of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council, including president Michael Sabitoni, attended the event, which took place between the on- and off-ramps that connect Route 1 to the part of Route 138 leading to the bridge.

This year, the state has some 50 construction projects amounting to $1.4 billion in infrastructure investment, the governor said.

“These projects create good-paying jobs and are crucial to our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” McKee said.

Reed said the congressional delegation over the last few years has been able to secure more than $800 million in spending above the “formula spending” specified by law.

“For example, $165 million in bridge replacement and rehabilitation,” he said. “And by the way, no state has received more funding than the state of Rhode Island, because we need it.”

The state also received hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for work on Route 146 and 37, the Pell Bridge and Pawtucket and Central Falls train station, Reed, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said.

All told Rhode Island stands to receive more than $2 billion for infrastructure, Reed said. The senior senator also advocated for passage of a $3.5 trillion federal spending plan for “soft infrastructure” such as worker training, child care and affordable housing.

Whitehouse said he’s hopeful the Senate will pass the infrastructure plan and that the larger spending package will be approved through a process called reconciliation.

“Rhode Island’s going to see quite a lot of money,” he said. “We’re at about $240 million in 2021 for general highway funding for Rhode Island.”

Next year it’s expected to increase by $50 million, and up to $313 million over the following five years.  

“On top of that there’s $242 million coming to the state just for bridges,” Whitehouse said.

The state has 148 structurally deficient bridges, down from a high of 192, Whitehouse noted.

“We’re going to be able to drive that number down even further,” he said.

Langevin said that he and Rep. David Cicilline are anxious for the spending to pass in the House, and both fully support it.

“It’s no secret our infrastructure is old and long overdue for repair,” he said. “We cannot afford to let this opportunity slip through our fingers.”