RI Trucking Association Seeks to Prevent RIDOT From Receiving FASTLANE Grant
The Rhode Island Trucking Association wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Jan. 11 in hopes of preventing the state’s Department of Transportation from receiving a $59 million FASTLANE grant from USDOT.
“It is critical that awards are given to those projects that are most likely to enhance the safe and efficient movement of freight,” wrote RITA President Chris Maxwell, who has been battling RIDOT and Gov. Gina Raimondo for a year about their plan to establish trucks-only tolls in the state. “Because it includes tolls on trucks, Rhode Island's Route 6/10 Interchange Project would, in fact, have the opposite effect, and we therefore urge you to reject the state's application for a $59 million grant under the FASTLANE program.”
Maxwell went on to emphasize the safety-related aspects of RITA’s opposition to the grant.
“RIDOT has preliminarily estimated that tolls will cause approximately 25% of tractor-semitrailers to divert onto alternative routes,” Maxwell wrote. “Because many of the alternative highway routes will also be tolled … these trucks will likely shift to secondary roads that are almost certainly less safe and less efficient than the highways that they would otherwise use. Mr. Secretary, using federal money designated for projects intended primarily to improve the safety and efficiency of freight for a project that is likely to have the opposite effect is untenable.”
RIDOT was understandably not pleased with Maxwell’s letter to Foxx.
“It is disappointing to see the [Trucking] Association attempt to prevent a critical project that will address one of the largest and most significant structurally deficient bridges in the state,” RIDOT told Transport Topics via spokesman Charles St. Martin. “This bridge carries 200,000 vehicles daily, which includes many of the [Trucking] Association’s members. Our project also will address safety concerns and alleviate one of the worst traffic bottlenecks on the busiest section of interstate in Rhode Island, third-busiest in all of New England.”
