New estimates put Washington Bridge replacement project at over $400 million

Gov. Dan McKee’s office on Monday announced the tab to demolish and replace the western Washington Bridge will be over $400 million — and that’s not even including $46 million in emergency expenses related to the bridge’s closure. 

When McKee first announced the reconstruction project in March, his administration estimated the tab would be between $250 million and $300 million. The new and much higher price tag is due in part to expanding the scope of the project beyond just demolition and reconstruction, Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) Chief Operating Officer Loren Doyle said in an interview Monday afternoon.

Onward: The Washington Bridge needs to be demolished and replaced

That includes new wider on- and off-ramps that feed into the bridge and new material for the new westbound bridge.

“It could be an all-steel bridge, it could be pre-stressed concrete,” Doyle said.

The state is also offering up to $13 million in incentives for contractors to demolish and replace the bridge ahead of schedule — demolition is slated to begin this summer and projected to be complete by March 2025. A new bridge is expected to be open in August 2026.

There is no change in the state’s timeline, according to officials.

“The proposals and cost estimates take all of that into consideration as an abundance of caution so we can plan for the most expensive approach,” Doyle said. “So we may not need all the contingency funds we planned for and we may not expend all of the incentive funding.”

To pay for this project, McKee’s office announced Monday it is applying for a $221 million U.S. Department of Transportation National Infrastructure Project Assistance discretionary grant, also known as a Mega Grant, which was created under the federal 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Officials said they should know by October or November if the state wins the grant. If that plan doesn’t work out, Doyle said the state would instead qualify for $170 million in federal funds from the Infrastructure For Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program. 

“While neither are guaranteed, we have support from the congressional delegation as well as many private sector entities like AAA and Lifespan,” Doyle said. She added the state’s congressional delegation also plans to push for $20 million in congressionally directed spending toward the project.

McKee’s administration has identified another source of potential funding as it awaits a federal response for the Mega Grant: a budget amendment to authorize borrowing $334.6 in Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEE) bonds.

Rhode Island Director of the Office of Budget and Management Brian Daniels explained such a bond allows the state to borrow against future allocation of federal transportation money it receives — which is usually about $350 million a year.

“If we spent all that on the bridge, it would mean we couldn’t do anything else,” he said. “This is an opportunity to spread these costs over time.”

Daniels said Rhode Island used such bond money in 2003 to relocate Interstate 195, highway projects following the passage of Rhode Works in 2016, and in 2020 to replace the northbound section of the Providence Viaduct Bridge on I-95.

Should the state get the Mega Grant, Daniels said the state would borrow “far less” than the  full $334.6 million GARVEE bond.

McKee is also proposing the state tap into $37 million redirected from the previous project to rehabilitate the bridge, $40 million from borrowing against the state’s gas tax, and $20 million from unspent federal COVID relief money.

What about that day of reckoning?

While the timeline for grants and getting a new bridge open is mostly firm, it is still anyone’s guess when the forensic audit detailing who is to blame for the abrupt emergency bridge closure will be released.

A report was initially supposed to be released in late March, but was indefinitely postponed after the McKee administration said it needed more time to conduct its own public records request.

“We got to make sure that we’re following the process that’s going to allow us to keep as many people accountable,” McKee told Rhode Island Current after attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Operations Center at Pier 2 at Naval Station Newport Monday.

But the governor said the reckoning ball is rolling as the legal team the state hired last month has sent letters to a dozen contractors who previously worked on the Washington Bridge.

Washington Bridge reckoning is still to be determined. But here are the lawyers who will bring it.

The letters from Providence-based attorney Max Wistow advise each of the firms to notify their insurance companies that the state’s legal team is investigating potential claims relating to the Washington Bridge and that they should suspend all destruction or disposal of any documents that relate or are relevant in any way to the bridge.

“Failure to preserve this information could have serious consequences,” Wistow wrote.

The firms are also invited to inspect the bridge — under supervision ― before it is demolished. The companies that received the letter are AECOM Technical Services, Steere Engineering, PRIME AE Group, Cardi Corporation, Barletta Heavy Division, Aetna Bridge Company, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Commonwealth Engineers & Consultants, TranSystems Corporation, Collins Engineers, Michael Baker International, Jacobs Engineering Group.

The 12 engineering companies have until Saturday, May 11, to contact Wistow’s firm to schedule an inspection.

Editor Janine Weisman contributed to this report.