Roughly $251 million in federal funding designated to rehabilitate 15 bridges along Rhode Island’s Interstate 95 between Providence and Warwick has been officially secured, the state’s congressional delegation announced Wednesday.
The funding awarded in July 2024 under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bridge Investment Program had been in doubt after President Donald Trump froze the grant not long after taking office to make sure all federal spending aligned with his new administration’s priorities.
“Transportation investment should be driven by need and merit — not partisanship,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said in a statement. “We’re talking about overdue, needed upgrades and maintenance to bridges along our interstate highway system.”
Reed credited Rhode Island’s U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s work on the chamber’s Environment and Public Works Committee in getting the funds released.
“I’ll continue pressing to free and secure federal funding for Rhode Island’s job-creating infrastructure investments,” Whitehouse said in a statement.
The delegation’s announcement comes over a month after the federal government released $221 million in grant funding allocated by the Biden administration to rebuild the westbound Washington Bridge.
This latest $251 million federal funding secured by the state will go toward replacing 11 bridges, while eliminating four in order to improve vertical clearances along I-95. The bridges range from Pettaconsett Avenue in Warwick to Eddy Street in Providence.
The entire project is estimated by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) to cost $723 million. Collectively, the bridges serve 180,000 vehicles daily, according to RIDOT.
An additional $549,770 in federal funding will be unfrozen for the city of East Providence to modernize its traffic infrastructure, the congressional delegation announced.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
