ARLENE VIOLET - Before tolling trucks, reform DOT

Gov. Gina Raimondo unveiled an ambitious plan which would allow the expenditure of $900 additional million for reconstruction and other bridge work through the R.I. Bridge and Turnpike Authority and thereby avoid any taxpayer vote on the bond issue. Any sane person would not debate the woeful condition of this state's infrastructure. What is problematic, however, is the continuation of a work ethic at the state Department of Transportation that winks at the construction companies' noncompliance with road standards, that fails to maintain roads and bridges by cleaning them off, and which eschews further damage by failing to man a weigh station on each side of Route 195 to police overweight trucks which chew up the highways. Throwing money at the problem only makes the construction unions happy and Wall Street bond traders richer.

Here's some examples of the pathetic culture at R.I. Department of Transportation (DOT) that its "reorganization" doesn't address since some of the "overseers" should be fired and there is apparently a too-close relationship between the state and its contractors.

* The Barrington Bridge - In Siberia, Russia was able to complete a 1.2 mile bridge in 18 months from conception to completion. In Barrington about a 40-yard bridge took close to 20 years. In 2003 the Shire Corporation was awarded a $10.3 million contract. In 2009 it's cost was already north of $20 million. After the ribbon-cutting, repairs continued to be made. Walt Buteau of WPRI reported on May 20, 2015 that the bridge has a water pipeline problem wherein the single pipe which was part of the project never worked properly and is damaged. Unknown right now is how much it will cost to repair the pipeline or whether the project would require ripping up the sidewalk and halting traffic.

* Route 403-Davisville Access Road - The Providence Journal revealed that this construction had key structural parts below specifications which led to the federal government's refusal to pay its allocation. Records showed that eight times the DOT overlooked pounds per square inch (psi) requirements at a substantial level. The DOT supervisor shrugged off the deviations by "explaining" that if he made the contractors do the work according to specifications that the projects would be delayed!

* IWAY - Chunks of the concrete deck fell into the Providence River. The original life of the bridge predating the new construction was shortened by years since the $2,000 per year cost for bridge sweeping didn't happen.

Would you like to know how much you have spent already on roads/bridges in the past 10 years? The 32 cents per gallon (projected to be going up soon) over the past decade was $1.285 billion, about the same amount the governor wants to spend. A legislative committee calculated that the state spent about $1 billion on transportation improvement programs (minus pedestrian/rail studies) during Fiscal Year 2009-2012. Bond borrowing for road projects was $1.15 billion pre Fiscal Year 2011 and $131,000 to 2013 Fiscal Year. So-called GARVEE bonds totaled another $591 million. (DOT federal spending was $1.2 billion from Fiscal Year 2010-'12)

With these expenditures do the roads here look good to you? So, why would similar spending make any difference? Get the weigh stations up and running and change the culture at DOT because without these changes the roads of tomorrow will look just like they do today.

Violet is an attorney and former state attorney general.