The fate of a long-delayed pedestrian bridge across the Providence River is back on track, after a flurry in recent weeks of negotiations, meetings and budget deliberations.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The fate of a long-delayed pedestrian bridge across the Providence River is back on track, after a flurry in recent weeks of negotiations, meetings and budget deliberations.

The Department of Transportation expects to award a bid in October so the bridge can be completed by November 2018, spokeswoman Lisbeth Pettengill told The Providence Journal.

The DOT and the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission are pledging to spend about $6 million more than the DOT's earlier estimate to build the bridge.

They've done so because DOT received bids in July that were millions of dollars higher than the $13.2 million allocated for the project. At that time, DOT said it would have to consider all options, including reducing the scope of the project.

Sharon Steele, president of the new nonprofit Building Bridges Providence that's advocating for the bridge, said it's time to celebrate this "extraordinarily important tipping point" after 10 years trying to get the bridge and two public parks built: "The delivery of these public spaces will be the singular, most transformative event in providing the environment that is required to both attract and retain the companies and millennial workers who demand a sense of place, a neighborhood where they can live, work and play."

On Monday, the 195 commission will vote to contribute $2 million toward the bridge, if that's necessary, spokeswoman Dyana Koelsch said.

The commission is charged with developing nearly 26 acres of vacant land freed up by the state's Route 195 realignment. The pedestrian bridge would connect two land parcels slated to become parks — connecting downtown with the College Hill and Fox Point neighborhoods.

Although the commission meets with DOT about parks and bridge designs, they're DOT projects. The commission was not expected to pay for them.

Since the commission doesn't have an extra $2 million, it's considering how to come up with the money, including an assessment on future developers, Koelsch said. The commission is taking this vote, she said, because it believes the bridge is a critical component for attracting developers and employers.

Here's where Pettengill said DOT will get the extra $5.9 million:

• $2 million from the 195 commission will go into DOT's parks budget, so DOT can move $2 million from there to its bridge budget.

• $1.9 million from one of the final pieces of the I-195 realignment project, reducing the scope of the "Gano Street improvement project."

• $1.25 million from another of the final I-195 projects, the Eddy-Dudley Street realignment.

• $750,000 in savings from other projects.

— kbramson@providencejournal.com

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