RI Delegation, McKee, Celebrate $277M Grant for 15 Bridges Project

CRANSTON, RI — Fifteen Rte. 95 and Rte. 10 bridges between Providence and Warwick, nine structurally deficient, will be replaced or repaired with a $251 million federal Bridge Investment Program grant helping to pay the $779 million, seven-year project.

The project begins with the Elmwood Avenue Bridge, which carries I-95 over Elmwood Avenue in Providence, and is scheduled to wrap in 2031. RIDOT awarded the work to the design-build, joint-venture team of Skanska, McCourt and Aetna Bridge.

The grant, the largest ever federal grant awarded to RIDOT, was secured by Rhode Island’s Congressional Delegation in July.

Friday, Gov. Dan McKee, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Congressman Gabe Amo, ((D-RI, 01) R.I. Speaker of the House K. Joseph Shekarchi, (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), R.I. Senator Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick) , Federal Highway Administration Rhode Island Division Administrator Derek Torrey, and Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti, Jr. gathered with other federal, state and local officials celebrated the launch of the project during a  press conference at Wellington Avenue where it passes underneath Rte. 10,  near 230 Wellington Ave., in Cranston.

“Great news for Rhode Island: today, we kicked off the biggest project that the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has undertaken: a 15-bridge infrastructure project along the I-95 corridor between Providence and Warwick, which is Rhode Island’s busiest and most critical corridor, carrying about 185,000 vehicles daily,” Shekarchi wrote on his Facebook page about the project.

“Every single bridge in Rhode Island should be safe, accessible, and reliable,” said Congressman Seth Magaziner (D-RI, 02). “Rhode Islanders depend on bridges to get to school and work, and to see their loved ones. I’m proud to work with my colleagues in the congressional delegation to deliver this funding and am confident that there is more to come.”

“A grant of this magnitude sends a clear message. It demonstrates the confidence the federal government has in the state’s ability to deliver high-quality projects,” Director Alviti said. “It will eliminate nine more deficient bridges from our inventory and assures, along with our many other projects, that we’ll hit our 10 percent bridge deficient goal in 2026 as promised in the first 10 years of RhodeWorks.”

A total of 11 bridges will be repaired and four will be eliminated during the 15 Bridges Project. RIDOT also will rebuild Rte. 10 from Elmwood Avenue to Park Avenue – transforming it into a boulevard with a shared use path to provide better connectivity for all users.