Monday, March 31, 2014

RI TURNPIKE & BRIDGE AUTHORITY'S AGENDA IS NOT IN RHODE ISLAND'S BEST INTEREST

The words and actions of RI Turnpike & Bridge Authority should leave no one in doubt that the agenda of this quasi-public agency is considerably different from that of most Rhode Islanders.

Legislation that would create reliable Statewide transportation funding has been presented to the General Assembly. This would not only provide a long-overdue funding system for maintaining infrastructure, but would do so with mostly existing State-funds, without imposing new taxes or economy-harming tolls. While most can see the wisdom and necessity of this system (every area newspaper has endorsed the legislation), RITBA's perspective is very different.

RITBA has threatened to "return" the Sakonnet Bridge to the RIDOT if they are denied Sakonnet toll revenue (see link). This is curious, since if the legislation is approved, RITBA will become a part of RIDOT, with responsibility for only Newport's Pell Bridge. They've also threatened the jack up Pell Bridge tolls. This is also interesting, since they've claimed Sakonnet tolls are needed for maintenance of all four bridges currently under their control. Yet, if maintenance on the other three (Sakonnet, Mt. Hope, Jamestown) transfers to the new funding system, RITBA still says it will need MORE revenue from the Pell. This shows clearly that RITBA's financial shortfalls come from it's own financial decisions and not the "burden" of the other three bridges.

The irony is that although RITBA has been claiming that Sakonnet tolls are needed to fund maintenance on that bridge, the funds from the 10-cent tolls have NOT been used to maintain the new bridge, which RIDOT has been maintaining. Clearly, RITBA has already-existing financial problems, and is looking to tolls-revenue as an open-ended means to a taxpayer-bailout of their troubled operations, not the best means of maintaining infrastructure without harming the economy.

Although Sakonnet toll opposition has been persistent and widespread, RITBA has been operating in a alternative universe. A year ago, despite bills in the General Assembly to abolish tolls, and a pending lawsuit to overturn them, RITBA spent millions of dollars constructing the toll-equipment. It appeared at best to be an effort to force their will on our elected officials, at worst an irresponsibly premature decision that will further harm their troubled finances when tolls are eliminated. Like the expenses incurred with the construction of their new facility in Jamestown, it's the kind of decision that breeds resentment in Rhode Islanders being told we must bail RITBA out from their own bad decisions.

At a recent hearing on the transportation-funding bill, the director of RIDOT opposed the bill because although his department would receive all the funds it would need to maintain infrastructure, the funds would not come mostly from existing funds and not "new revenue".  It's worth noting that the RIDOT director is a member the RITBA Board of Directors, and he acknowledged at a later hearing that this legislation would take RI from "worst to first" in infrastructure. Clearly, RITBA's primary concern is not having sufficient funds to maintain infrastructure, but acquiring the ability to toll their way out of a financial hole.

By supporting the current legislation, State leaders can finally create a Statewide system of transportation-maintenance, without the economic destructiveness of Sakonnet tolls. It's time for everyone in the State, including RITBA and RIDOT, to put the well-being of all Rhode Islanders above personal agendas.

http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20140319/NEWS/140315705/1994/NEWS

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

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