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March 11, 2008

Carcieri to announce transportation study panel

PROVIDENCE -- Governor Carcieri and the state Department of Transportation director tomorrow will announce a panel to study Rhode Island's transportation money needs for the coming five years.

The panel is expected to make recommendations to the governor in six months, Carcieri's office said in a news release today.

Carcieri and DOT Director Jerome Williams will hold the 1 p.m. State House news conference in the State Room.

The governor will talk about the panel’s mission and make-up, Rhode Island's challenges as it works to rebuild aging roads and bridges, and the money necessary for those challenges.

Federal officials recently have demanded that the state repay $3.1 million because the DOT didn’t adequately test concrete on major sections of its flagship project, the Route 195 relocation, which it calls the Iway.

The department is also dealing with bridge repairs, such as the Pawtucket River Bridge which carries a stretch of Route 95.

The DOT will also soon have a new boss: Michael P. Lewis, whom Governor Carcieri hired last month. Lewis is fresh from running a mega-transportation project - Boston’s Big Dig.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with Journal reports

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:08 PM | Permalink

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