RELATING TO HIGHWAYS -- RHODE ISLAND TURNPIKE AND BRIDGE AUTHORITY
Summary
S2541 repeals Rhode Island’s existing statutory framework that authorizes toll facilities on state roads and bridges. The bill eliminates Chapter 42-13.1 in its entirety, which is the 2016 law that created the Rhode Island Bridge Replacement, Reconstruction, and Maintenance Fund and authorized the Department of Transportation to toll certain bridges, including large commercial truck tolling, to finance bridge replacement, reconstruction, maintenance, and operation. As a result, the bill would remove the department’s authority to designate toll bridges, collect tolls, impose toll-related penalties, and use toll revenue for the bridge fund.
The bill also makes conforming changes to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority statute. It adds language allowing the authority to contract with the state or the Department of Transportation to operate and collect tolls on state-owned toll facilities, while preserving the authority’s existing powers over its own facilities and revenues. The measure retains the authority’s broad powers over financing, construction, maintenance, property acquisition, and toll collection for facilities under its control, but it does not create a new tolling program in place of the repealed bridge fund chapter.
Impact
If enacted, the bill would remove the statutory basis for the state’s bridge tolling program and the associated special fund, ending the Department of Transportation’s authority under Chapter 42-13.1 to toll large commercial trucks on Rhode Island bridges and to impose related fees, fines, and penalties. It would also repeal reporting, procurement, maintenance, and equity provisions tied to that tolling program. The conforming amendment to the Turnpike and Bridge Authority chapter would preserve and clarify the authority’s ability to work with the state on toll operations, but the bill’s main legal effect is the repeal of the bridge tolling statute and the fund that supported it.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as a rollback of tolling authority rather than an expansion of it. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, so there is no documented debate or roll-call sentiment in the supplied materials. The overall tone of the legislation is straightforward and administrative, with the legislative explanation stating plainly that the act would repeal the law authorizing toll facilities on state roads.
Contention
The central point of contention is likely the repeal of the bridge tolling program itself, especially because the existing law was designed to fund bridge replacement and maintenance through tolls on large commercial trucks. Supporters of repeal would likely object to tolling as a financing mechanism, while opponents would likely argue that removing toll authority could reduce a dedicated revenue source for bridge infrastructure and shift costs elsewhere. Another possible point of concern is the bill’s effect on the Department of Transportation’s ability to manage bridge funding and maintenance without the special toll fund, although no formal debate is included in the record provided.