Climate activists are skeptical of Rhode Island's plans for the windfall of federal transportation dollars provided by last year's bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Rep. Lauren Carson sponsored last year's Act on Climate, which sets carbon-emission reduction targets for the state, and on Tuesday asked how the Department of Transportation's highway construction plans fit with those targets.
“The transportation sector is the biggest contributor to Rhode Island’s carbon emissions, accounting for fully one-third of our carbon output," Carson, a Newport Democrat, said in a news release. "It’s unacceptable that RIDOT would not only put forward, but actually fast-track a plan that just perpetuates the status quo of more highways, with little to no effort to move our state toward the carbon-neutral future we need to slow deadly climate change."
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Highway reconstruction work wraps up for the day Wednesday along the stretch of Route 95 known as the Providence Viaduct. The fast track she refers to is a proposed change to the state's long-term transportation improvement plan that would accelerate the construction timeline of more than 100 projects with an injection of an additional $748 million over 10 years.
The projects include mass transit and pedestrian investments, but in a state dominated by automobile travel, the biggest chunk of new spending goes to road construction.
GrowSmart RI Deputy Director John Flaherty called for the state to hold off on approving changes to the transportation plan, as Connecticut and Massachusetts have, to see how it fits with climate goals.
In a blog post, the Boston-based Green Energy Consumers Alliance wrote that out of the $748 million added to the transportation plan, just $25 million is specifically earmarked by federal guidelines for carbon reduction."
"As it stands, RIDOT proposes using the carbon reduction funds for repaving existing bike paths and improving congestion-monitoring systems — worthy investments, perhaps, but not commensurate with what Rhode Island must do to comply with An Act on Climate," the group wrote in a blog post.
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The Act on Climate requirements
The Act on Climate requires Rhode Island to reduce its 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels by 45% by 2030, 80% by 2040, and to have zero net emissions by 2050.
The act is enforceable by court action, but no suit can be brought before 2026.
So what big projects are being sped up in the new DOT plan, which is more than 400 pages long and the subject of a meeting of the state's Transportation Advisory Committee on Thursday?
RIDOT projects
The plan includes $104 million to complete the "missing move" to connect Route 4 North to Route 95 South, while also building three highway ramps on Route 403 in North Kingstown sought by the Quonset Development Corporation.
And it includes $78 million to expand capacity through the section of Route 295 known as the "Cranston Canyon." The project involves adding an extra lane to the highway and building a new flyover bridge for drivers connecting Route 37 east to 295 North.
The DOT has already begun work rebuilding Route 95 through downtown Providence and Route 195 over the Washington Bridge to East Providence with additional traffic lanes.
Highway reconstruction work wraps up beneath the ramp leading from Route 10 North to Route 95 North in Providence on Wednesday. In response to Carson's criticisms, DOT provided a copy of a letter from Director Peter Alviti Jr. to Kim Ahern, policy chief of staff to Gov. Dan McKee, rebutting the Green Energy Consumer Alliance analysis.
"RIDOT is adding bicycle and pedestrian assets in most of these state-of-good-repair projects and simply repairing the roads and bridges without any expansion," Alviti wrote. "Smooth pavement and sidewalks are important for all types of road users, including cyclists and pedestrians, so encouraging expanded use of active transportation modes requires smart investment in pavement and bridges."
The letter says none of the projects in the amendment represent highway expansion.
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DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin on Wednesday could not immediately explain why adding new lanes or ramps to the Cranston Canyon or Route 4 ramps are not expansions.
The DOT has argued that increasing road capacity decreases emissions by reducing vehicle travel times.
In response to Carson's criticism, the agency provided a list of six projects estimated to cost $70.5 million over 10 years, with environmental benefits in Carson's Newport district.
They include two sidewalk improvement projects on city streets (Bellevue Avenue and Farewell Street,) rebuilding the Goat Island Bridge to protect it from flooding and rebuilding of the Pell Bridge ramps.
Improving the automobile bridge ramps will have a positive climate impact by "reducing delays and queuing" on the bridge," the DOT said in a description of the project.
Flaherty at GrowSmart pointed that the state's recently approved Transit Master Plan called for more than $100 million in annual transit investment.
The influx of federal money, in addition to recent state borrowing and collections from truck tolls, has pushed Rhode Island transportation spending to record levels.
The Department of Transportation spent more than $600 million each of the past two years, according to budget documents, compared with $395 million in 2016.
With the infrastructure bill boost, McKee has proposed a $784-million DOT budget for the year starting July 1.