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[Ted$8roadFan]

More on I-95 work in Providence.

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/pay-attention-ridot-shifting-traffic-onto-new-providence-viaduct/

[fwydriver405]

It appears the truck only tolls statewide are shut down as of 7 pm on September 21st, due to a federal judge stating they are unconstitutional and that "the tolling program violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause as well as federal law":

https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/judge-sides-with-trucking-industry-in-lawsuit-over-ri-truck-tolls/

https://www.wpri.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2022/09/trucking-association-decision.pdf

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A federal judge on Wednesday sided with the trucking industry in a long-running lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Rhode Island’s new network of truck tolls, delivering a major blow to the state’s policy on transportation funding.

In a 91-page decision issued at 11 a.m., U.S. District Judge William Smith said the tolling program violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause as well as federal law. He said the state is “permanently enjoined from charging or collecting tolls … or from enforcing nonpayment of such tolls through penalty”  48 hours from release of his decision.

“RhodeWorks fails to fairly apportion its tolls among bridge users based on a fair approximation of their use of the bridges, was enacted with a discriminatory purpose, and is discriminatory in effect,”  Smith wrote.

[1]

Why was this not an issue for Exits 1-6 (old numbering) of the Mass Pike before they started tolling everyone?

[spooky]

swing and a miss. RI is strong in the business of putting up AET gantries that get deactivated.

https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/2014/07/08/sakonnet-river-bridge-tolls-are/36879611007/

[Rothman]

How wasn't there a statue of limitations on litigation on this (in NY, there is a date by which legal challenges must be filed)?  Shouldn't the court challenge have come up during development/design when RI went through public outreach?

Yeesh.  What a botch by RI government...

[jp the roadgeek]

Why was this not an issue for Exits 1-6 (old numbering) of the Mass Pike before they started tolling everyone?

Because, technically the tolls for cars on that  stretch were not officially eliminated; they were just reduced to $0.  Still needed a ticket.  The tolls in RI were never there and only implemented on trucks from Jump Street.

[SectorZ]

Why was this not an issue for Exits 1-6 (old numbering) of the Mass Pike before they started tolling everyone?

Because, technically the tolls for cars on that  stretch were not officially eliminated; they were just reduced to $0.  Still needed a ticket.  The tolls in RI were never there and only implemented on trucks from Jump Street.

That just sounds like tolling trucks only with extra steps.

[jp the roadgeek]

Why was this not an issue for Exits 1-6 (old numbering) of the Mass Pike before they started tolling everyone?

Because, technically the tolls for cars on that  stretch were not officially eliminated; they were just reduced to $0.  Still needed a ticket.  The tolls in RI were never there and only implemented on trucks from Jump Street.

That just sounds like tolling trucks only with extra steps.

Except that in MA the original system was already implemented and the reduction to $0 came 45 years or so after the fact.  In RI, the system was designed specifically for trucks and never intended for cars.  It’s like the Obamacare penalty for not having insurance: it’s still there legally, but it was reduced to $0 years after implementation. 

[Rothman]

The reduction to $0 was also always intended to be temporary.

[abqtraveler]

It appears the truck only tolls statewide are shut down as of 7 pm on September 21st, due to a federal judge stating they are unconstitutional and that "the tolling program violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause as well as federal law":

https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/judge-sides-with-trucking-industry-in-lawsuit-over-ri-truck-tolls/

https://www.wpri.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2022/09/trucking-association-decision.pdf

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A federal judge on Wednesday sided with the trucking industry in a long-running lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Rhode Island’s new network of truck tolls, delivering a major blow to the state’s policy on transportation funding.

In a 91-page decision issued at 11 a.m., U.S. District Judge William Smith said the tolling program violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause as well as federal law. He said the state is “permanently enjoined from charging or collecting tolls … or from enforcing nonpayment of such tolls through penalty”  48 hours from release of his decision.

“RhodeWorks fails to fairly apportion its tolls among bridge users based on a fair approximation of their use of the bridges, was enacted with a discriminatory purpose, and is discriminatory in effect,”  Smith wrote.

I would expect Rhode Island to appeal the judge's ruling, in hope of the US Circuit Court of Appeals or perhaps the US Supreme Court overturning the lower court's ruling and allowing truck tolling to resume. This fight is not over yet.

[fwydriver405]

How wasn't there a statue of limitations on litigation on this (in NY, there is a date by which legal challenges must be filed)?  Shouldn't the court challenge have come up during development/design when RI went through public outreach?

Why was this not an issue for Exits 1-6 (old numbering) of the Mass Pike before they started tolling everyone?

Because, technically the tolls for cars on that  stretch were not officially eliminated; they were just reduced to $0.  Still needed a ticket.  The tolls in RI were never there and only implemented on trucks from Jump Street.

A bit off topic, but on the NY State Thruway, in 1997, why were passenger car (Class 2L?) tolls eliminated and made into a truck only toll? This is the only other truck toll in the Northeast I’m aware of currently besides RI’s RhodeWorks program, and briefly Exits 3-51 (Old Exits 1-6) on the Mass Pike from 1996-2013.

[abqtraveler]

The reduction to $0 was also always intended to be temporary.

That was until they needed more money to finish the Big Dig. So they "increased" the toll on cars from "$0.00" to some amount they thought was appropriate to milk drivers in western Massachusetts.

[Ted$8roadFan]

More on the I-95/Providence viaduct

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/i-95-lanes-to-shift-onto-new-bridge-in-providence/

[kernals12]

More on the I-95/Providence viaduct

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/i-95-lanes-to-shift-onto-new-bridge-in-providence/

That's awesome. I wish Massachusetts would invest in its highways like this

[SectorZ]

More on the I-95/Providence viaduct

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/i-95-lanes-to-shift-onto-new-bridge-in-providence/

That's awesome. I wish Massachusetts would invest in its highways like this

They did, it went multiple-times over budget and prevented the next bunch of similar things from being done.

[Ted$8roadFan]

More on the I-95/Providence viaduct

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/i-95-lanes-to-shift-onto-new-bridge-in-providence/

That's awesome. I wish Massachusetts would invest in its highways like this

They did, it went multiple-times over budget and prevented the next bunch of similar things from being done.

A/k/a The Big Dig.

[DrSmith]

More on the I-95/Providence viaduct

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/i-95-lanes-to-shift-onto-new-bridge-in-providence/

That's awesome. I wish Massachusetts would invest in its highways like this

They did, it went multiple-times over budget and prevented the next bunch of similar things from being done.

A/k/a The Big Dig.

They were starting the same process over again with the T and Green Line Extension.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/07/rush-get-going-officials-ignored-looming-trouble-with-green-line-extension/Ep7QNHJZMxGZ5pKvayVO6O/story.html?p1=Article_Related_Box_Article

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/mbta-green-line-extension-somerville-cambridge-boston-jon-keller-wbz/

[Plutonic Panda]

More on the I-95/Providence viaduct

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/i-95-lanes-to-shift-onto-new-bridge-in-providence/

That's awesome. I wish Massachusetts would invest in its highways like this

They did, it went multiple-times over budget and prevented the next bunch of similar things from being done.

Yeah other countries have it figured out but all we can do is point to the big dig and say “whelp we tried, it went over budget and took too long so no more doing that!”  

[vdeane]

It looks like part of the new alignment of RI 138 in Newport coming off the Pell Bridge has opened even though the overall project isn't supposed to finish up until 2024.  I'm not sure what exactly the road conditions are, or what the planned routings for RI 238 and RI 138A are, as both Google and OSM seem to have missed that this project is happening, and the satellite view and street view are both rather old.
https://www.ri.gov/press/view/44464

[Ted$8roadFan]

New RI license plate design delayed to January:

https://www.wpri.com/dont-miss/new-wave-license-plates-to-be-distributed-next-year/

[Alps]

New RI license plate design delayed to January:

https://www.wpri.com/dont-miss/new-wave-license-plates-to-be-distributed-next-year/

can they replace it with the bridge
https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/ri-license-plate-design-finalists-unveiled/

[southshore720]

New RI license plate design delayed to January:

https://www.wpri.com/dont-miss/new-wave-license-plates-to-be-distributed-next-year/

It's an uglier variant of the current plate.  There were far better designs.  I also don't think they did a good job advertising the voting because there would've been a bigger/better response if more people knew about it.

[BlueOutback7]

New RI license plate design delayed to January:

https://www.wpri.com/dont-miss/new-wave-license-plates-to-be-distributed-next-year/

It's an uglier variant of the current plate.  There were far better designs.  I also don't think they did a good job advertising the voting because there would've been a bigger/better response if more people knew about it.

I really liked the one with the Newport Pell Bridge in the background. That one looked pretty cool, however, people can’t seem to let that wave design go.

[kernals12]

Shockingly for Rhode Island, there was a ton of corruption behind the 6/10 interchange project.

https://www.golocalprov.com/news/how-ridot-director-bullied-covered-for-crimes-and-repeatedly-lied-on-the-6

[southshore720]

I noticed a terrible error on RI 4 over Thanksgiving.  They recently replaced the advance BGS signage for Exit 9 as part of the Division St. Bridge Replacement project.  One problem...they posted the sign for Exit 9B (RI 4 NB) on the SB side, and vice versa.  As it stands, drivers on RI 4 NB won't know to take Exit 9B for I-95 South since that sign is now on the wrong side of the road.     Hopefully RIDOT fixes this soon!