EDITORIAL

A flurry of figures and lingering doubts

Posted 2/9/16

There’s a great deal of uncertainty surrounding numbers in Rhode Island of late – and not just in terms of projected snow accumulation totals.

A revised version of the governor’s RhodeWorks …

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EDITORIAL

A flurry of figures and lingering doubts

Posted

There’s a great deal of uncertainty surrounding numbers in Rhode Island of late – and not just in terms of projected snow accumulation totals.

A revised version of the governor’s RhodeWorks truck-tolling and bridge-repair proposal seems poised for passage in the General Assembly, perhaps even this week. Yet opposition to the plan remains strong, and the questions regarding how it will be financed are still numerous.

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello last spring had put the brakes on Gov. Gina Raimondo’s initial version of the proposal, but he and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed now have both backed the latest iteration, which significantly reduces the borrowing costs, caps the daily toll for large trucks, and puts in place a referendum requirement for any future expansion of tolling.

RhodeWorks is being presented as a long-overdue, desperately needed investment in declining infrastructure, and as a jobs program. Raimondo says tolling will keep the financial cost burden off taxpayers and direct it instead to the large, commercial trucks that cause the majority of damage to local roads and bridges. The plan’s supporters – including members of the construction industry – point to the long-term economic benefits of the initiative.

The recent alterations, however, have not assuaged critics, particularly those in the trucking industry. They assert the revenue generated by tolling Class 8 trucks at 14 proposed gantries on Rhode Island highways will fall far short of what is needed to repay the borrowing for a surge of bridge-repair projects. Truckers who already avoid the state will take further steps to do so, they say. Some even question the legality of a toll so narrowly focused on large, commercial trucks.

The industry’s recommended alternatives include a diesel tax increase. Others, including Republican lawmakers, maintain the money to finance RhodeWorks can be found through spending reductions in other areas of the state’s nearly $9 billion budget. The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council in a recent report cast doubt on the prudence of tolling, indicating that the tolling-and-borrowing plan will ultimately be much more costly than simply borrowing.

Over the weekend, Ocean State Job Lot entered the fray, making major waves by announcing it has put a planned 500,000-square-foot $50-million expansion of its Quonset facility on hold due to concerns over the financial impact the tolling plan would have on the company. Also at issue is the absence in the new plan of a multi-million dollar tax credit and rebate package, which had been included in the earlier version of RhodeWorks.

What are Rhode Islanders to think? In the whole of the debate, there seems but one point of consensus – that our roads, and particularly bridges, have been neglected for far too long. We must meaningfully address and modernize our critical infrastructure to alleviate safety concerns and remove self-inflicted obstacles to economic growth.

As is almost always the case, the cost – and who bears it –becomes the decisive factor. We do not see the RhodeWorks opposition as merely a case of narrow interests lashing out reflexively or excessively at a proposal counter to their interests. The questions that have been raised are valid, have broader import, and warrant further consideration. The concerns that the tolling plan, as constituted, will fall short of expectations – or result in unintended consequences – also appear warranted.

We understand the desire on the part of the state’s leadership to move quickly toward resolution. But given the stakes, moving ahead expeditiously must not be valued over moving ahead in the most prudent manner possible.

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  • Genuine

    One only needs to drive rt 14 west from 295 to the land fill to see the results of dump trucks filled with gravel and garbage trucks to understand it is the result of more than just class 8 trucks. It is about the weigh and not just the size. As for the general road condition no one does more damage than utility companies and the shoddy patch work. I often wonder if they own power compactors. Most state road resurfacing projects are planed years in advance. They should make upgrades to the systems and if not should be held to a much higher standard. Like resurface the entire road, not some half ass repair that turns to a pot hole the first winter. Lastly where has all the money gone, one company doing the majority of the work does not make the best return or the money.

    Wednesday, February 10, 2016 Report this