Delay in bridge opening may be long-term benefit

John Howell
Posted 6/23/15

It’s going to take a miracle to complete the Mill Cove Bridge on Tidewater Drive by the June deadline set in the $1.2 million contract with the Cardi Corporation, but a delay is …

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Delay in bridge opening may be long-term benefit

Posted

It’s going to take a miracle to complete the Mill Cove Bridge on Tidewater Drive by the June deadline set in the $1.2 million contract with the Cardi Corporation, but a delay is now looking to be a good thing.

David Picozzi, director of Public Works, said last week that Tidewater Drive residents in the immediate area of the bridge may have to put up with construction crews only once rather than on multiple occasions. Picozzi is looking to coordinate with National Grid the replacement of natural gas lines as well as the installation of sewer lines in that section of Tidewater from the bridge to West Shore Road.

How much longer might it all take?

There were only guesses yesterday.

Janine Burke, executive director of the Warwick Sewer Authority, thought the installation of the sewer line might be completed by August or September. She saw no reason the bridge – if completed – couldn’t open before then.

“The plan [to do the sewer and utility work at once] made a lot of sense for a lot of reasons,” Burke said. “The plan is not to reopen the road again.”

She said 15 homeowners on Tidewater Drive from Friendship to West Shore Road would gain service. A public hearing on the extension is planned for June 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the Buttonwoods Community Center. The cost of the extension is estimated at $300,000.

The installation of the sewer line by the Warwick Sewer Authority from the south side of the bridge to the pumping station on Tidewater has always been a goal along with replacement of the bridge built in 1928. The bridge was showing its age and for a number of years has been faced with weight limitations. Removal of the old bridge started in September and a new one was to have been completed in nine months.

Incorporation of the sewer line is the first step to the Bayside projects to bring service to neighborhoods of Longmeadow, Riverview and Highland Park.

Integrating the gas work would help share costs, especially the repaving of that stretch of Tidewater Drive.

“We would be able to do it once and that would be it,” said Picozzi.

Picozzi is already working with National Grid when it comes to the city’s repaving program. As the utility replaces aging gas lines, it cuts a narrow trench down the road that is then paved. This has left some roads repaved in one direction while coming apart in the other. By coordinating efforts, as will happen in sections of Potowomut this summer, Grid will replace the gas lines followed by a complete repaving of the road. The city ends up paying half the cost of the paving with Grid while the residents get a new natural gas infrastructure and a road free of crumbling asphalt and potholes.

Picozzi is looking to do this wherever he can, which, in effect, is acting to double what the city could do if limited to budgeted funding. That funding will be greater in the fiscal year starting July 1 than it has been in many years thanks to Mayor Scott Avedisian and the City Council.

Avedisian budgeted $1 million for roads, an amount the Council increased by more than $1.3 million by trimming other budget accounts.

Asked about this summer’s road repaving, Picozzi said priority projects are being defined and that he expects the program will be in full swing. Of particular concern is one of the city’s major highways, Jefferson Boulevard that probably will need to be done over a number of years because of its length.

Picozzi does not see an issue with getting contractors to bid on the work as they are in demand at this time of the year and projects are being worked on throughout the state. There had been some concern that even with the increased city road repaving budget, the city would face difficulties in getting the work done.

 

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  • Norm88

    David Picozzi and Janine Burke you two both are a piece of work. In both of your jobs one would think plaining and foresight would be a requirement and it is obvious it is not. How could you have not seen this coming????

    Tuesday, June 23, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    This is the philosophy of construction from the top on down.

    You knew RIDOT had a reason it took ten years to build a bridge in Barrington, didn't you? It was for long-term benefit.

    That's why our infrastructure is crumbling around us, that is our long-term benefit.

    Tuesday, June 23, 2015 Report this

  • HerbTokerman

    You've got to love how in the mid 1800's they could build a railroad across the country in 6 years.

    150 years later it takes almost a year to build a 20-30 foot bridge.

    The masterminds behind the project didn't coordinate utility line work before starting the project?

    That should have been planned and scheduled before any work began.

    Tuesday, June 23, 2015 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    Has anyone heard of the Peter Principle? Picozzi & Burke have obviously reached their Level of Incompetence. Don't worry though...they'll probably get promoted again before they retire on their comfy pensions.

    Wednesday, June 24, 2015 Report this