Official State of Rhode Island website

Governor Dan McKee RI 2030 Plan Charting a Course for the Future of the Ocean State

Improving Roads and Bridges

  • Established the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s (RIDOT) first-ever program dedicated to directly investing in the construction and repair of municipal roads, bridges, and sidewalks across all 39 cities and towns. RhodeRestore, formerly known as the Municipal Road Grant Program, has approved over 1,000 projects, encompassing 673 lane miles of roadwork and nearly 25 miles of sidewalk improvements. The initial $27 million state investment will leverage over $100 million in municipal matching funds.
  • Launched the largest bridge project in Rhode Island history this year: the I-95 15 Bridge Project. This initiative will remove 15 bridges from the state’s backlog of poor and deteriorating bridges along the critical corridor between Providence and Warwick. The project improves safety and traffic flow for nearly 200,000 vehicles and $9.7 billion in freight transported daily, supported by a $251 million federal Bridge Investment Program (BIP) grant secured by RIDOT this year.
  • Included $87 million in state investment in the FY 2024 budget, which will secure nearly $351 million in U.S. Department of Transportation funds. This funding is directed towards the repair and construction of roads, bridges, and highways across the state. With federal highway funding at a record level due to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the state is strategically positioning itself to maximize these resources.
  • Secured $220.9 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to rebuild the westbound I-195 Washington Bridge. The Governor’s FY 2025 budget allocated state funds to cover the required match for the bridge reconstruction, ensuring no additional revenue needs to be raised.
Car going down roadway
  • Invested the resources needed to continue to fund the 10-year State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) to bring Rhode Island’s roads and bridges to a state of good repair. To date, the RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT) has completed 202 projects, including the repair and replacement of 243 bridges, totaling $2.2 billion of total construction. The total value of all projects under RhodeWorks is $3.1 billion.
  • Improved Rhode Island’s Bridge Sufficiency Rating from 77 percent in 2016 to 88.3 percent as of August 2024 through the implementation of RhodeWorks.
  • Started the I-95 Resurfacing Project, one of 66 projects, valued at $1.9 billion. In addition to paving projects, Rhode Island has accelerated about 100 projects with federal funding. These projects include bridge rehabilitation, resurfacing, traffic safety projects, stormwater, and bike/pedestrian improvements.
  • Advanced 12 ranks in the Infrastructure category of CNBC's ‘Top States for Business’ 2024 report.