RI congressional candidates oppose bridge toll
TIVERTON, R.I. (AP) — Republican congressional candidate Brendan Doherty joined his Democratic opponents Thursday in saying he opposes the state's plan to impose tolls on the new Sakonnet River Bridge, and said if elected, he would use his connections as a member of the majority party to get the federal government to intervene.
Doherty, former head of the state police, is running to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, who is serving his first term in office. Businessman Anthony Gemma is trying to unseat Cicilline in Tuesday's Democratic primary. The winner of that contest will face Doherty on Nov. 6.
Cicilline's campaign shot back Thursday that congressional Republicans are to blame for holding up Democratic attempts to infuse federal money into infrastructure.
State lawmakers authorized the toll this year, as officials said they needed the money to pay for maintenance of the new bridge, which will replace the current span. It is one of three bridges that connects Aquidneck Island to the mainland and would become the second to have tolls, after the Pell Bridge.
Those tolls are currently $4 cash or 83 cents for state residents who pay with an E-ZPass transponder. The chairman of the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority has said the amount of the toll is likely to be in line with Pell Bridge tolls.
Doherty said at a news conference that the toll was unfair and an impediment to economic development in the state. He described the bridge as spanning a neighborhood, and said a toll will cause people to think twice before crossing to the other side for a cup of coffee or to visit a relative.
He said that if elected, he plans to work to delay approval by the Federal Highway Administration of a toll across the bridge, and said he could make it happen because he would be a member of the majority party.
"I believe I'll have the influence to stop this," he said.
Doherty proposed three steps he said would help Rhode Island and other states pay for bridge maintenance with the help of the federal government. He said he wants to allow federal money currently designated to build roads and bridges to also be used to maintain them. He also proposed leasing some federal lands for clean energy uses and setting aside a portion of that money for highway projects.
His third proposal is to establish a public-private infrastructure bank for large building projects over $100 million. That proposal is similar to one Cicilline has been pushing since 2010, which has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Congress. Gemma also endorsed such a bank in a recent debate against Cicilline.
Doherty said he wasn't aware of Cicilline's infrastructure bank plan.
"I don't know what his position is," Doherty said.
Cicilline came out in opposition to the toll a month ago, said his campaign manager, Eric Hyers.
"The imposition of this toll is another example of why the federal government has to be a strong partner in repairing the infrastructure of our country and our state," Hyers said.
He said House Republicans had refused to consider legislation setting up an infrastructure bank co-sponsored by Cicilline and pointed out the budget proposed this year by Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republicans' vice presidential nominee, would make big cuts to federal transportation money.
Doherty took issue with what he said was vitriol coming from Cicilline about Republicans, and said he himself was not a member of the "extreme right wing" of the party. He said it would work in the state's favor to have a member of the majority party in the congressional delegation. Currently, all four members of the delegation are Democrats.
"If I'm in Washington and I'm in the majority," he said, "I would think that common sense would dictate that I'm more able to bring back money to Rhode Island."
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Follow Michelle R. Smith on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mrsmithap
