Peter Alviti: RIDOT director faces bridge repairs, possible RIPTA showdown

Name: Peter Alviti Jr.

Age: 73

Hometown: Providence

Title: Director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation

In the waning weeks of 2023, Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti found himself in an unenviable position as the face of the agency amid a transportation disaster that paralyzed the state for several days.

While the bypass lanes for westbound traffic on Interstate 195 are now open on the eastbound side of the Washington Bridge and traffic flow is improving, this is not the last we’ll hear of the issue. Already there are calls for independent investigations and for Alviti to be pulled in front of oversight hearings, and serious questions are being raised about the condition of Rhode Island’s other bridges, many of which are rated as being structurally deficient or in poor condition.

Beyond the bridge, though, Alviti will play a key role in the developing showdown over the future of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. The groundwork was laid last year when Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, who wanted to oust RIPTA CEO Scott Avedisian and hand the agency fully over to RIDOT, instead had to settle for installing Alviti as the chairman of RIPTA’s board. Ruggerio has said the Senate will not be giving more funding to RIPTA until it becomes “more efficient,” setting the stage for a headline-grabbing debate with Alviti at the center that could shape public transportation in Rhode Island for years to come.

That’s not even to touch other issues poised to come to a head next year, including truck tolls, suicide barriers on bridges and RIDOT's proposed plan to cut carbon emissions related to transportation. Any way you slice it, 2024 is going to be a defining year for Rhode Island infrastructure, with Alviti front and center.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RIDOT's Peter Alviti to direct Washington Bridge repairs