The demolition of the Washington Bridge in Rhode Island is set to continue on Tuesday.
The bridge takes Interstate 195 across the Seekonk River, connecting Rhode Island with Massachusetts.
The westbound side was suddenly shut down in December over safety concerns, but demolition stopped in September to preserve evidence tied to a lawsuit over the bridge's failure.
State transportation officials held a public meeting about the bridge on Friday, but it only lasted nine minutes, and they didn't answer any questions.
"Specifically the fact that it was 6 p.m. on a Friday wasn't sufficient enough, and people weren't satisfied, so we're going to hopefully do a take two and we'll have an opportunity for people to have their questions answered," Providence City Councilor John Goncalves told NBC10 Boston.
Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee provided an update on the bridge demolition Tuesday morning, starting by apologizing for a lack of information during Friday's meeting.
“I do publicly admit that we need to do a better job communicating what is actually going on and providing the communities that have been impacted by the bridge to have a better opportunity quite frankly to express their concerns but also to provide their input," McKee said.
Demolition on the bridge resumes Tuesday, and McKee warned that there will be overnight jackhammering work to reduce traffic closures during the day.
He also noted that officials have plans to move up the demolition of the bridge's substructure to February 2025 as part of the active demolition contract, which is sooner than originally anticipated. The state is also moving forward with the procurement of a contract for the bridge's reconstruction, which will begin with a RFQ, or request for qualifications, from bidders to narrow bidders down early, followed by an RFP, or request for proposals, from that smaller field.
