PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- State Transportation Director Michael Lewis told a legislative committee Thursday that the state will start collecting tolls on the new Sakonnet River Bridge this summer, a plan that has drawn intense opposition from those who use the bridge.
Lewis also said that there's no way now for the state to do something officials have also sought, to collect tolls on Route 95, because of a combination of past federal actions and new national transportation legislation.
"The toll is projected to be implemented this summer" on the Sakonnet bridge, Lewis said at a hearing of the House Finance Committee.
Legislators representing districts near the bridge, which links southeastern Massachusetts with Aquidneck Island, have filled a barrage of bills aimed at blocking the toll.
Lewis and other officials say a toll is needed to maintain the bridge, which is being transferred to the state Turnpike and Bridge Authority. It already collects tolls on the Newport Pell Bridge.