To the editor:

So, it looks like East Bay’s chickens are coming home to roost. Amidst swirling rumors RIDOT admits now that the 195 bridge, at best, will take several months to fix, if not need to be demolished and rebuilt. Millions of dollars of expense will blow a significant hole in the budget and commuters will be subjected to traffic tortures for months if not years.

How did we get here?

Last week our East Bay legislators filed a collective letter to RIDOT, demanding updates to themselves(!), so they can inform frustrated constituents. Why such a move from people, who are barely in touch with town governments, never mind voters? Well, elections will be upon us soon and maybe this time the electorate will see that our representatives do not represent us much.

For years, questions had been raised about East Bay (and the state as a whole) infrastructure — power, roads, flooding mitigation. And for years those were brushed aside as non-important, with budget money constantly allocated to everything else, from digital security labs to soccer stadiums. Meanwhile critical infrastructure, like the 195 bridge, was shoddily inspected and shoddily repaired. Here is the result.

When we had issues with Deloitte, or child services, or when our legislature was in hiding during Covid and two governors acted like dictators, voters kept silent and put the same people in office. Now we have an issue affecting all of us, and our legislators once again proved to be useless, except to write a letter and have a Zoom meeting with the head of RIDOT.
Expect same behavior in the future, but what will fall apart next?

Sergei Sharenko
25 Monterey Dr.
Bristol