Rhode Island has won a $125.4 million federal grant to help replace the derelict westbound Interstate 195 Washington Bridge , the state’s congressional delegation said Friday.
The U.S. Department of Transportation “Mega” grant will pay a chunk of the cost, last estimated at more than $400 million, of tearing the old bridge down and building a new one. The Mega grant program is funded by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“This grant is a mega-win for Rhode Island and a major down payment on replacing the Washington Bridge,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said in a news release. “There is a lot more work to do to get the bridge back up and running, and hopefully this boost of federal funding will accelerate progress.”
Rhode Island’s Mega grant application this spring asked for $221 million out of the total $850 million pool of federal funds available for grants nationwide.
Gov. Dan McKee went to Washington D.C. last week to lobby the White House for maximum Mega grant funding.
Exactly how much of the total cost of replacing the bridge the Mega grant will cover depends on how expensive the reconstruction part of the project ends up being.