Gov. Dan McKee said Thursday he should have been told sooner about problems on the Washington Bridge and was even unaware of the Department of Transportation’s Dec. 11 news conference announcing the bridge’s closing.
Engineering consultants working on the bridge warned RIDOT employees of their concerns that several bridge structural elements had failed Friday, Dec. 8. DOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. was told about the problem in the early afternoon the following Monday and he told McKee around 3 p.m.
Speaking to reporters after an event to celebrate a movie being filmed in Rhode Island, McKee said he wished state transportation experts had shared their concerns about the span that carries Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River as soon as they had them.
“My understanding was that there was work that was done over the weekend, beginning on Friday, that brought us to that meeting on the Monday, December 11th, which is the first I’m hearing of it with the recommendation to close the bridge for safety,” McKee said. “As soon as somebody knew, I should have known.”