Governor McKee Announces Signed $251M Grant Agreement with USDOT for Major '15 Bridges' Project

Published on Tuesday, June 10, 2025

PROVIDENCE, RI — Governor Dan McKee announced that Rhode Island received final confirmation that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has authorized the $251.1 million federal grant agreement for Rhode Island’s “15 Bridges” rehabilitation project along the I-95 and Route 10 corridors between Providence and Warwick—one of the largest infrastructure projects in state history, and the largest-ever federal grant awarded to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT). The project will remove 15 bridges from the state’s backlog of poor and fair to poor condition bridges.

“We’re committed to strengthening Rhode Island’s infrastructure and maximizing every available federal dollar to get the job done,” said Governor Dan McKee. “We appreciate the work of our Congressional Delegation as they continue to advocate for critical infrastructure investments. We are also grateful for the open lines of communication we've been able to establish with USDOT, which helped us advance one of the largest infrastructure projects in state history.”

The Congressional Delegation affirmed in May that Rhode Island would receive the award as planned, and in the past week, the State received authorization from USDOT to access the funds.

Work on the project began last year, supported by other funding sources. RIDOT already replaced one bridge, the structure carrying I-95 over Elmwood Avenue, in just two extended weekends last fall using accelerated bridge construction methods.

The project takes a holistic approach to addressing these bridges to ensure the safe movement of over 185,000 vehicles, including about 9,000 trucks and heavy freight vehicles. Nine of the 15 bridges are structurally deficient. Three are rated among the top five most-traveled structurally deficient bridges in Rhode Island. 

As part of the project, RIDOT will rebuild Route 10 from Elmwood Avenue to Park Avenue, transforming it into a boulevard with a shared-use path to provide better connectivity for all users. 

For more information and to see before-and-after images of some of the proposed improvements, visit www.ridot.net/The-I-95-15.