IN TRANSIT Bike advocates rap plan to raze Jamestown Bridge BY STEVEN STYCOS

Frustrated with the state Department of Transportation’s (DOT) opposition to converting the old Jamestown Bridge into a bike path, an environmentalist is questioning whether Governor Donald L. Carcieri’s stance on the issue is influenced by his ownership of property valued at $2.5 million near the bridge. Sierra Club activist Barry Schiller says DOT is rushing to demolish the old bridge without a firm study of renovation costs. Noting that Carcieri owns shorefront property in the Plum Beach neighborhood of North Kingstown, just south of the bridge, Schiller says, "I think the governor may be influenced by some of his wealthy neighbors [who oppose the project]."

"That’s absurd," responds Jeff Neal, Carcieri’s press secretary. "Anyone with any understanding of this issue knows that assertion has no basis in fact." Echoing DOT’s position, Neal says the state has no choice but to demolish the bridge. Restoring the old bridge for bicycles is too expensive, he adds, and contrary to promises made to the federal government.

Carcieri’s home is in the neighborhood. According to the North Kingstown tax assessor, Carcieri and his wife Suzanne, who live in East Greenwich, also own a 3271-square-foot home on Cotterell Road in the Plum Beach area of North Kingstown. The home sits on 6.42 acres that includes Narragansett Bay shoreline, according to the assessor’s office, and is about three-quarters of a mile south of the bridge.

Carcieri has never had a formal meeting with his North Kingstown neighbors about the bike path, Neal relates, although he may have had an incidental "across the fence" conversation. He insists the millionaire governor is sympathetic to the idea of maintaining the bridge for the public, but that there is no money for it.

That argument, however, did not sway the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) on February 26. An advisory board composed of state officials and public representatives like Schiller, the TAC recommends how Rhode Island should spend its federal transportation funds. Last week, the group was asked to revise its spending plan in several ways, including adding $6.5 million to the estimated cost of demolishing the old Jamestown Bridge.

Several public speakers and Schiller opposed the move, saying DOT has not adequately studied the cost of converting the bridge to a bike path. In 1999, Schiller notes, then-DOT director William Ankner estimated rehab would cost $8 million, but no study has been done since. With demolition costs rising, from $14.5 million to $21 million, Schiller suggests renovation may be financially preferable. The TAC agreed and, in a 10-8 vote, approved all the funding revisions except the additional $6.5 million.

The final decision on whether to add the money will be made by the State Planning Council, a body with more state administrators and fewer public members than the TAC. Robert Shawber, DOT associate chief engineer in charge of capital projects, and the department’s representative on TAC, says DOT has not decided whether to press the issue at the council’s 9 a.m. March 11 meeting in the Department of Administration building, or to try again at the March 25 TAC meeting.

Shawber thinks costs to repair the old bridge would be "astronomical." He also notes that the environmental impact statement for the new bridge promised removal of the old one and that the US Coast Guard regards the old bridge as a hazard to navigation. Schiller counters that those issues could be resolved if DOT wished to restore the old bridge, rather than let it slowly decay into the bay. Without cost estimates, Schiller says, the principle reason for DOT’s opposition is, "There’s wealthy people on the shoreline." If one of them, who happens to be the governor, backed a more careful examination, he posits, DOT might respond more quickly.