Construction equipment is seen near the partially-demolished westbound Washington Bridge on Oct. 11, 2024. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current
Gov. Dan McKee is urging legislative leaders to hold an oversight hearing on his administration’s handling of the Washington Bridge closure after a long-awaited forensic audit showed the state was partially to blame.
McKee on Wednesday evening sent a letter to House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Valarie Lawson saying his office welcomed the opportunity to participate in such proceedings.
“Ensuring the safety of all Rhode Islanders must remain our top priority, and the ongoing issues surrounding the Washington Bridge demand thorough examination and accountability,” he wrote.
Shekarchi and Lawson called for new oversight hearings Monday after Friday saw the release of a 64-page report by Illinois-based engineering firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. (WJE) detailing what led to the Washington Bridge’s December 2023 closure.
In a joint statement issued Wednesday evening, Shekarchi and Lawson said they intend to meet Thursday to plan the schedule of the hearings and the format, “which may include putting state officials under oath.”
McKee in his letter defended the decision to WJE audit under wraps from the public as the state’s ongoing lawsuit against 13 of the vendors contracted to conduct maintenance on the Washington Bridge.
The draft audit dated April 5, 2024, was released Friday night by the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General after it learned an “unknown party” was releasing portions of it on Instagram.
McKee had first promised to make it public during a March 2024 press conference when he announced the bridge would need to be rebuilt. He wrote that his inclination was always to release it once completed but the state’s legal team advised against doing so before the case went to trial to avoid jeopardizing the case.
“I was following a pathway to optimize recovery for the taxpayers of Rhode Island in the pending civil suit,” McKee wrote.
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