Concerns About Safety of Mount Hope Bridge, Bristol Sues USDOT and RITBA for Inspection Reports

Concerns About Safety of Mount Hope Bridge, Bristol Sues USDOT and RITBA for Inspection Reports

The Town of Bristol has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Rhode Island Bridge and Turnpike Authority are illegally withholding safety inspection reports.

According to the lawsuit filed on Thursday in federal district court in Providence, RIBTA denied release of the public documents in violation of the law.

The battle over the bridge's safety and repair costs has been raging for years. In 2021, the head of the RITBA claimed repair/replacement costs could exceed $1 billion. READ HERE

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“On December 13, 2023, following the closure of the Washington Bridge, spanning between Providence and East Providence, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation publicly released an approximately 300-page routine inspection report for the Washington Bridge. The Town of Bristol, realizing the vital importance of the Mount Hope Bridge to the Town, sought to gain access to the most recent routine inspection report for the Mount Hope Bridge, states the lawsuit.

“On October 2, 2025, Bristol submitted a written request to RITBA pursuant to APRA seeking “the most current report in possession of RITBA regarding the condition and structural viability of the Mount Hope Bridge. On October 17, 2025, RITBA responded by email, denying the request," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that when Bristol submitted the request for the information to RITBA under the state of Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act, RITBA claimed ““Please note that this report contains sensitive security information (SSI) and, therefore, must first be reviewed and potentially redacted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) …RITBA has sent this record to the TSA for its review, and if TSA advises us that some portion or all of the document sought may be released to you, we will produce it to you.”

Bristol, caught in a catch-22 of regulatory intransigence, is asking the court for relief.

Specifically, Bristol is asking the court:

 

CLAIMS FOR RELIEF

COUNT I

Violation of the Freedom of Information Act
 

COUNT II

Violation of the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act

 

Declare that TSA has violated FOIA;

B. Order TSA to conduct an adequate search and produce the requested Mount Hope

Bridge inspection report;

C. Declare that RITBA violated APRA;

D. Order RITBA to produce the requested report;

E. Award Plaintiff its reasonable attorney’s fees and costs