Community Corner

Legislators Lauded for Sakonnet Toll Removal

"This wasn't just your East Bay delegation that made it happen," Rep. Dennis Canario said. "It was the community involvement — the people who stood up to the plate to help make this happen."

With the end of tolling on the Sakonnet River Bridge, there's much rejoicing among the East Bay delegation and residents and the workers of Aquidneck Island.

To celebrate the leadership at the State House that ensured the tolls would be eliminated, the Portsmouth Town Council last week took a moment to thank the delegation. In the words of Town Council President James Seveny, it was "outstanding political leadership," which came after late-night deliberations and hard work.

As a community fighting the case for well over a year, it felt like "this was a train coming at us and there was a sense of inevitability," Seveney said.

"There was a feeling that this was going to happen regardless of what the local community had to say about it," Seveny said of the tolls on the bridge. "As it turns out, it is not the case."

In turn, the members of the delegation: Raymond E. Gallison Jr. (D-Dist. 69, Portsmouth Bristol), Rep. Linda Finn (D-Dist. 72, Middletown, Portsmouth), Rep. Dennis Canario (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Tiverton) and Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Portsmouth, Tiverton) bounced the thanks right back at the community.

"This wasn't just your East Bay delegation that made it happen," Canario said. "It was the community involvement — the people who stood up to the plate to help make this happen."

It was the members of the STOP group, the letters that were written, the people who attended dozens of state and local meetings, who signed petitions, held rallies and gathered again and again.

"It was everybody, all of us who made it happen, Canario said.

Finn said she has been told by a resident that what happened felt like the undoing of a crime, and she agreed. And it was noted that if it weren't for the efforts of the Town Council, the town's legal team and others who worked hard — and often behind the scenes — the legislators' case at the State House wouldn't have been as strong. 

"What happened puts faith into the process," Finn said, noting the process is an example of "how government is supposed to work."

Edwards said the effort was years in the making, and there are still issues with the gantry and "all the quasis out there" but "the toll is off and not coming back and everybody in this room in some way made that happen."

Edwards said it was the best grassroots community effort he's ever seen.

Earlier, Edwards said he had talked to a representative in Oregon about a toll fight there and was seeking advice on how to approach the issue.

"He said the ground game has to be phenomenal," Edwards said. "And our ground game was the best."

Gallison said that the important lesson that the toll would affect all Rhode Islanders, not just residents and workers on Aquidneck Island, was heard loud and clear at the State House thanks to everyone involved in the toll fight.

"We're one state, one united state, and that's the point we were able to make," he said.


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