Documents show Rhode Island officials were scrambling to react to the sudden closure of the westbound span of the Washington Bridge last December.
Among these were dozens of text messages that include Governor Dan McKee, RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, and others.
These include Alviti calling for "talking points" on December 12th, the morning after the bridge was shut down, plus the governor's staff working to coordinate messaging. Alviti brings up in these texts that work on the bridge would take "two to three months."
Only recently was the decision made to replace the western span.
In addition, thousands of pages of documents were delivered to the US Department of Justice, connected to the probe of how federal funds were spent on the bridge.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit Providence today to meet with state leaders.
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