The Rhode Island Department of Transportation has one less bridge problem on its hands after state coastal regulators approved a plan to reconstruct a pair of East Bay Bike Path bridges on Tuesday night.

The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council’s (CRMC) 5-2 vote ends a yearslong series of roadblocks to replacing the aging bridges spanning the Palmer and Bristol rivers on the Barrington-Warren line. Councilmembers Kevin Flynn and Stephen Izzi voted in opposition.

The late-19th century railroad bridges along the Bristol-Warren section of the East Bay Bike Path have been blocked off since 2019, when RIDOT deemed them unsafe. But replacing them has been an uphill battle marked by the usual construction woes of rising costs and time crunches, along with a more unusual obstacle: local anglers.

The state agency in its initial April 2023 application to the CRMC — which must sign off on tidal and coastal water-adjacent construction and permitting — said the new bridges were “not conducive to fishing access.” The new steel trestle replacements are higher to address navigational concerns from the U.S. Coast Guard and narrower to avoid interference with overhead power lines. But losing four feet of width from the 275-foot and 250-foot pair of bridges also meant losing the designated sidewalks flanking either side of the cycling lane, where striped bass fishermen flocked to reel in their catches.

Anglers rallied to save their prime fishing spot, sharing their concerns at a CRMC meeting in October 2023. Heeding their cries, the CRMC pumped the brakes on RIDOT’s application, demanding it clarify plans for fishing and boating safety.

Forced to reevaluate, RIDOT submitted a revised application in February. The amended project reprises the same bridge designs, but offered a separate timber fishing pier and bulkhead as adjacent, designated fishing spots for local anglers. Since the initial revision, RIDOT has further modified its plans, moving the fishing pier adjacent to the Barrington River from the east to west bank after new objections were raised by area property owners, including Barrington’s Atlantic Marine, which sits nestled between the Barrington River bridge and one running parallel along Route 114.

Yet old concerns still bubbled up, with new ones close behind. Michael Woods, chairman of New England Chapter Board of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, submitted a new objection to coastal regulators on the heels of RIDOT’s revised proposal, explaining that the fishing pier and bulkhead were not an equal replacement for the bridge option.

Not only are the bankside fishing spots smaller, and can fit fewer anglers at a time, but the strong current along the shoreline means anglers cannot cast their lines out directly in front of them without eventually getting tangled up in one another, Woods told the council in comments Tuesday.

And that’s before the “hectic and hurried” moment when someone catches a fish and is frantically trying to reel it in.

“The number of people the site can accommodate is drastically reduced,” Wood said.

Meanwhile, Jane Mainella, who owns Atlantic Marine with her family, continued to contest the lack of backout space for boats leaving the marina, especially amid stronger currents that have intensified since the existing bridges and pilings were demolished last year. 

A hydraulic analysis by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, which along with Aetna Bridge was awarded the $24 million design-build contract for the bridge project in 2022, showed that the current had indeed grown stronger since the old bridge was demolished. However, building a new bridge will again contain the current, diminishing back to its prior strength, the analysis found.

Because of this study, the current concerns were not substantive under coastal regulations, according to the CRMC staff report by Amy Silva, a senior environmental specialist. Silva’s May 13 report to the council also dismissed other concerns from property owners and Woods as similarly failing to rise to the level of concern required by coastal rules.

While the rebuild plan now includes separate fishing areas, fishing will not be expressly prohibited on the bridges, said Andres Aveledo, project manager for Aetna.

However, not all council members were easily persuaded. Council member Kevin Flynn bombarded RIDOT with questions about why the design-build contract was put out to bid for a narrower width replacement without first securing the environmental approvals necessary, as required by the Federal Highway Administration.

“I would question whether this was the right method,” Flynn said.

Councilmember Don Gomez pointed to the litany of conflicting evidence between contractors and the Atlantic Marine owners around safety and space for boaters as potential cause for postponing a decision, though he ultimately approved the required permits and special exception.

“It’s a little sketchy to me,” he said.

The replacement bridges are expected to be completed and open for cycling, pedestrian use and fishing by 2026, according to RIDOT’s website. Loren Doyle, RIDOT’s chief operating officer, said the agency will have to reevaluate its timeline based on the CRMC decision when asked Tuesday night for an updated completion date.