Talk of tolls driving away business

TIVERTON, R.I. (WPRI) – Nature’s Rock Shop has been in Rhode Island for 5 years, but it’s celebrating a grand opening this month after moving from Portsmouth to Tiverton.

“I didn’t want to leave that area, I live Portsmouth.”

Nancy Swing says she moved in part because of the anticipated tolls on the new Sakonnet River Bridge.

The bridge is set to be complete sometime next year, and with the strong possibility of toll booths to be installed by next summer.

The tolls would be a financial burden for Swing’s customers.

“There is no way with the tolls that are going to be put on that bridge that people are going to spend $8 to buy a $2 rock,” Swing says.

The tolls would also take a toll on this business owner who had her store in Portsmouth but lives in Tiverton.

Though it cost thousands to move her business, she says it was worth it.

Now she lives and works on the same side of the Sakonnet River, and there’s more foot traffic on Tiverton’s Main Road.

“It’s been a positive move, everybody likes the new surroundings.”

Eyewitness News reached out to the RI Department of Transportation about the effects of the new tolls on those who travel daily to and from Aquidneck Island, telling us in part:

"The bill authorizing the transfer of the Sakonnet River Bridge to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor to ensure the longevity of this bridge...The Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the Bridge Authority are completing a study that will determine the economic impacts of a toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge