RIDOT to repair damaged Middletown road

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (WPRI) – Many treasured Rhode Island locations that were severely damaged during Hurricane Sandy are on their way to recovery.

Governor Lincoln D. Chafee and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced that repair to Sachuest Point Road in Middletown is the next project on the road to Rhode Island’s recovery. This road leads to the popular Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge .

Funding for the project is being provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the Federal Highway Administration.

Chafee is eager to have the road rebuilt, explaining, “We are grateful to our State and Federal partners for helping us restore access to this vital natural resource that was virtually cut off after Hurricane Sandy .”

In January, Congress passed a $51 billion emergency appropriations package to help millions of victims of Superstorm Sandy in the Northeast. This will assist in reconstruction and recovery needs for national wildlife refuges on the Eastern Seaboard, as well as funding for the U.S. Department of Interior to undertake restoration, recovery, and mitigation priorities to protect against future storms and natural disasters.

RIDOT is cleaning up debris and reconstructing about 1,500 feet of Sachuset Point Road through a $864,000 contract with Narragansett Improvement.

The Department is also providing armor stone, which will protect the road from erosion during storm surges with high surf. 

RIDOT’s goal is to finish the project in May.

RIDOT has already completed repairs due to Sandy to the seawall and sidewalk on Ocean Road in Narragansett, and Corn Neck Road on Block Island. Repairs to Ocean Drive in Newport and Poppasquash Road in Bristol are currently under construction.