Trucking Interests Get Rhode Island’s Bridge Toll System Blocked

Rhode Island officials must rethink how they will raise money to refurbish the state’s crumbling bridges after a federal trial court barred the state from operating a “unique” bridge tolling system.

The “RhodeWorks” system’s oversized impact on large commercial trucks registered in other states and deliberate exclusion of most in-state vehicles rendered it unconstitutional, the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island said.

Following a 12-day bench trial, Chief Judge William E. Smith concluded that the system violates the US Constitution’s dormant commerce clause and permanently blocked the state from collecting the tolls.

Once dubbed “a smudge on ...