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An appeals court has determined that the trucking industry’s lawsuit against Rhode Island’s trucks-only tolling system is valid and can proceed in federal court.

BALTIMORE — Infrastructure funding programs across several states eventually will serve as models for federal transportation agencies, experts at a conference hosted by a tolling advocacy group indicated Oct. 15.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is aiming to redress its high percentage of structurally deficient bridges during this construction season, according to agency spokesman Charles St. Martin.

The Federal Highway Administration is taking applications from states interested in collecting tolls at interstate facilities, according to a document published in the Federal Register on Oct. 20.

The Rhode Island General Assembly’s top Republican unveiled legislation aimed at undoing a truck-only toll law backed by the governor and opposed by state and national trucking associations.

Several Rhode Island Republican state legislators are trying to slow Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo’s RhodeWorks law from going into effect by questioning the constitutionality of its truck-only tolls and by requesting documentation of her Department of Transportation’s contract with outside counsel, which has cost taxpayers $450,000.

The trucking industry’s strenuous objection to Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s trucks-only tolling law has pushed the Trucking Association Executives Council to move its 2018 meeting out of the Ocean State.