PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- Gov. Dan McKee announced Tuesday that the state is pushing back its target date to finish demolition of the old westbound Washington Bridge until the end of 2025, as state leaders shed light on just how much longer the entire project may take.

But at a State House news conference, officials had no answers about when a new bridge might open or how much it might cost. The heavily trafficked span abruptly closed to traffic last December, and public frustration has grown in the 10 months since after a series of missteps, delays and setbacks. It had carried about 90,000 vehicles a day before closing.

McKee told reporters that concrete dollar figures and timelines will become clear once the state finishes a newly announced process for finding a contractor to build the new bridge, as well as a revised contract for the expanded demolition project.

"We're not going to have that until we go through the process," McKee said. "My No. 1 priority for the people of Rhode Island is to get this bridge built as soon as possible and as safely as possible."

The state's first bidding process for a new bridge ended in failure in July.

"That's in the past," McKee said. "We have to move forward with what we have now."

Cost of demolition still in flux

State officials acknowledged the contract for demolition that was awarded in June, which totaled $48.8 million, is going to increase.

That's because they are now asking the demolition contractor -- Aetna Bridge Co. -- to take down the bridge itself along with everything that holds it up, from the deck down into the Seekonk River. (The lower part is technically known as the substructure.)

The state had initially planned to let the company hired to build the new bridge decide whether it wanted to reuse the substructure or tear it down. But R.I. Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti said feedback they received from potential contractors through a Request for Information process, or RFI, indicated a majority of them said they would want to start with "a clean slate."

McKee said the administration is currently negotiating how much more it will pay Aetna to demolish the substructure, and a new price tag is expected to be made public in the coming days.

The governor outlined the new demolition timeline the same day work to tear down the bridge was slated to resume. The state's legal team halted the work in August, just weeks after it got underway, to preserve material they said could be needed as evidence in their ongoing lawsuit against 13 companies that worked on the bridge over the years.

New bridge contract slated for June

The second attempt to find a contractor to build a new bridge will look radically different from the first one, and take much longer.

The new process is slated to unfold in two parts over the next nine months.

The state on Tuesday issued a so-called Request for Qualifications, or RFQ, asking interested companies to submit documents over the coming months that demonstrate their capacity to build the new bridge.

Alviti said the state will then select two finalists early next year to provide competing cost and technical proposals. He said a winner will be chosen on June 6, nearly a year after the McKee administration had initially said it expected to have bids in place.

The winning contractor would begin design and other pre-fabrication work next July, but wouldn't be able to work onsite until sometime in 2026, after substructure demolition is completed.

The losing finalist will be paid $1.7 million for being willing to put together an unsuccessful offer, which McKee said he hopes will encourage companies to come forward with proposals.

'A certain amount of tone deafness'

State leaders attempted to maintain an upbeat tone when describing the new plan, saying it now gives them a clear roadmap for how they can safely demolish the old bridge, hire a new company and build a new bridge.

But McKee and Alviti both acknowledged there have been missteps in the process so far, and the effect the bridge closure has had on Rhode Islanders and out-of-state commuters who rely on it each day.

"We understand that uncertainty that currently exists and has existed for families to get to work on time, to get their kids to school on time, to get home for dinner on time," McKee said. "It's something that’s been very problematic for our families in our state."

McKee also expressed frustration about RIDOT's handling of its first public meeting for people who live near the bridge and are affected by the demolition. The virtual meeting was held at 6 p.m. Friday, which was Yom Kippur, and lasted less than 10 minutes with no questions taken. Neither Alviti nor McKee attended.

Over the weekend, McKee issued a statement chastising RIDOT for how the meeting was conducted. He reiterated that sentiment Tuesday, saying he couldn't "express his disappointment enough."

"There's a certain amount of tone deafness there that we're certainly recognizing and we're going to take care of that," McKee said.

Alviti agreed with the governor's criticism, announcing the department will hold another community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday. Alviti and McKee both plan to attend and said they will respond to both submitted and real-time questions.

But there are signs of increased frustration among state lawmakers over the administration's handling of the bridge.

State Rep. Robert Quattrocchi on Tuesday afternoon asked House Oversight Committee Chair Patricia Serpa to hold another hearing scrutinizing RIDOT's management of the state's bridge inventory.

"How can our residents have confidence in our infrastructure maintenance, when our main transportation artery was shut down literally overnight?" Quattrocchi, R-Scituate, asked in a statement. "How did we get here? On behalf of our residents, we need to understand the inner workings of RIDOT and how bridge maintenance is handled in Rhode Island."

Quattrocchi also accused the administration of "using the threat of pending litigation as a shield for transparency."

Serpa told 12 News she will wait to see how Thursday's public meeting on the bridge goes before deciding whether another oversight hearing is warranted. The House and Senate oversight panels have held one oversight hearing on the issue so far, back in February.

At the news conference, McKee remained steadfast in his support of the Department of Transportation, saying he has never taken any job action against any state employee since the bridge closed.

"I don't think it's called for at this point," he said.

Alviti said he's taken no action against any RIDOT employees, either, and echoed the governor.

"We have fallen short on a couple issues here -- stumbles and steps," he said. But he said his team always finds a way to meet challenges in efficient and economic ways when faced with adversity, and argued the Washington Bridge will be no different.

"We'll be delivering for the governor and the people of Rhode Island," Alviti said.

Ted Nesi and Anita Baffoni contributed to this report.