Replacement Of Cape Cod Bridges May Not Start Until 2025

BOURNE, MA — State officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came to an agreement that will demolish the aging Bourne and Sagamore bridges and transfer ownership of their replacements to Massachusetts. But their construction isn't expected to start until at least 2025, according to state transportation officials.

The $1.1 billion project to replace the 85-year-old bridges that connect Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts will be completed in three phases over several years, Department of Transportation officials told the Cape Cod Times. Phases include a preliminary design, a 25 percent design and then a transfer to a design and construction firm to complete the project.

State officials said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will maintain control of the existing bridges until the new bridges are built. Paying for the new bridges is the biggest outstanding issue, but Highway Administer Jonathan Gulliver told the Cape Cod Times the state hired a design firm to do preliminary engineering and permitting for the new bridges.

Gulliver said that although tolls couldn't be ruled out on the new bridges, there are no plans to charge tolls at this time.

Discussions about replacing the Cape Cod Canal bridges came after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a study that recommended the Sagamore and Bourne bridges be replaced. Under the Army Corps original plan, the new bridges would include four travel lanes, two auxiliary lanes designed as acceleration/deceleration lanes and paths for bikes and pedestrians. Army Corps officials argued replacing the bridges would be cheaper in the long run than repairing them.

MassDot Secretary Stephanie Pollack was an early proponent of the transfer because it would give the state more control over maintaining new bridges once completed.

"This would not be an as-is transfer," Pollack said at MassDOT's director's board meeting last October. "The issue has been raised: Would we consider doing it after they were newly constructed, and it would certainly give us more control over that next 50 years if we had new bridges, over inspections, maintenance and keeping them in good shape."

The agreement was signed by Gov. Charlie Baker on July 7.

"The bridges over the Cape Cod Canal are among the most important transportation structures in the entire Commonwealth, and we are grateful to have agreement on a new Memorandum of Understanding, which puts us on a path to replace both," Baker said in a statement. "This MOU will be a 'living' document that should reassure residents, the business community and visitors that the current bridges will be maintained while steps go forward to build two new bridges."