Cape Bridges Project Secures Nearly $1 Billion In Funding

CAPE COD, MA — The Cape Cod Bridges project just secured a major funding victory from the federal government, prompting state and local officials to celebrate.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have won nearly $1 billion in federal funding for the replacement of the Cape Cod bridges, Gov. Maura Healey announced recently.

Funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Bridge Investment Program (BIP), bringing the total amount of federal funding secured for the project to nearly $1.72 billion, in addition to the $700 million in state funding pledged by the Healey administration, officials said.

Barnstable County officials said the $993 million federal grant is a "key development in the replacement of the Sagamore Bridge." Healey herself called it a game changer.

"We’ve never been closer to rebuilding the Cape Cod Bridges than we are right now. This funding will be critical for getting shovels in the ground,” said Healey.

"Today is a momentous day for the Cape, the Islands, and all of Massachusetts," said Senator Ed Markey. "The Sagamore and Bourne Bridges are the gateway to the Cape, and this federal funding is the missing piece to replace the Sagamore Bridge and launch Phase One of the project to replace both bridges."

Officials said the bridge replacement will ensure that Cape Cod locals can maintain consistent access to the rest of the state while also allowing the local economy to continue without a hitch.

The Sagamore and Bourne Bridges provide the only vehicle access points for Cape Cod’s 230,000 residents, over 8,500 businesses and more than 5 million annual visitors, county officials said.

Initially designed for one million trips per year, these bridges now handle 38 million trips annually, similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The project will allow officials to modernize designs to improve safety, mobility and resiliency for the bridges. Officials also said it will increase economic vitality and improve access through better pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure.

Long-term maintenance costs should also be lowered because of the project, and officials seek to address issues with traffic operations, improve safety by reducing crashes by as much as 48 percent and preserve and enhance productivity through new direct jobs and other economic benefits.

The new design will also have multimodal elements including shared-use paths to fill transportation gaps and ensure full accessibility for pedestrians, cyclists and people with mobility devices, officials said.

The construction of the Sagamore Bridge replacement will be fully offset from the existing bridge so that traffic will be maintained on the existing bridge during the project.

MassDOT will enter into a project labor agreement "to support fair wages and working conditions for the more the 9,000 high-quality union construction jobs that will be created from this project and meet Massachusetts goals for workforce participation by minorities and women in construction," officials said.

Healey said her administration would continue to seek grant money for additional phases of the project, including for the eventual replacement of the Bourne Bridge, which is planned to come after the Sagamore project.