$5M To Design New Cape Cod Bridges Passes House

CAPE COD, MA — The U.S. House of Representatives passed $5 million to design new bridges over the Cape Cod Canal, according to Congressman Bill Keating's office. The amendment, introduced by Keating, will be included in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (T-HUD) Appropriations Bill.

Keating said the canal bridges are "insufficient for the needs" of the Cape and Islands community. The brides' lanes are too narrow, lack breakdown lanes to be used in an emergency and back up for miles on a busy summer weekend, according to Keating. During an evacuation scenario, this congestion could put the public at risk, he said.

"The Canal bridges were completed in 1935 and 1938. They were constructed for the age of the Model T, not the age of the SUV," Keating said in a statement.

Late last year, MassDOT head Stephanie Pollack said she would prefer the US Army Corps of Engineers build new Sagamore and Bourne bridges and the state adjust the surrounding roads to connect with the new structures. The Corps, which owns the bridges, is nearing the end of a multi-year study on whether to overhaul them or build new bridges over the Cape Cod Canal.

The bridges were built between 1933 and 1935 and underwent their last major rehabilitation in 1981. They are currently rated as structurally "fair" but "functionally obsolete" and have recently required more frequent maintenance.

The cost of replacing the bridges is estimated at around $1 billion and work on the nearby roads could cost hundreds of millions. Pollack said the federal government would pay for the new bridges if they are identical to the existing structures; however the state could pitch in if they are expanded to include an extra lane on each side.

A major rehabilitation project on the bridges is set to begin by 2025, but Pollack is hoping to speed up the timeline and replace them instead. Spending bills that incorporate federal funding and could be put toward the bridge replacements will be debated in 2020, Commonwealth Magazine reported.