Lawmakers Tout Infrastructure Bill For Replacing Cape Bridges

FALMOUTH, MA — The Bourne and Sagamore bridges, the only ways to reach Cape Cod by land, are 85-years-old and have long needed replacement. State and local officials know this, but finding a way to pay for the bridges has stood as a barrier, since U.S. Army Corps officials estimate it will cost more than $1 billion to replace the two bridges.

Despite that obstacle, Massachusetts lawmakers on Capitol Hill are expressing confidence the project will get done, thanks to President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill. The bill has yet to pass the House of Representatives. Still, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Bill Keating both praised the legislation and were confident it will become law.

Markey in a news conference Wednesday said the Senate passed the infrastructure bill and secured about $8 billion for Massachusetts, including $1.1 billion, which will go towards replacing the aging Bourne and Sagamore Bridges.

"These two bridges are also over 80-years-old, structurally deficient and in desperate need of replacement," Markey said. "Amongst all those various programs and funding sources, I know that we can deliver two new bridges for the people of Cape Cod and Massachusetts."

"Take these words as gospel. We will replace these bridges," Keating added.

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.

State officials said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will maintain control of the existing bridges until the new bridges are built.