Cape Cod Bridges Should Get $1B+ Replacement: MassDOT Head

CAPE COD, MA – The state's transportation head is asking the federal government to replace the two bridges to Cape Cod.

At a Massachusetts Department of Transportation board meeting on Monday, 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, according to Commonwealth Magazine.

The US Army Corps of Engineers, 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, WBUR reported. 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.

Plans for the bridges are expected to be unveiled next year.

SAGAMORE, MA - JULY 1: Traffic slows to a crawl at the Sagamore Bridge heading south at the start of the holiday weekend July 1, 2005 in Sagamore, Massachusetts. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the roads during the long 4th of July weekend. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)