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Gov. Healey’s new strategy for getting the Cape Cod bridges rebuilt? Get the Sagamore done first.
The new "phased" approach prioritizes getting one bridge rebuilt sooner over getting a funding pledge for the replacement of both bridges, but Healey said her office is still committed to rebuilding both bridges.
After seemingly endless setbacks to garnering funding to replace Cape Cod‘s old, decrepit bridges, Gov. Maura Healey is trying something new — trying to get funding for the bridges one at a time.
Healey chose the Sagamore Bridge as her first target in her applications for federal funding this month, her office said in a statement Monday. Her office is finalizing applications due Aug. 21 that will compete for $1.45 billion in grant money.
The new “phased” approach prioritizes getting one bridge rebuilt sooner over getting a funding pledge for the replacement of both bridges, but Healey said her office is still committed to rebuilding both 88-year-old, federally-owned bridges.
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“This first phase will enable us to get shovels in the ground quickly on the Sagamore Bridge, lay the groundwork for rebuilding the Bourne Bridge, and move forward on the permitting and design of both bridges,” she said in the statement.
While it’s unclear when Healey would begin agitating for federal funding for the Bourne Bridge, she said she believes getting funding for one bridge maximizes the chances of making any progress on this project.
For years, state and local leaders have issued urgent calls to replace the bridges, citing the tens of millions of cars that travel on them each year, their importance to the Cape’s residents and workers, and their impact on the Cape’s and the state’s economy.
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State officials now think the entire project will cost $4.5 billion, The Boston Globe reported, up from last year’s $4 billion estimate. They also believe it could take up to eight years to rebuild each one, the newspaper reported.
Why Healey is prioritizing the Sagamore Bridge
In an email, Healey’s office gave several reasons for wanting to rebuild the Sagamore Bridge first.
The first reason is simply traffic needs. An average of nearly 17,000 more cars travel on the Sagamore Bridge than the Bourne Bridge each day, the Globe reported. The Sagamore Bridge also takes drivers directly onto Route 6 — the Cape’s main highway.
The new Sagamore Bridge will have wider lanes, an auxiliary lane, and for the first time, bicycle and pedestrian “accommodations,” Healey’s office said. Because the bridge gets more traffic, it said, these improvements will have a bigger impact.
The second reason is safety. The bridges are in a similarly deteriorated condition, but because the Sagamore Bridge gets more traffic, safety improvements will have a greater effect.
In fact, Healey’s office said, due to the bridge’s layout and traffic volume, the Sagamore Bridge sees 56% of the total crashes that happen on the two bridges.
The third reason is economic impact. Given its direct access to Route 6 and higher traffic volume, the Sagamore’s rehabilitation will have a larger positive impact on the Cape’s economy.
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State officials estimate that replacing the Sagamore Bridge will cost $2.15 billion, the Globe reported. Construction on it wouldn’t begin until 2028 and would likely continue through 2035.
Reactions to the new strategy
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Paul Niedzwiecki told the Globe he is concerned about “misalignment” between the planning, permitting, and financing of the two bridges.
“I understand the phased approach to financing and having a more competitive application means having a more realistic application. But not having funds identified specifically for the Bourne Bridge replacement is a concern,” he said.
In an interview with the Globe, Healey was reportedly unable to say when her office would pursue funding for the Bourne Bridge.
“Last year, we pursued an application that was dead on arrival. We didn’t want to repeat the same practice,” Healey told the newspaper. “This will be concrete. It will be a significant step forward.”
Still, the Cape’s congressional delegation told the Globe it supports the new approach.
“This is a smart, pragmatic approach to capturing the money,” U.S. Rep. Bill Keating — a Bourne Democrat — told the newspaper. “The risk is not acting. This was always going to be phased-in over a period of years because it’s such a lengthy project.”
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U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey joined Keating in praising the approach in a joint statement to the Globe, saying that “Massachusetts now has a fighting chance to start replacing the bridges.”
Funding sources for the Cape Cod bridge replacement
This month, Healey’s office is sending in applications for the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grants, which include money for both highway and general infrastructure projects. This fall, it will follow that up with an application for the Bridge Investment Program.
“We believe that this is a competitive application that will put us on the best footing to move forward on this project that is critical for the economy of the Cape and our entire state,” Healey said in her Monday statement.
Healey is applying for $372 million from the first grant program and $1.08 billion from the second, the Globe reported. Both these programs were part of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In June, Healey included $262 million toward replacing the bridges in her administration’s 2024-2028 Capital Investment Plan. The previous month, she pledged to devote $700 million to the project long term, doubling what had previously been promised by the state.
In December 2022, the Biden administration awarded Massachusetts a $1.6 million planning grant for the bridges.
He followed that up in March 2023 with a $350 million down payment for bridge replacement in his budget and agreed to transfer ownership from the Army Corps of Engineers to the commonwealth. This proposal made it through the U.S. Senate in July.
How the Cape Cod bridges got to this point
Completed in 1935, the Cape Cod bridges were intended to last 50 years but have been continuously repaired over the last several decades to keep them upright. The only roads on and off the Cape for more than 35 million vehicles a year, bridge construction has led to miles-long traffic backups.
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In the last five years, a study on the Cape Cod Canal and another on the bridges themselves identified the need to have them rebuilt. One of the studies even called the bridges “functionally obsolete.”
In April 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers announced the decision to replace the bridges. But since then, state leaders have faced setback after setback in getting federal funding allocated for their replacement.
Officials say that if the bridges aren’t replaced, they may need to permanently close a lane in each direction on the Bourne Bridge by 2032 and on the Sagamore Bridge by 2036, the Globe reported. In the following years, they’d be forced to limit the size of trucks allowed to travel on the bridge.
More on the Cape Cod bridges:
Officials’ continued push to replace the bridges
On Monday, Healey called the Cape Cod bridges’ replacement one of her administration’s “top priorities.”
In addition to doubling state funding for the project, the governor highlighted that she has hired a director of federal funds and infrastructure and advocated for the inclusion of bridge replacement funding in Biden’s budget.
Warren has also been taking action to secure funding for the bridges’ replacement. In July, she asked Cape Cod leaders to write to her explaining how the bridges’ disrepair has impacted their communities and how their replacement would better the Cape.
Responses from the leaders, due Aug. 2, would help the senator advocate for bridge replacement funding, she said. So far, she has not issued any updates on this call-out.
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