$1 billion bridge appeal
Lawmakers press Biden to move on Cape Cod bridge grant
The governor’s plan to rebuild the two bridges carrying traffic to and from Cape Cod is still short of the funding required to get started, and the state’s congressional delegation is calling on the Biden administration to remember who helped pass the law that’s paying for the nation’s infrastructure revival in the first place.
Over the last four months the lawmakers have managed to get the federal government to cough up $722 million toward replacement of the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, $350 million of which was signed into law just over a week ago by President Biden. The state has committed at least $700 million toward rebuilding the aging spans. Replacing Sagamore alone is however, is estimated at $2.14 billion.
In a letter addressed to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and signed by the full delegation, the lawmakers remind the administration that there is still an outstanding Bridge Investment Program grant application for $1.072 billion waiting on approval.
That money, according to the lawmakers, “will unlock the Commonwealth’s ability to carry out this project for the good of Massachusetts and the entire Northeast region.”
“We worked hard to pass President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide historic opportunities to fund critical infrastructure projects across the United States. Rebuilding the Cape Cod bridges is a prototypical project that the Law was designed to fund,” they wrote.
The Bourne and Sagamore Bridges were built in 1933 and are owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Both bridges, according to USACE inspection reports, are structurally deficient and must be replaced. The full cost of building new bridges is estimated north of $4.5 billion.
Despite the cost, replacing the bridge is an absolute necessity for the more than 260,000 Cape residents and the 5 million people who visit the region annually. The busy spans carry 35 million cars each year. According to a report commissioned by members of the delegation and released last fall, not replacing the pair of bridges would be “catastrophic” for the region.
“The current condition of the bridges is untenable, and without replacements, problems will only grow,” the October report said.
While USACE says both bridges will require replacement, not long after taking office Gov. Maura Healey halved the scope of the project and directed grant writers to pursue funding for just the Sagamore replacement, with the Bourne Bridge project to come later.
Since doing so, the delegation wrote, DOT has “awarded this project a $372 million Mega grant. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has committed $700 million in state funding without any further legislative authorization required. Most recently, on March 9, 2024, President Biden signed into law an appropriations package that included $350 million in funding for the Cape Cod Bridges.”
“The BIP grant is the final remaining piece of the funding puzzle,” they wrote.