Cape Cod Canal Bridges Project Status Report
Cape Cod became an “island” in the year 1914 upon the completion of the Cape Cod Canal.
It is alleged that in 1630, Miles Standish and William Bradford of Mayflower fame initially envisaged such a canal by connecting the Manomet River (later the Monument River) flowing from the southeast into Buzzard’s Bay with the Scusset River flowing northeast into Cape Cod Bay. The isthmus between these two rivers was about one mile wide. Their economic motivation for the canal was to facilitate trade from the Plymouth Colony to the Dutch in New York (thereby avoiding a dangerous trip around the “Outer Cape”).
If you were waiting a long time on a busy summer weekend to cross one of these bridges, you might be interested to note the amount of vehicle traffic which crosses the two bridges in a calendar year. The answer is 35 million vehicles per year with 18 million crossing the Sagamore and 17 million crossing the Bourne bridges. For the mathematicians among us, that is almost 96,000 vehicles each day.
The waterway of the canal is 17.4 miles long. It is reputed to be the longest canal in the world, not having a “lock” in it. Currently, the canal itself averages 20,000 vessels of all types annually. It has been designated as a National Historical Engineering Landmark. It is considered an essential transportation way by the United States Department of Defense, hence filling in the canal is not an option.
The two current bridges were completed in 1935 during the Great Depression as projects of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) with at that time an expected bridge life of 50 years. Frequent repairs by the Army Corps of Engineers, causing major traffic delays including this year, have extended the life of these bridges. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program provided funding of $4.6 million for our current bridges, as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933.
Recently, the State and Federal Powers have determined that now is the time to plan for their replacement. The purpose of this update is to give a status report on this massive multi-year and very expensive project. We are providing information that we believe is accurate; however, because of the project’s complexity, we are not able to guarantee the accuracy of all elements of this brief update. Our information is as recent as our May 17, 2023 attendance to a Massachusetts Depart of Transportation Cape Cod Bridges Program Briefing in Bourne, and a May 18, 2023 announcement from Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s Office.
Historians observe that the canal was very busy during World War II, due to the presence of German U-boats (i.e., submarines) off the Outer Cape. Hence, the canal was key for vessels heading up and down the eastern seaboard to avoid those German subs. Also, there was a military installation at Sagamore Hill which is now part of Scusset Beach State Reservation, on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Bay entrance to the canal.
After an extensive study by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and Assistant Secretary of the Army, in 2020 a decision was made to replace the current Bourne and Sagamore Bridges with two new bridges built to modern standards. This decision is intended to provide safe access to Cape Cod for the next fifty years. On an ongoing basis, in preparation for the new bridge construction, the major players include the following: The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and members of Congress. It is obviously a major project involving environmental and climate considerations, design and engineering developments, political dynamics, and development of funding sources of at least four billion dollars – a not in-significant amount.
While significant progress has been made on many aspects of this program, some unexpected negative news was received in both September 2022 and January 2023, when the U. S. Department of Transportation, in its 2023 funding announcement, did not commit any 2023 funding from its new Bridge Investment Grant program for MassDOT’s $4 billion “Cape Bridges Program.” 2023 funding went exclusively to repair bridges in Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, and California – nothing for the Cape Cod Canal bridges.
It has been observed by some officials that the failure to obtain funds for the Canal project this year was partially due to the State of Massachusetts and the Army Corps of Engineers not having a fully fleshed out financing plan (“the Cape Cod Bridges Program scored low in the Financial Completeness sub-category and therefore the U. S. Department of Transportation determined that the source of matching funds was uncertain”). There will be the same funding opportunities available yearly through 2026.
A representative from the Davisville Civic Association Board attended the May 17th Open House entitled CAPE COD BRIDGES PROGRAM in Bourne, Massachusetts sponsored by the MassDOT, which covered the following topics:
Environmental Notification Form
Status of the program
Interchange alternatives
Potential bridge locations
Lane configurations
Maps of the Program Area
Next steps
The experts were very knowledgeable, competent, and fully answered questions. It appeared that no politicians were present at the session, which, in fact, was by its nature technical in scope.
On May 18, the day following the Bourne Massachusetts Open House, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced that the state of Massachusetts would be increasing its funding level from the original $350 million to a new amount of $700 million. It is important to remind ourselves that all funding – whether by the State of Massachusetts, Army Corps of Engineers, U. S. Department of Transportation, or Congress – is ultimately all from the same one source, i.e., the taxpayers (us!).
With funding, as noted above not in place, it is somewhat difficult to forecast exact timing for both the initiation and completion of the construction. This construction will be more extensive in many respects than the 1930s bridges. The recently completed Environmental Notification Form observed that the likely commencement of construction will be 2027 with the expected completion date of 2035 (the 100th Anniversary of the completion of the current Bourne and Sagamore Bridges).
Obviously, safe, rapid, and timely access to and from Cape Cod, especially in a time of needed evacuation, is essential to the common good and economic values on Cape Cod.
The Board expects to provide more updated information on this topic at the July 29, 2023 Annual Meeting.
For your information, we have included an interesting video entitled “How the Cape Cod Canal was built!” that we believe you will find informative.