The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is recommending a complete replacement of the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges in a move that could even further reduce traffic to businesses in Wareham, according to Selectman Alan Slavin. 

Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Marie Oliva said that any construction or maintenance would likely cause traffic congestion in Wareham, which could impact businesses.

The proposal was detailed at a community meeting at Bourne High School on Oct. 16. 

The current bridges were built between 1933 and 1935, and were intended to last for 50 years. The bridges are now 84 years old, and, while the Engineers say they are safe, they are built to outdated highway standards and meet the Corp.’s standards for a significant review because anticipated maintenance is estimated to cost more than 20 million and take more than two years.

The Corp. of Engineers first considered a variety of alternative solutions that ranged from the practical to the somewhat fanciful, including adding a third bridge, filling in the canal, building a tunnel, leaving the bridges as-is, or replacing the bridges with only two lanes in each direction.

The final recommendation is a full replacement of both bridges with an additional lane in each direction. Each lane would be 12 feet wide (instead of the current 10 feet), and the outermost lane in each direction would be an auxiliary lane to allow traffic merging in at the bridge to accelerate. The new bridges would also have shoulders to allow disabled vehicles to pull over, along with medians and a protected lane for cyclists and pedestrians.

The old bridges would remain open while the new bridges are built, and would be dismantled after they are complete. 

The Corp. said that the expanded bridges would be safer, and would also be better in the case of an evacuation from the Cape, allow faster emergency responses, improve military access for the base on Cape Cod, and reduce accidents.

If the Corp. were to rehabilitate the existing bridges, the construction process would take three and a half years. During the off-peak travel season, the Bourne Bridge would be fully closed for six months and there would be some lane closures for 16 months. The Sagamore Bridge would be fully closed for four months and lanes would be closed for 12 months during the off-peak travel season. The complete closures would be necessary because there are some parts of the bridges that can only be accessed by removing the roadway deck.

Rehabilitating the bridges would cost an estimated $1,504 million and would need to be done twice in the next fifty years.

Replacement of the bridges with the current four lanes would cost $1,463 million, and the proposed replacement with auxiliary lanes would cost $1,623 million.
The engineers took into account the costs, along with the effects of full and partial closures, and the benefits of different alternatives and determined that the replacement with auxiliary lanes would be the best use of money. 

The Army has also been working with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which owns the infrastructure on both sides of the bridge. The Corp. of Engineers only owns the bridges themselves. Because the new bridges will be in different locations than the current bridges, approaching roads will need to be re-routed.

Slavin expressed some skepticism, saying he wasn’t sure he’d see the bridges replaced in his lifetime. He also said that the bridges could even further reduce traffic through Wareham, which could be bad for businesses.

Oliva said that the project is in a very early stage, and that there will be hearings over the next few years about the design and environmental impact of the project at which residents and business-owners could make their voices heard.

She also noted that funding has not yet been secured for the project.

The public comment period for the project will run through Nov. 1. The Army Corp of Engineers will finalize their report in February 2020, and the Corp.’s leadership will make a final decision in Spring 2020. Construction would likely begin in 2025.

For more information or to make a comment online, go to www.capecodcanalbridgesstudy.com. Comments can also be mailed to  the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Attn: Cape Cod Bridges Study NEPA Coordinator, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742.