BOURNE -- There was a line of people waiting to get into the gymnasium at the Bourne Veterans Memorial Center on Monday at noon.
Inside, aerial photographs of the Bourne and Sagamore bridges were spread around the gym. There were close-ups of interchanges and approaches, along with state highways and feeder roads and the areas that will be impacted by preliminary designs for new bridges.
While still in the preliminary stages, the information was designed to show people how the Sagamore and Bourne Bridge plans are shaping up. It was also an opportunity for attendees to ask questions and submit comments of their own.
Bryan Cordeiro, state Department of Transportation project manager for the Cape Cod Bridges Program said the displays, photos and graphics were meant to show the different options associated with the bridge replacements.
Both bridge projects are being advanced as one program because the federal government grades applications based on how 'project-ready' the program is. The projects will be broken down into phases. The Sagamore Bridge replacement will be built first because the state has procured the money necessary.
For the Sagamore Bridge, two bridges will replace the current one. Both spans will be west of the current bridge. Their bridge piers will be on the edge of the canal rather than in the canal. The space between water and bridge will be 135 feet, but the new bridges will be 3.3 feet higher than the current one to accommodate sea level rise.
One span will be built first, then the old bridge will be dismantled and removed before the second span is built. Each bridge will have three lanes with one reserved for exiting and entering the highway.
The current Sagamore Bridge is 40 feet wide with two eastbound lanes and two westbound lanes. Each new bridge will be 54 feet wide. One of the bridges will have a path for pedestrians and cyclists.
As planned, Market Basket grocery story and the old Christmas Tree Shops location will remain, but the strip mall at Market Basket will need to be removed for bridge construction. Twelve businesses and homes along Sandwich Road near the Sagamore Bridge will be impacted, as planned, according to Cordeiro
.The state transportation department must follow what Cordeiro referred to as the Uniform Act, which sets the exact process the state must take to give just compensation to property owners. Property owners have not yet been notified, he said.
The state expects to complete permitting for Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act and National Environmental Policy Act requirements by the spring of 2026. After that environmental permits and procurement documents will be finalized around the fall of 2026 to give to designers and builders. Construction could begin in 2028.
Comments and questions raised during the open house will feed into the development of the draft environmental impact statement scheduled to be filed in the spring of 2025, Cordeiro said.
Denise Coffey writes about business, tourism and issues impacting the Cape's residents and visitors. Contact her at [email protected] .
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