UNDER CONSTRUCTION - MOVED TO MIDDLEBORO REVIEW 3 https://middlebororeviewandsoon.blogspot.com/
Saturday, July 13, 2024
2 CAPE COD BRIDGES are owned by the ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.....THEY'RE OLD & FAILED BRIDGES!
VOTERS ARE SMARTER THAN REPUBLICAN DIM WITS GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR... CRYPTO CARPETBAGGER JOHN DEATON VOTED 3 TIMES IN 20 YEARS, NEVER LIVED IN MASSACHUSETTS UNTIL THIS RECENT CHARADE.
Gee, Republican Nit Wits did you notice that there was no FUNDING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE until President Biden & DEMOCRATS passed the INFRASTRUCTURE BILL?
Former Daffy Dude called for its DEFEAT and 30 MAGA DIM WITS genuflected in the SENATE! Must I post the VOTES that are publicly available?
It's time for REPUBLICAN CLOWNS to stop promoting LIES! These GOP DIM WITS whine, complain, criticize....did they attend any of the numerous hearings? They don't even comprehend the complexities involved.
One of the bridges, the BOURNE is a RAILROAD bridge. Surely the Carpetbagger Deaton hasn't figured that out.
The SAGAMORE BRIDGE will be paid for thanks to President Biden and Democrats that approved the legislation.
'We've got the money.' $993M federal boost means new Sagamore Bridge now paid for
Get ready Cape Cod, because there is now enough money to build a brand new, modern bridge to replace the aging Sagamore Bridge, vastly improving a vital economic engine and public safety lifeline for the region.
The long-awaited Sagamore project in Bourne has received a nearly $1 billion boost from the federal government, the Massachusetts congressional delegation announced Friday. Added to the $722 million in previously granted federal money, plus $700 million in money set aside by the state, it's more than enough to cover the estimated $2.1 billion to replace the 89-year-old span, with some left over to put toward replacing the Bourne Bridge.
"It's so exciting! Massachusetts just hit a billion-dollar home run to start replacing the Cape Cod bridges," U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, said in a phone call Friday afternoon. "We've got enough to pay for one bridge!"
The grant brings the total federal investment in the Sagamore replacement to $1.7 billion. Including what the state has promised, the full bank account for replacing the Cape Cod bridges is now $2.42 billion.
The Cape Cod Canal bridges were designed and built in the 1930s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which still owns and maintains them today. The bridges initially saw one million crossings annually, with that figure shooting up to nearly 38 million today, according to the Cape Cod Commission. That level of traffic is about the same as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which is about six times the length and twice the width.
'One of the biggest federal grants'
Warren said the total federal allocation amounts to "one of the biggest federal grants in U.S. history."
"Most of the federal funding is for much less expensive projects, or it's a much smaller fraction of the overall cost," she said.
U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Massachusetts, noted the grant was the second largest allocation nationwide from the bridge investment program — Oregon and Washington State received about $1.5 billion to replace the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River that connects the two states.
"We had to really be successful here, and we were. There is a great sense of relief," he said, talking by phone Friday. "If this was not successful, it would have pushed the project back many, many years."
The federal government so far is covering about 94% of the costs toward replacing the two bridges. Warren said the federal share of other big projects in the Bay State, like the Big Dig and the Boston Harbor cleanup, was much smaller.
Keating and Warren have worked for years alongside U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, to secure funding for replacing the bridges. Gov. Maura Healey has also pushed for state funds and supported the efforts to win federal money.
Securing the funding, Warren said, is a monumental accomplishment, especially considering "two years ago we had zero federal dollars for this bridge."
Markey: 'Today is the big payoff'
After learning about the additional funding on Friday, Markey said, "it's like Christmas in July for Cape Cod."
"I joined the public works committee in the U.S. Senate 11 years ago this week and the Sagamore Bridge replacement has been a project for all of these years," he said by phone. "Today is the big payoff."
Keating, who's been advocating for replacing the bridges since he was elected in 2013, agreed. "The question is no longer about how to fund the replacement of the Sagamore Bridge, but when shovels will go in the ground to build it," he said.
Keating: New bridge will be economic lifeline
Replacing the bridges, Keating said, will "bring immense economic, environmental, and social benefits to the region and the entire commonwealth."
The new bridge, "will be more than just a connection between two sides of the canal, it is a lifeline for the quarter of a million people who live on Cape Cod and the economic driver that brings workers and tourists back and forth every day."
As a resident of Bourne, which is split by the canal, Keating said he is particularly cognizant of how important the bridges are.
"I live and breathe this every day," he said.
More than half the workers who fuel the region's economy travel over the bridges daily, and the Cape's hospitality industry relies on adequate access to the Cape for visitors, Keating said. Additionally, the bridges serve as essential gateways for access to the ferries that carry residents, visitors, and essential supplies to the Islands, he said.
Town of Bourne: 'involved every step of the way'
Bourne Town Administrator Marlene McCollem on Friday said town leaders are "very excited" about the final piece of funding for the Sagamore Bridge falling into place. Her office learned of the award around mid-morning on Friday, she said.
Going forward, "the town will be involved every step of the way" as the project gets started, McCollem said.
The town will be, and already is, working closely with the state transportation department and the design team for the bridge project on "how it will look and how it's going to be built," McCollem said.
Keating said some "early construction work" could get started as soon as 2026.
Warren is eager to see things progress as soon as possible. "We've got the money," she said. "Now it's up to the engineers to get this thing under way."
What improvements are planned?
The Sagamore Bridge will feature several key improvements over the current structure that will allow for greater volume and safer traffic flow.
Currently, a single crossing, Warren said, "really reminds you of not having an up-to-date, 21st century bridge."
The new Sagamore Bridge, Keating said, will essentially encompass two spans, one for traffic headed onto the Cape and one for traffic leaving it. The lanes will also be wider, Keating said, "so all of us who are now traveling with white knuckles over the bridge" to avoid either scraping the passenger side on high curbing, or side-swiping oncoming vehicles, can be more relaxed.
Plans additionally call for emergency pull-over lanes, and a safer space for bicycle and pedestrian crossings.
Will traffic be backed up during construction?
"As the construction goes forward, they're making great plans so this will not be interrupting traffic," Keating said.
According to Healey's office, the replacement project "will be fully offset from the existing bridge so that traffic may be maintained on the existing bridge during the project."
It is anticipated that the project will create more than 9,000 union construction jobs.
Is the Sagamore Bridge funding guaranteed?
"It's locked in. This is it," Warren said of the Sagamore Bridge funding. "It's already been appropriated. We knew that this money was going to be spent, but the question was who was going to get it. That's been answered now."
The challenge, the legislators say, could be in securing funds for the Bourne Bridge replacement if a new federal administration comes in that doesn't support such large investments in infrastructure.
Keating said the estimated cost of replacing the Bourne Bridge is about the same as for the Sagamore Bridge, though he hopes economies of scale can be realized.
Editor's note: A correction was made to the new grant amount in a headline on July 12, 2024.
Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT
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