Bridges across the US and the world are a fascinating subject, at least to me. For anyone who cares about Cape Cod, it should be for you also. The Sagamore and Bourne Bridges were built between 1933 and 1935. Yes, 90 years old. I have been hearing about the condition on the bridges forever. For decades. We are still years away from replacing the Sagamore and there is no plan as of now, to replace the Bourne. To put that in perspective, The Tappan Zee Bridge that crosses the Hudson River at a very wide point, was built in 1950. It was replaced starting in 2012. Yes , there were material issues post WWII, but still. The George Washington Bridge, the Hudson River crossing 21 miles to the south, was built between 1927 and 1931. It is 1/2 way through a several billion dollar complete overhaul.
As of now, there is a grant submitted, and if approved, work on replacing the Sagamore would begin in 2028, and could take close to a decade. repairs are being proposed for the Bourne. Beginning when? And what does that mean? Who knows?
The bridges are not just a time issue for visitors during the Summer cottage turnover days. With the rental pool decreasing on the cape and affordable housing being a critical issue, this means that more and more workers are coming from off Cape every day. Thousands and thousands. The bridges are critical to the economy, and how and when they are rebuilt and repaired and critical to the environment. Traffic flows, home ownership, Eminent domain issues. I am grateful for the attention that The Association to Preserve Cape Cod gives to this issue, as the organization that thinks across issues that affect all 15 towns on the Cape.