March 20, 2024

Warren, Markey, Keating, MA Delegation to Secretary Buttigieg: We Strongly Support Massachusetts’ Bid for Billion-Dollar Funding Award to Replace Cape Cod Bridges

The Bridge Investment Program grant is the last remaining piece of federal support needed to advance the phased replacement of the  Sagamore and Bourne Bridges. 

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Edward J. Markey, along with U.S. Representative Bill Keating (D-Mass.) the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, reaffirming their support for Massachusetts’ $1.072 billion Bridge Investment Program (BIP) grant application to replace the Cape Cod Bridges. 

“We write to reaffirm our strong support of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) joint application for funding through the Bridge Investment Program,” wrote the lawmakers. “(T)he BIP grant is the final remaining piece of the funding puzzle to push forward the phased replacement of the aging Bourne and Sagamore Bridges, which cross the Cape Cod Canal and connect Cape Cod and the rest of Massachusetts and New England.”

The delegation has already secured significant federal funds towards rebuilding these bridges, including $350 million in funding from the FY 2024 funding package, signed into law by President Biden on March 9, and a December 2023 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) $372 million Mega grant. The BIP grant is the last part of outstanding federal support for the project, and is essential to meet the total Sagamore Bridge replacement cost of $2.14 billion. 

“(T)he Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USACE, and other stakeholders have worked for years with the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a comprehensive, multimodal plan for replacing both the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges and associated highway approaches. The rigorous ‘phased approach’  developed by the Commonwealth under the administration of Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll will commence with the replacement of the Sagamore Bridge,” continued the lawmakers. “This is the most efficient and cost-effective way to maintain the safety and economic vitality of the Cape Cod crossing, deliver good-paying union construction jobs, and create more sustainable transit options.”

The Sagamore and Bourne Bridges are vital assets for the Cape Cod economy and surrounding communities, as well as essential routes for general transportation, tourism, and emergency evacuations. However, at more than 90 years old, the bridges are suffering from structural deficiencies that present an ongoing risk to the accessibility of the Cape Cod region. 

“We worked hard to pass President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide historic opportunities to fund critical infrastructure projects across the United States. Rebuilding the Cape Cod bridges is a prototypical project that the Law was designed to fund. We are proud to reaffirm our support for the Commonwealth’s application for funding, and we appreciate your fair and full consideration of the project,” concluded the lawmakers. 

Senator Warren has led efforts to secure funds to replace the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges and press the federal government to take action to replace these crucial pieces of infrastructure: 

  • On March 4, 2024, Senators Warren and Markey (D-Mass.), with Congressman Keating, released the following statement on the inclusion of $350 million in federal funding for the Cape Cod Bridges in the Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act
  • On February 8, 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey sent a letter to U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Interim Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ranking Member John Kennedy (R-La.), urging the Senators to ensure the final Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill included $350 million in funding to help replace the Cape Cod bridges.
  • In December 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating announced that DOT had awarded the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and Army Corps a $372 million grant to start replacing the Cape Cod Bridges under its Mega (National Infrastructure Project Assistance) grant program.
  • In September 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating sent a letter to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg supporting Massachusetts’ application and urging DOT to provide funding to the Cape Cod Bridges Program to replace the vitally important Sagamore and Bourne Bridges. 
  • In July 2023, Senator Warren sent letters to 36 Cape Cod community stakeholders, including state elected officials, local elected officials, Tribal leaders, and community organizations, seeking their input on how the aging Bourne and Sagamore Bridges are impacting communities, businesses, and residents on and around Cape Cod. Senator Warren is seeking this information as part of her effort to ensure the federal government lives up to its commitments to replace the bridges.
  • In May 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representatives Keating and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, urging him to exercise his authority to support installation resilience in order to provide funding for the replacement of the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges. 
  • In May 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating sent a letter to the Federal Highway Administration, requesting them to expedite feedback from the technical review requested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) of the Cape Cod Canal Bridges project, which seeks to explore the scope, schedule and cost of the Cape Cod Bridges Project.
  • In March 2023, at a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Warren highlighted her push to secure funding for the Cape Cod Canal Bridges Project.
  • In March 2023, Senators Warren and Markey announced and applauded the inclusion of $350 million, toward a commitment of $600 million, in President Biden’s budget for the Bourne and Sagamore bridges. 
  • In February 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating sent a letter to Jamey L. Tesler, Acting Secretary of MassDOT, regarding the need for MassDOT to act quickly to take the necessary steps to obtain funding for the Cape Cod Bridges and to closely coordinate with USACE to submit a more competitive federal grant application in fiscal 2023. The lawmakers also sent letters to Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary for Civil Works at USACE, and Shalanda Young, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, urging the Corps to provide significant funds to replace the bridges.
  • In August 2022, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of USACE and the MassDOT application for funding through the FY2022 Bridge Investment Program Funding Opportunity.
  • In May 2022, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of the USACE and the MassDOT application for funding in the 2022 Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG) program to replace the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges.
  • In January 2022, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating convened a meeting with leaders from the Corps, MassDOT, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to detail efforts to replace the Bridges and again in April 2022 with MassDOT and the Corps.
  • In November 2021, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating worked to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide the Corps with a more than $11 billion increase in funding specifically for new construction projects and more than $9 billion in formula funds for Massachusetts.
  • In April 2020, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating commended USACE for its final “Major Rehabilitation Evaluation Report” on the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges in Cape Cod.
  • In February 2020, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating called on USACE to recommit to an earlier recommendation to replace the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges. 
  • In December 2019, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating sent a letter to the two top officials in USACE, calling on them to adopt the recommendation of the USACE’s New England District and replace both Cape Cod Canal Bridges.
  • In October 2019, as part of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, Senators Warren and Markey secured language directing USACE to repair or replace critical evacuation routes, such as the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges.
  • Also in October 2019, Senators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating commended USACE for its draft “Major Rehabilitation Evaluation Report” on the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges in Cape Cod.
  • In May 2019, Senators Markey and Warren, and Representative Keating, introduced the Enhancing the Strength and Capacity of America’s Primary Evacuation Routes (ESCAPE) Act, legislation that dedicates $1 billion of federal resources to expand the capacity and improve the resilience of evacuation routes such as the Sagamore and Bourne bridges.

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