Bourne Rotary upgrades not expected to coincide with Cape Cod Canal bridge maintenance

Walker Armstrong, Cape Cod Times
·2 min read

The state Department of Transportation will begin work on the Bourne rotary early next spring with the expectation to finish in the fall, a project that could cause some traffic congestion on the bridges through the peak season but ultimately aims to improve the aging infrastructure.

“The work will consist of geometric modifications to the existing rotary located in Bourne, including box widening, pavement markings, signage, pavement fine milling, and pavement overlay,” said state transportation spokesman Marshall Hook.

Hook said a bid for the project was awarded on Nov. 9 and a preconstruction meeting with the contractor, the Falmouth-based Lawrence-Lynch Corp., will be held in early December. The construction bid price was awarded for about $1.8 million, according to the state agency.

The Bourne Rotary, shown here in May, is on the south side of the Bourne Bridge. Pavement upgrades and widening work at the rotary amounting to about $1.8M in cost is expected to begin in the spring, continue through the summer and wrap up by the fall.
The Bourne Rotary, shown here in May, is on the south side of the Bourne Bridge. Pavement upgrades and widening work at the rotary amounting to about $1.8M in cost is expected to begin in the spring, continue through the summer and wrap up by the fall.

Bourne Select Board Chair Mary Jane Mastrangelo said she was concerned about the possibility of spring maintenance on the Sagamore Bridge — the canal bridge northeast of the Bourne Bridge and rotary — and stressed the importance of interagency coordination in that event.

She said the Bourne rotary upgrades alone would cause traffic congestion, and in the event of Sagamore Bridge maintenance, the congestion would be two-fold as the only two routes on and off the Cape would be impacted.

“You can’t have travel restrictions near both bridges, it would be very difficult,” Mastrangelo said.

Both bridges are in the town of Bourne.

Maintenance on the Sagamore Bridge isn't expected until 2025

Maintenance work on the Sagamore Bridge isn't expected before 2025, said Bryan Purtell, public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the organization responsible for maintaining the Cape Cod Canal bridges, in an email.

“The USACE has been conducting extended maintenance work on the bridges about every 2 years,” Purtell said. “We did maintenance work on the bridges in 2021 and again this year, completing work on the Sagamore in March and April of 2023. We are constantly inspecting both bridges throughout the year.”

Walker Armstrong reports on all things Cape and Islands, primarily focusing on courts, transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne Rotary construction? Spring 2024. Bridge work? Maybe 2025.