Photo Shoot: Sagamore flyover and Romney with a jackhammer, what could go wrong?

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate last week and last Monday construction on the Bourne Bridge started up. It's scheduled to run through late November — 24 hours a day —reducing the bridge to one lane of traffic in each direction. The two events seem completely unrelated it would seem.

But politics and canal bridges are twins sleeping in the same crib. Take a trip back in history to 2002. Romney campaigned on removing the infamous old Sagamore Rotary on the mainland approach to the Sagamore Bridge with a proposed “flyover”, which eliminated the rotary, sending motorists leaving or arriving on the Cape zooming over the new ramp.

He was quoted in the Cape Cod Times, “I will resign in shame at the end of my term if that is not solved,” referring to the project. There has been talk for a long time since, about getting rid of the Bourne Rotary as well. But as both the Sagamore and Bourne bridges are up for replacement, all eyes are on fast-tracking the projects. Gov. Maura Healey wants to start the Sagamore project first, stay tuned.

Returning to the Sagamore flyover, the date was Friday, Dec. 3, 2004, and an anxious press corps assembled on the mainland side of the bridge off Route 3.  The governor would soon be arriving to “break ground” on the project. A jackhammer was set up over a slab of asphalt for a ceremonial photo opportunity.

After the speeches the decisive moment arrived, the governor was going to pose with the jackhammer. I never could quite find out what was planned, the tool was charged with compressed air, and when he pulled the trigger it erupted into the slab, spraying the photographers with stone shrapnel. The governor at first seemed surprised, but then seeing how much fun it was, doubled down with another round sending a second dose of spray towards the press, perhaps every politician’s fantasy, taking after the media with a jackhammer.

Walking up over the Bourne Bridge to document yet another repair to the aging structure I wondered how long it would take before the new bridges arrived, a question for the future. One thing was certain, I doubt there could ever be another groundbreaking ceremony quite like Romney’s, but I will happily take up another front-row vantage point to photograph it and every driver on or off Cape can join in the celebration.

Steve Heaslip is the Times chief photographer. Contact him at sheaslip@capecodonline.com. Follow him on X/formerly Twitter: @cctphoto.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne Bridge work brings back memories of Romney, Sagamore Rotary