Washington (December 15, 2023) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Congressman Bill Keating (MA-09) today announced the Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and Army Corps a $372 million grant to start replacing the Cape Cod Canal Bridges under its Mega (National Infrastructure Project Assistance) grant program:

“We are pleased that the Department of Transportation has awarded Massachusetts $372 million to replace the Sagamore Bridge. This funding is a critical down payment on the effort to replace the Sagamore and Bourne bridges and a recognition that replacing the aging bridges will bring immense economic, environmental, and social benefits to Cape Cod, the Islands, and the entire Commonwealth. We are proud to have worked extensively to help secure this funding, and we commend the Healey administration for its leadership in ushering in a new era for the bridges. With this grant, the Biden administration is further demonstrating that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering for Massachusetts and the entire country.”

Senators Markey and Warren and Congressman Keating have relentlessly advocated for federal funding to replace the Cape Cod Bridges. In 2020, the Army Corps released its report concluding that constructing new bridges would improve travel, safety, and accessibility to and from the Cape. Following this report, the lawmakers worked to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide additional funds to replace the Bridges, including $5 billion for the Mega program, $11 billion in new funding for the Corps, and more than $9 billion in formula funds for Massachusetts. The lawmakers then convened meetings with key federal, state, and local leaders in January and April 2022 to coordinate efforts to replace the Bridges.

Since those meetings, the lawmakers have continued to work to secure federal funding for the Cape Cod Bridges project. In October, at the invitation of Senator Warren, Senator Markey and Congressman Keating joined Whitehouse Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu at a roundtable in Bourne, Massachusetts to discuss the state of the Bridges and need to replace them. In September, the lawmakers sent a letter to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg supporting MassDOT and the Corps’ application for funding for the Mega and Infrastructure for Rebuilding America programs. In July, Senators Markey and Warren secured $350 for the Cape Cod Bridges in the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. In May, Senators Markey and Warren and Congressman Keating sent a letter to the Federal Highway Administration requesting that the Agency expedite feedback from its technical review of the Bridges project. In May and August 2022, the lawmakers also sent letters of support for the Corps and MassDOT’s applications for federal grants, which resulted in a $1.6 million planning grant for the project, awarded in January 2023.