Markey puts Cape Cod bridge grants in historical context

Energized by a nearly $1 billion funding jolt, state and federal leaders gathered at the Sagamore Recreation Area Tuesday, against the backdrop of one of the aging Cape Cod bridges that officials say is now much closer to being replaced.

The Healey administration announced Friday that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers won a $993 million federal grant for the Cape Cod bridges replacement effort, which officials have said will start with the Sagamore Bridge, as they also prepare to later replace the Bourne Bridge.

While the grant is massive, the state is still short more than half of the project's more than $4.5 billion price tag.

Gov. Maura Healey, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating held what was billed as a celebratory press conference near the Sagamore Bridge, cheering on the funding infusion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's Bridge Investment Program. Markey called Tuesday an historic day for the region, likening it to "Christmas in July on Cape Cod."

"Who wants to be a billionaire? Sagamore Bridge," Markey said. "That is what we are celebrating here today — just an incredible victory. And it is the largest single bridge grant to a single state in the history of the United States, and the single largest competitive grant Massachusetts has received from the federal government."

Officials expect more than $4.5 billion is needed to replace both bridges. Massachusetts so far has secured $1.7 billion in federal dollars for the project, and state officials have committed $700 million. The bridges, often heavily congested throughout the summer and holiday weekends, are almost 90 years old and considered "functionally obsolete" by the Corps, which owns them.