The Healey-Driscoll administration announced on Friday the project to replace the two aging Cape Cod bridges received $372 million in federal funding.
A release from Healey’s office says the state applied for the $372 million in August from the Federal Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant program. The administration is also waiting on an outstanding application for $1.06 billion from the federal Bridge Investment Program.
Still, there’s a long way to go to meeting the funding goals. The cost to replace both bridges has been estimated at $4.5 billion total.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has called the two spans — which are both 80 years old — “functionally obsolete.” The Bourne Bridge is also classified as structurally deficient, under current Federal Highway Administration guidance.
In the administration’s release on Friday, Healey said they are celebrating the announcement.
“This is a huge win for Team Massachusetts. Our administration said from day one that we were going to compete aggressively for federal funding to bring home to support crucial infrastructure projects in Massachusetts, like the Cape Cod Bridges project,” said Gov. Maura Healey is quoted in the release. “We are thrilled that our first application was a success, and we are optimistic that we are in a strong position to bring home the remaining funding. We’re grateful for the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration and for the strong partnership of Senators Markey and Warren, and Congressman Keating.”
MassDOT is the lead applicant on the project, applying jointly with the Army Corps as the owner of the bridges.
The Healey administration also included $262 million toward replacing the bridges in its fiscal year 2024–28 Capital Investment Plan, with the goal of ramping up to Healey’s $700 million total long-term commitment.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has also advanced Pres. Joe Biden’s budget proposal of $350 million for the Cape Cod Canal Bridges Project.
