MassDOT holds Cape Cod bridge project open house

BOURNE, Mass. — Dozens came out to an open house in Bourne Tuesday to learn about the Cape Cod replacement bridge project.

“I’m looking forward to it and I hope it goes really smoothly and I’m praying it’ll be on schedule, so I can drive over it before I die,” said Robert Rand, who lives by Sagamore Beach.

Many were happy to see plans for recreation, like a new pedestrian and bike path along the new Sagamore Bridge as the clock ticks closer to construction.

“The new bridge will be wider, it will have merging lanes to prevent collisions, it will have much better more efficient interchanges, so we expect to see a reduction in the traffic that plagues Cape Cod especially during the peak summer season,” said Luisa Paiewonsky, executive director of Megaprojects for MassDOT.

Many agree it’s time to replace the nearly 100-year old bridges, but it comes at a cost for some homeowners nearby.

“The emotional distress is beyond words, we are in state of mourning it feels like we’re going through a grief process and no one is helping us,” said Marc Hendel who lives nearby.

The Hendels had just bought a brand-new house last February, and a month later, they were one of a dozen people notified that the state will take over their property through eminent domain to build the new Sagamore Bridge.

“We have a brand-new home, we built this home it was a dream home it was our forever home and we have nowhere to go because there are no homes for sale in this part of the Cape, we insist on staying here, we picked this location for a reason,” said Hendel.

After appraisals, the state will fully compensate these homeowners for their property and they’ll have 120 days to find a new place to live.

“If you’ve never had your house taken you don’t know it, you don’t know all the hell, no sleep, we’re not sleeping, we’re emotionally drained,” said Joan Hendel.

The Hendels say they’re frustrated that after 120 days if they can’t find a new home, they’ll need to pay rent to the stat in their current home.

But MassDOT says that’s just part of the process.

“We don’t think it’s an unreasonable thing to ask, we don’t think it’s a major burden to ask them to pay rent on a home that they no longer own, but we understand that feelings run high sometimes and we empathize with what they’re going through,” said Paiewonsky.

MassDOT says construction could start on the new Sagamore bridge by the end of next year, and it’ll take about 5 years to shift traffic over to the new bridge, by about 2033.

The state is still waiting for the federal grant to rebuild the Bourne bridge.

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