AASHTO Journal - MassDOT Secures $956M for Sagamore Bridge Project

Governor Maura Healey (D) recently noted that Massachusetts has secured authorization for $956 million in federal grant funding for its Sagamore Bridge replacement project. Subsequently, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation released request for proposals or RFPs for the project’s design-build contract.

[Above image via MassDOT]

MassDOT said the RFP launches the final phase of procurement before construction and will lead to the selection of the team that will design and build the new Sagamore Bridge. The Federal Highway Administration is also expected to authorize an additional $371 million in federal grant funding in mid-October, further securing funding for what the agency describes as one of the largest transportation projects in Massachusetts history.

“This is a major step toward delivering the new Sagamore Bridge that Cape Cod residents, businesses and visitors have waited decades for,” said Gov. Healey in a statement.

“We secured historic federal funding, completed critical permitting and design work, and now we are moving into the final procurement phase before construction,” she added. “We are going to keep pushing this project forward and deliver a safer, more reliable bridge that will serve Cape Cod and Massachusetts for generations.”

MassDOT expects final proposals to be submitted in May 2027, with a public bid opening anticipated in July 2027. A Notice to Proceed is anticipated in late 2027, with construction expected to begin in winter 2027.

“We are continuing to move this critical project forward with urgency, discipline, and a clear focus on delivery,” noted Phil Eng, interim MassDOT secretary and general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or MBTA, which is a division of MassDOT.

MassDOT will lead construction of the new Sagamore Bridge in partnership with FHWA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges. Both bridges are 91 years old and provide the only roadway connections between Cape Cod and mainland Massachusetts.

The Sagamore Bridge replacement project will include two new bridge spans, reconstructed roadway interchanges, improved local and regional traffic movements and safer, more modern infrastructure for Cape Cod’s approximately 230,000 year-round residents and more than five million annual visitors.

MassDOT expects the new eastbound span to open in 2033. At that point, all traffic will shift to the new span while the existing Sagamore Bridge is demolished and the new westbound span is constructed. MassDOT added that it plans to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction throughout construction to preserve existing roadway capacity.

The agency emphasized that the Sagamore Bridge is the first phase of the broader Cape Cod Bridges Program, which will ultimately replace both the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges. MassDOT and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have jointly applied for more than $1 billion in federal funding for replacement of the Bourne Bridge and are awaiting a decision on that application.