The entire region is GRID LOCKED because of Cape Cod traffic....sounds like another Big Dig!
BRIDGE: BOURNEDALE NEIGHBORS CAUGHT OFF GUARD
BOURNE — Joseph Cimeno lives only a short distance from Route 25, but from his driveway on Yearling Run Road the sound of the highway is a distant murmur.
But that's more than he's heard about a proposal to run another road behind his house to connect Route 3 to Route 25, a variation on still tentative plans announced earlier this year based on building a third automobile bridge across the Cape Cod Canal.
"I haven't heard about it," Cimeno, 85, said as he was retrieving his mail in a light drizzle last week.
Other residents of the quiet, wooded section of Bourne known as Bournedale, an area crisscrossed by power lines and a herring run, were equally in the dark about the possibility.
"None of us neighbors have heard anything about this," said Dotty Wright, who lives down the street with her husband.
If it happens it could be devastating, the 65-year-old said about the road building and potential disruption it could bring to the area.
"I don't want to overreact," said Matthew Stuck, another resident on the road. "That's all they are is proposals. You want to learn as much as you can about the process before you prejudge."
Lawmakers who represent the Cape began the formal learning process on Thursday as state Department of Transportation officials presented a suite of proposals and how they might be funded during a closed door session at the Statehouse.
"They talked about two different projects," said state Rep. Randy Hunt, R-Sandwich, who attended the meeting along with other local lawmakers or their representatives.
One project — dubbed Project Mobility by state transportation officials — is an express toll lane on Route 3 between Exit 11 and the Braintree split. But it was the third bridge project — Project Span — which has received the most attention locally.
Congestion traveling on- and off-Cape has been bemoaned by motorists and tourism officials for years, a problem that has been compounded by seemingly endless work to maintain the existing 80-year-old Bourne and Sagamore bridges controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The idea of a third bridge — championed in particular by Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Northcross and Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority Administrator Thomas Cahir — first surfaced late last year through the state's new Public-Private Partnership Oversight Commission, which was formed to study potential collaborations between the state and private sector on transportation projects.
Under a public private partnership — or P3 for short — a private developer comes up with the funding for a project and then gets a return on the investment through tolls or payments over time from the state.
NO PUBLIC MONEY
The third bridge project includes two possible primary configurations: a bridge built immediately adjacent to the Sagamore Bridge that would carry three tolled lanes onto the Cape or a bridge built in the center of the canal which would carry traffic in both directions, including through land on the Cape-side that the state currently leases to Joint Base Cape Cod.
There are several variations included in the plans for improving connections between routes 3, 25 and 6, including the connector between routes 3 and 25 in Bournedale or another possible connection if a bridge is built in the middle of the canal that would connect to Route 25 in roughly the same spot.
The so-called twinning of the Sagamore Bridge and the connector between routes 3 and 25 is estimated to cost $320 million, according to state officials. The Bourne Bridge in both directions and the Sagamore Bridge going off-Cape would remain untolled, giving drivers an option to travel free of charge if they want.
Tolls on the new bridge would be collected using transponders so traffic wouldn't be slowed down and so-called variable pricing — changes in pricing based on time of day or year — could be used to encourage specific driving patterns.
The primary push from state transportation officials on Thursday was to make it clear to legislators that there are no public funds for these projects in the near future and the only way to make them happen in the short term is through a public private partnership, Hunt said.
"The practical side of it is since we can't borrow anymore we're not going to be able to float a bond to pay for a new Sagamore Bridge in the next five years," he said.
Even after that the project isn't likely to be a top priority for public funding, Hunt said.
Hunt said the discussion Thursday focused on the financial underpinnings of the project rather than which concept is best.
"Does it make sense to pay three times as much in interest costs to have it go through a P3 that's going to be paid by user tolls as opposed to going the traditional route?" he said.
Although the project is possible using a P3, another important question is whether the public really wants it, he said.
'DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN'
State Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, said the plans are at a very preliminary stage.
Both Hunt and Peake say they've already heard from constituents about the pros and cons of adding a bridge.
"This is really about safety and congestion," Peake said. "It's not about bringing more people across the bridge."
The lanes on the Sagamore Bridge are not wide enough and it wouldn't be permitted under modern safety standards, she said.
"It's really a disaster waiting to happen," she said, adding that there have already been serious accidents on the bridge.
The bridge was built for a maximum capacity of 3,000 vehicles per hour but carries up to 4,800 vehicles per hour at its peak, she said.
"That's what causes the backup," she said.
But while a P3 arrangement might allow for a third bridge to be built in 10 rather than 20 years, the additional cost has to be considered, Peake said.
Peake said there were also questions from lawmakers about what accommodations would be made for year-round residents who have to travel back and forth over the bridges.
Massachusetts Highway Administrator Frank DePaola said all of these questions are being considered.
The first of what's expected to be three "working group" meetings on the third bridge concept for local elected officials, chambers of commerce representatives and other stakeholders is planned for Wednesday, he said, adding that a few of the nine or 10 variations on the concept might be taken off the table based on those meetings.
Constructing a bridge in the middle of the canal is likely to cost more than the twinning of the Sagamore and may not be feasible based on anticipated revenue, DePaola said.
Before moving forward it's important to know if tolling on the new bridge would be acceptable, DePaola said.
"If that's a non-starter with people then I want to know before I spend millions of dollars," he said.
There would almost certainly be a reduced toll available for local residents, although it's not clear how far that privilege would extend beyond Bourne, DePaola said.
"The connector road would be an enhancement to that option," he said about the road through Bournedale and the bridge immediately next to the Sagamore.
Public outreach on the connector road or other aspects of the project is premature if the concept doesn't make sense for other reasons, DePaola said.
The state still has to perform traffic and revenue studies, he said.
"These are studies done looking at the potential revenue and the potential sensitivity," he said. "If the tolls are too high it will send people to the untolled option."
A meeting with about 100 representatives from 40 to 50 companies interested in the project, including a bus tour of the area, is scheduled for Oct. 15 and Oct. 16, he said. The goal is to have a public presentation of the various options, including opportunity for public comment, by November.
Plans would then be narrowed down to a preferred alternative by the end of the year, which would kick off an environmental review if there's enough interest in moving forward, DePaola said.
There would be further opportunity for public comment during the environmental review, he said.
Cimeno said he and others are wondering whether a third bridge is the right way to go and that maybe a high-speed rail connection to the Cape would make more sense.
"The only problem with the third bridge is where do you go from there?" he said.
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