The Bourne Bridge with the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge in distance
State, federal officials mum on Cape Cod Canal bridges meeting
WASHINGTON — Gov. Charlie Baker went to the nation’s capital earlier this week to talk about transportation with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, but details of what was discussed about the Cape Cod Canal bridges has not been revealed.
Baker made the trip Monday with Stephanie Pollack, the state’s transportation secretary. Pollack’s office referred questions about the meeting to Baker, but the governor’s office did not have much to add.
“They were meeting about multiple transportation priorities, including things such as the Cape Cod bridges and the MBTA,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email.
A request for more specifics on the bridge discussion went unanswered.
Likewise, Chao’s office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the meeting.
The Bourne and Sagamore bridges are under the care and custody of the federal U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In October, the Corps made a draft recommendation to replace the existing bridges with wider ones. The recommendation was in a long-awaited report that is expected to be finalized next month.
A decision on bridge replacement could come in the spring, kicking off a yearslong design and construction project.
The state Department of Transportation has also recommended replacing the bridges and has suggested several projects on the roads surrounding the canal that are contingent on bridge replacement.
Army Corps and state officials have said that the project would necessitate close cooperation between the state and federal government.
The state and the Corps have talked about the possibility of handing over custody of the bridges to the state after the federal government replaces them, but that idea is still in its infancy.
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