BOURNE – The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is starting a project this spring on the Bourne Bridge Rotary.
The exact start date has not been announced, but the hope is to get underway in early March. MassDOT supervising project manager Thomas Currier told the board it’s a maintenance project which will offer safety improvements to better-direct vehicles depending on their destination.
According to the state, the work will include restriping the traffic circle to indicate there are two lanes, and they will add a “channelized right turn lane” from Route 28 north to Sandwich Road accessing the Sagamore Bridge.
MassDOT is trying to minimize the impact on the commuting public, as the project is expected to be performed almost completely at nighttime, with a stoppage during the summer. It’s expected to be completed in November. It was acknowledged at last week’s select board meeting that there may be some minor, short-term detours.
Lawrence-Lynch Corporation of Falmouth was hired for the one-point-eight-million dollar project. Two years ago, they worked on the Bourne North Rotary, also known as Belmont Circle.
The Bourne Bridge Rotary is known for its iconic green middle with “Cape Cod” spelled across in a row of hedges. It could become a relic of the past after MassDOT shared plans with the select board last spring indicating the rotary will be eliminated when the Cape Cod Canal bridges eventually get replaced.
As for the bridges themselves, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does not expect to be performing any major maintenance on the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges in 2024. Spokesperson Bryan Purtell says the current pattern is cycling every two years, so the next big one might be in 2025. Purtell says the Army Corps of Engineers is constantly monitoring the heavily-traveled infrastructure which will turn 90 years old next year.
By Jim McCabe, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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