WASHINGTON – Massachusetts legislators are concerned after learning that President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2021 budget that was released this week, does not include funding for the replacement or repair of the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges.
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, along with Bourne Congressman Bill Keating have sent a letter to the Trump Administration expressing their disappointment on the decision.
“We are greatly disturbed by this omission of funds for the Cape Cod Canal Bridges and demand answers as to how the USACE plans to finance the replacement of such vital bridges that have long outlived their usefulness,” write the lawmakers in their letter.
“We are concerned that this decision reflects a failure to understand the urgency of the situation for the Cape & Islands. The residents of this region cannot wait multiple years for this project to begin.”
The letter was addressed to Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Rickey James.
According to Markey’s office, the USACE’s Work Plan allocated $11.9 million to ongoing operations and maintenance in the Cape Cod Canal Federal Navigation Project, but did not allocate additional money to commence work on either repairing or replacing the bridges in 2020.
The President’s budget requested $12.4 million for ongoing operations and maintenance at the canal, but did not include funding for the repair or replacement project in 2021.
The Army Corps of Engineers recommended in October to replace both spans, as they determined both were “structurally deficient and in desperate need of replacement”.
The estimated cost for the project is expected to be around $1.5 billion.
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