Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cape Cod Bridges topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bourne board asks Cape Cod Commission to help draft MassDOT MOU as residents urge mitigation
Summary
Select Board members and residents urged formalized agreements with MassDOT to manage traffic, staging and mitigation for the new Cape Cod bridges; the board voted to engage the Cape Cod Commission to help draft a memorandum of understanding and process for future negotiations.
The Bourne Select Board on June 30 began a series of conversations about how to engage MassDOT on the Cape Cod Bridges program, asking whether the town should seek a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would spell out communications, traffic mitigation, staging limits and potential mitigation projects.
Board members and dozens of residents emphasized planning for heavy construction impacts and asked for clear channels of communication, peer review on traffic studies and concrete mitigation commitments such as design work on the Bourne Rail Trail. One resident, Rob Manson, urged the board to “request removal of F2 and construction of the Bourne Rail Trail as mitigation,” calling the bridge project a generational opportunity to secure lasting community benefits.
Multiple speakers also underscored the need for a process that commits MassDOT to share preliminary plans and design changes with the town in a timely way. “The MOU has to address issues like that,” a resident and earlier panelist said, urging that the town insist on a standing process for raising and resolving issues during the long multi‑phase project.
After extensive discussion and public comment the board voted unanimously to hire the Cape Cod Commission to assist the town in developing an MOU or engagement process to use when negotiating with MassDOT and to help identify needed peer review and mitigation strategies.
Why it matters: The bridge-replacement work will be a major multi-year construction program with substantial traffic, staging and neighborhood impacts; an MOU could establish formal mitigation, communication protocols and a path for securing funding or design commitments that benefit Bourne residents.
What’s next: The town administrator will coordinate with the Cape Cod Commission to begin scoping support and to draft a town-request framework for the MOU and mitigation asks; the board and staff encouraged residents to participate in the July 23 MassDOT 25% design hearing for the Sagamore Bridge.
