The Sagamore Bridge in

Sagamore, Massachusetts Sagamore is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bourne in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,623 at the 2010 census. "Sagamore" was one of the words used by northeastern Native Americans to design ...

carries Route 6 and the

Claire Saltonstall Bikeway The Claire Saltonstall Bikeway, also known as the Boston to Cape Cod Bikeway, is a 135-mile bikeway marked as Bike Route 1 that starts on the Charles River Bike Path near Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts and winds along Boston's Emerald ...

across the

Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the neck o ...

, connecting

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

with the mainland of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It is the more northeastern of two automobile canal crossings, the other being the

Bourne Bridge The Bourne Bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts carries Route 28 across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the rest of Massachusetts. It won the American Institute of Steel Construction's Class "A" Award of Merit as the "Most Beautiful ...

. Most traffic approaching from the north follows

Massachusetts Route 3 Route 3 is a state-numbered route in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is inventoried with U.S. Route 3 (US 3) as ...

which ends at Route 6 just north of the bridge, and the bridge provides direct

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

connections from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Interstate 93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...

History

The bridge and its sibling the

were constructed beginning in 1933 by the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

for the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, which operates both the bridges and the canal. Both bridges carry four lanes of traffic over a main span, with a ship clearance. They opened to traffic on June 22, 1935. The design of the Sagamore and Bourne bridges was later copied in miniature for the John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge that connects

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

from

Newburyport Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the 2020 ...

. The bridges replaced a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

which was built before the canal was widened. The original bridge approaches are still visible to the north of the modern bridge, though both approaches are in low-traffic residential areas.

Suicide deterrent fences

Between 1967 and 1977, 36 persons were recorded as having died by suicide from the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, and another 24 had attempted but either survived or were apprehended. From 1979 to 1983, as part of "major rehabilitation work," both of the bridges' four-foot high railings were replaced with suicide deterrent fencing. The 12-foot high fencing consists of one-inch round pickets spaced a maximum of six inches apart; the tops of the picket are bent on a seven-inch radius toward the roadway. In the 28-year period after the new fencing was installed (1984-2012), seven persons are known to have died by suicide from the bridges, and between 2013-2021, two attempts were prevented. The fencing was cited in 2021 as a possible model for bridges in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Rotary reconstruction

In 2004, construction began to replace the rotary that connects Route 6 and Route 3 to the bridge with a trumpet interchange known as the "Sagamore Flyover". This project had been delayed for many years because of a controversy about the disruption of homes and businesses in the area. The project finally commenced because of the severe

gridlock Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where "continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill". The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...

at the rotary, which was built to accommodate a much smaller amount of traffic. The flyover was completed in late 2006. The Army Corps of Engineers replaced the bridge deck, the sidewalk, and the lighting in May 2010. In October 2019, the Army Corps of Engineers recommended replacing the bridge with a wider bridge with four travel lanes, one auxiliary lane in each direction, bike and pedestrian paths, shoulders, and a median. The recommendation said that replacement was more cost-effective than upgrading the existing bridge in order to reduce long summertime backups.

Future

The Massachusetts DOT is following up on a study that concluded in 2019 about the future of the bridge along with the Bourne Bridge. The 2019 study concluded that improvements were needed to connectivity across the canal. The Cape Cod Bridges program is currently taking public input into the multi phased project and have unveiled different design types for feedback.

Bicycle/pedestrian access

There is a six-foot wide sidewalk for pedestrian and bicycle access on the east side of the bridge. The sidewalk is slightly raised, but there is no fence or barrier between it and car traffic, so cyclists are recommended to walk their bicycle. The bridge road is plowed in winter, although the sidewalk is sometimes unplowed and unpassable. The bridges to the Cape are sometimes closed for safety during high winds.Bourne, Sagamore bridges may close if Hurricane Sandy brings sustained winds of 70 mph
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References

External links

Steve Anderson's BostonRoads.com: Sagamore Bridge (US 6)

Sagamore Rotary flyover project
* {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Sagamore Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Cape Cod Bay A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

, upstream signs = , downstream =

, downstream signs = Through arch bridges in the United States Bourne, Massachusetts Bridges completed in 1935 U.S. Route 6 Bridges in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Road bridges in Massachusetts Cape Cod Canal Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Public Works Administration in Massachusetts