The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is making plans to demolish the homes taken by eminent domain in Bourne to make way for the new Sagamore Bridge.
Demolition is on the front burner because of break-ins at the empty homes, said Luisa Paiewonsky, head of the Cape Cod bridges project for DOT.
“We did notice that there was some squatting going on, and some break-ins, and we were concerned about the neighbors who are remaining in the neighborhood whose homes were not taken,” she said. “So we've taken some steps recently to board up the homes, place a no trespassing sign.”
The agency plans to hold a neighborhood meeting for residents of the Round Hill neighborhood within four to six weeks to talk about the demolition plan and future construction, she said.
Twelve of the 13 homes slated for acquisition have already been taken. The last one is in Probate Court because of a death in the family, not because of any problem with eminent domain, said Paiewonsky, executive director of the Megaprojects Delivery Office at DOT.
Meanwhile, the state plans to announce the top three qualified design-and-construction teams for the Sagamore Bridge in September.
Those three will be invited to bid on the bridge replacement project.
Construction of the $2.1 billion Sagamore is scheduled to start in late 2027 or early 2028.
As for the not-yet-funded Bourne Bridge replacement, there may be a glimmer of hope in the bid for federal funding.
The Federal Highway Administration has asked for updated information about the state’s readiness to begin construction, Paiewonsky said.
“They offered us an opportunity to provide more information on readiness. … We view that as a plus, because the project is so much more ready than it was when we applied,” she said.
This month marks a year since the state applied for a federal grant of more than $1 billion for the Bourne Bridge.
“We gladly took the opportunity to put together additional information, and we'll be submitting it in about a week or two,” she said.
