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Sagamore Bridge

One of the more well-known sections of Route 6 is the eastern portion of its eastern end, in Massachusetts. This last 30 or so miles bows around as a busy expressway, from Sagamore to the end of the route and the end of the land, in Provincetown, along Cape Cod. Though the history of that route is a chapter in itself, this is to discuss what once was at Sagamore.

Sagamore is where US 6 exits the busy expressway linking Boston to the Cape. Instead, it heads west, following the Cape Cod Canal, to link State Route 3 to State Route 25. State Route 25 eventually splits into I-495 and I-195, the latter of which continues to New Bedford and Providence. US 6, meanwhile, continues into the town of Buzzards Bay, where it leaves the canal to follow the bay of the same name on its own route to New Bedford.

Just before exiting though, US 6 must cross the Cape Cod Canal at Sagamore. The Cape Cod Canal began construction in 1909 and was opened in 1914 after being planned, in some form or another, for over 100 years prior. They could just never get it built and, when they did, it took private money, at the direction of August Belmont, and 5 years to complete, after the canal boom when few states were bothering with them anymore. A rash of canal construction projects in the Northeast in the early 19th century brought about a canal boom, the most famous of which was the Erie Canal. But that canal had closed over 30 years prior to this canal’s opening, after the railroads had made shipping by boat less cost effective, and the saturation of canal competition had made the returns given more disappointing. And the Cape Cod Canal was just about as disappointing. However, it wasn’t for lack of need for the project.

When the canal was constructed, bridges also had to be built to span it. Three drawbridges were built: a railroad bridge at Buzzards Bay, a bridge at Bourne, and a bridge at Sagamore (there was also a ferry). The Sagamore Draw Bridge was the easternmost, and likely also the busiest in terms of traffic. It also bore the brunt of the problem with the Cape Cod Canal: it was too swift and too dangerous. It was so swift that the canal opened to a series of ship-bridge collisions that ultimately scared off potential boat traffic who would just assume traverse the whole Cape instead of paying the canal toll just to risk losing their vessel.

The steamship Belfast strikes the Sagamore Bridge, 1938. This is after the new bridge was constructed but before the old bridge was demolished. You can see at the left that the bridge is in the raised position.

World War I came to the canal’s rescue though, when several German U-boats surfaced outside nearby Orleans. The federal government temporarily took over the canal and dredged it deeper for military traffic. In 1920, it reverted back to private ownership, but only until 1928, when the federal government purchased it for $11.5 million and opened it for free travel. However, this didn’t solve the problem of safety.

US 6 was just coming online in 1928 and few signs likely existed for it at that point. However, it did span the Sagamore Bridge. From Sandwich, on what is now Route 6A, it diverged from Sandwich Road to follow what is now (and was likely then) Bridge Street, then turned right to reach the bridge approach. On the north side of the canal, it met what is now Old Plymouth Road before quickly turning west on what is now Canal Street. Canal Street continued past what is now the new Sagamore Bridge, and met the current routing of US 6 on a roadway that seems to no longer exist.

1933 USGS map showing the Sagamore Bridge and its approach configuration

While the federal government worked to widen, dredge and reroute (its western end was moved from Phinneys Harbor to Buzzards Bay), construction began on a new Sagamore Bridge and new Bourne Bridge in 1933, both opening to traffic in 1935, both arch bridges with four lanes of traffic. The new bridges were constructed mostly with newly-available Public Works Association money, made available as part of the Great Depression in one of the earliest examples of what often refer to today as a stimulus package. The bridge replacement was needed for several reasons: increased automobile traffic between Boston and Cape Cod, the planned widening of the canal meant that the bridges would not have reached its shores, and the safety issue of having a raising bridge on a fast-moving waterway.

1940 USGS map showing the new Sagamore Bridge and the new US 6 alignment

The Sagamore Bridge replacement also required modification of the approaches on either side, as both were very close to buildings and other roads. From Sandwich, US 6 cut off to the left, bypassing Sagamore to the south along what is now Cranberry Highway, crossed over Sandwich Road and the canal, and intersecting State Route 3 at a roundabout.

That roundabout would plague Cape Cod traffic for decades and was not replaced until 2004, when the current interchange alignment was completed. After some retrofitting in 2010 by the Army Corps of Engineers, they recommended in late 2019 that the bridge again be widened, to 6 lanes. This, however, has yet to be funded.

Sources: https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/Recreation/CCC/Brochures/Canal_Overview_Trifold.pdf https://www.capecod.com/lifestyle/the-story-of-the-original-canal-bridges/ https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/197362/ https://www.wcvb.com/article/bourne-sagamore-bridge-replacement-projects-left-out-of-federal-funding-plans/30926844#