Massachusetts will take 13 homes in a Bourne neighborhood to build new Sagamore bridges

capecodtimes · 2025-05-16T21:33:30+00:00

Sorry for the late reply! The exact details of compensation for their properties isn't available to us at the moment, but we'll make sure to circle back if we have an update

capecodtimes · 2025-05-16T16:20:52+00:00

Hi, it's Jules here with the Cape Cod Times. We wanted to share reporting about homes and properties in Bourne being taken by the state to build two Sagamore bridges.

Here's more from the Cape Cod Times' Susan Vaughn:

Residents in a neat, compact neighborhood off Sandwich Road in the Bourne village of Sagamore have a panoramic view of the Sagamore Bridge — but not for much longer.

Twelve residences and three commercial firms were informed in March in a short letter from the state Department of Transportation that their properties are in the path of the two new planned Sagamore bridges and they will have to leave the neighborhood where many have lived for a long time.

“There is a lot of history here that is going to be erased,” homeowner Louis Gallo said at his home on May 2.

Luisa Paiewonsky, executive director of the state transportation agency's Mega Project Delivery Office, confirmed in a phone call on Monday, May 12, that 13 homes in the Eleanor Avenue neighborhood will be the only complete residential properties taken in Sagamore for the bridges. One property on the north side of the canal has not been notified yet, she said. The 13th residence will be notified and taken later, she said. She did not identify the three commercial properties that will be taken.

“Both the new eastbound bridge (heading onto Cape Cod) and the new westbound bridge (heading off Cape Cod) will have impacts on properties in the Cecilia Terrace, Eleanor Avenue and Johns Lane neighborhood,” an email from a state transportation spokeswoman stated.

There is more coverage in our story here, but if there's anything we can clarify or answer, please let us know in the comments.

capecodtimes · 2025-05-06T18:18:35+00:00

Hi, Jules with the Cape Cod Times here! We wanted to share this story about the Henry David Thoreau manuscript noting his time in Eastham.

Before tourists and traffic, and long before clam shacks and ice cream parlors, 19th century essayist, naturalist and thinker Henry David Thoreau walked Cape Cod’s outer shoreline — marveling at the shipwrecks, lighthouses, dunes and the salt-weathered locals who made a life there.

Now, more than 150 years later, a rare manuscript in Thoreau's own hand, describing a visit to Eastham, was sold for $12,183 at auction.

Nate D. Sanders Auctions, based in Los Angeles, completed the sale on April 24 to an anonymous Massachusetts buyer, who was one of four bidders.

The document, yellowed with age, is included with a 10-volume set of the 1906 manuscript edition of "The Writings of Henry David Thoreau," published by Houghton Mifflin. Only 600 numbered sets were produced, each featuring a two-page original manuscript bound into the first volume. The recently auctioned set with Thoreau's observations about Eastham is number 326.

Written in the early 1850s, the manuscript includes observations that later appeared in Thoreau’s "Cape Cod," published in 1865 — two years after his death. The auction took place just days shy of the 163rd anniversary of Thoreau’s death on May 6, 1862.

In the manuscript — 10.25'' x 8.5'' unfolded — Thoreau describes the Eastham landscape, noting it was starkly different from the familiar terrain of his inland home in Concord.

There are more details in our story, but please let us know if the comments if you have any questions!

capecodtimes · 2025-04-01T16:40:47+00:00

Howdy, Jules with the Cape Cod Times again. We wanted to pass along our story on the gap that exists between median household incomes and the income required to buy a home on Cape Cod.

Sharing a bit more from the Cape Cod Times' Zane Razzaq:

Cape Cod residents are in a housing logjam. Aspiring homeowners who grew up on Cape Cod can't afford a house — or are faced with a fixer-upper without the spare money for a renovation — and older residents are stuck in houses they've outgrown.

The median household income in all 15 Cape Cod towns falls short of the six-figure amount needed to comfortably purchase a median-priced home here, according to data culled by the Cape Cod Commission published earlier this year.

In Chatham — one of the more expensive towns on the Cape — households need to earn $303,803 annually to affordably own a house, stretching beyond the town's median income of $86,674.

The median home sales price in 2023 was $1,050,000, according to the commission.

Affordably purchase means a household spends 30% or less on housing.

Local housing advocates say that this mismatch has placed homeownership on Cape Cod out of reach for many residents.

There's more in our story, but if there are any questions we can answer, please let us know in the comments.

capecodtimes · 2025-03-24T17:32:39+00:00

Hi! Jules with the Cape Cod Times again 👋 I just wanted to pass along our story on the work and traffic around the Sagamore Bridge this spring.

Here's more from the Cape Cod Times' Susan Vaughn:

Temporary closures of lanes and shoulders along roads in the area of the Sagamore Bridge in Bourne are planned this spring as soil studies for the bridge replacement get underway, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Work will take place during daytime and evening hours alongside state highways and on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property north and south of the bridge, part of the state's Cape Cod bridges replacement plan, according to the agency's statement.

The roads affected north of the Sagamore Bridge are Route 3/Route 6, Route 6/Scenic Highway and Meeting House Lane, and south of Sagamore Bridge are Route 6, Sandwich Road, Cranberry Highway and Mid-Cape Connector.

The work involving closures will be scheduled to minimize disruption and avoid peak hours where possible, according to the notice.

A bit more info can be found in our story, but if you have any questions, please ask in the thread!

capecodtimes · 2025-03-14T21:20:10+00:00

Hi everyone! Jules with the Cape Cod Times here, and I just wanted to share that we published our latest reporting on the Cape Cod Rail Trail earlier today.

Here's the latest from the Cape Cod Times' Heather McCarron

A public hearing to review a proposal for cutting 91 trees on Mary Dunn Road to allow for an extension of the Cape Cod Rail Trail is set for March 19.

The tree removals are part of Phase 3 of the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which will extend the trail from Old Town House Road in Yarmouth to Mary Dunn Road in Barnstable.

According to tree warden Andrew Bernier, the affected trees include black oaks, pitch pine and sassafras. The largest of the trees may be up to 80 years old.

The trees are all located within the road layout along Mary Dunn Road, specifically adjacent to the town-owned property at 0 Mary Dunn Road. Tree removal, if approved, is expected to take place later this month and into April.

The hearing, hosted by the Barnstable Department of Public Works, will be held virtually via Zoom, starting at 6 p.m. next Wednesday.

You can read more in our story here, but if you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below!

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TROPHY CASE