“I am pleased that Secretary Mullan acted quickly on our recommendation to establish a task force to address the congestion issues,” said Delahunt. “It is vital to get all agencies and business groups working together on the planning of future work, the development of alternate routes, the upgrading adjacent roads, and in coming up with a much better system of communication.”
In a letter last week to Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan, Delahunt called for the creation of a task force to address the immediate, near-term and future transportation infrastructure needs of the bridges and the roads in and around the Cape Cod Canal. Given the numerous federal, state, county and local agencies involved in the management the Cape’s roads and bridges, Delahunt said any relief at easing the congestion and developing better communication will require getting “everyone on the same page and working together”.
At the direction of Governor Patrick and MassDOT Secretary and CEO Jeff Mullan, the Task Force will be chaired by Tom Cahir, Administrator of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority. Task Force participants will represent federal, state, regional, and local officials, including the Office of Congressman Delahunt, Army Corps of Engineers, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Cape Cod Commission, Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, Towns of Bourne and Sandwich, and other local business representatives.
The Task Force is expected to focus on near-term improvements necessary in spring 2010 when Sagamore Bridge construction resumes along with discussion of longer term solutions including alternate routes and other ways to mitigate traffic congestion affected by bridge work and action plans and preliminary cost proposals for recommended long term investments.
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