Cape Cod Rail, Bridges and Highways

[BosMaineiac]

Which is why the abandonment of the line to Woods Hole pains me so much. A train to Hyannis doesn’t give a tourist (or resident) access to much of what the cape has to offer, but a train to the island ferry terminal becomes a much more attractive service by at least an order of magnitude.

The good news is the ROW to the main parking lot for Woods Hole ferries is intact, albeit paved over with a bikeway. A station could be located there, near the old Falmouth station, and a shuttle can bring passengers right to the ferry.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

The good news is the ROW to the main parking lot for Woods Hole ferries is intact, albeit paved over with a bikeway. A station could be located there, near the old Falmouth station, and a shuttle can bring passengers right to the ferry.

The ROW is only landbanked as a state rail corridor to Falmouth Depot. The bikeway to from Depot to Woods Hole is on a 1969 abandonment that wasn't ever protected with a landbank, and is owned by the town.

 

[BosMaineiac]

The ROW is only landbanked as a state rail corridor to Falmouth Depot. The bikeway to from Depot to Woods Hole is on a 1969 abandonment that wasn't ever protected with a landbank, and is owned by the town.

Right, by main parking lot for Woods Hole I meant the one on Palmer Ave, immediately north of the Falmouth Depot. The shuttle already exists to bring people from there to the ferry landing

 

[Stlin]

Given Woods Hole area residents' perennial complaints regarding ferry induced traffic, (and by extension Falmouth residents) would it be at all likely that they would be less NIMBY-y towards reactivation, especially in full even through non-formally landbanked portions if it meant that it would divert car trips?

Especially with the SSA/CCRTA MOU, personally I do think a Boston- Islands Ferry timed transfer service, with bundled tickets, is an amazing idea as an service option for the capeflyer, for which, if the capex isn't horrendous, which it shouldn't be to rebuild a couple miles of track, a direct walking transfer should be much preferred.

However... Isn't the bottleneck the rail bridge? I seem to recall some discussion in past years about an expanded capeflyer schedule being stimied by the USCG refusing additional closings. That bridge is also close to 90 years old, and I don't think you can raise it substantially either.

 

[jklo]

Especially with the SSA/CCRTA MOU, personally I do think a Boston- Islands Ferry timed transfer service, with bundled tickets, is an amazing idea as an service option for the capeflyer, for which, if the capex isn't horrendous, which it shouldn't be to rebuild a couple miles of track, a direct walking transfer should be much preferred.

The Hyannis Cape Flyer stop is not very far from the Ferry Dock.

 

[Highwayguy]

The Hyannis Cape Flyer stop is not very far from the Ferry Dock.

Its half a mile across a few busy streets which is a very far walk for families or people lugging all of their beach gear/whatever else. The beauty and appeal of a Woods Hole timed transfer is how seamless it would be. The old stop is literally feet from the docks and one could skip the hassle of waiting/ queuing for the car slots or parking, not to mention the congestion just getting there from Metro Boston on on RTs 3, 6, and 24. Even with the slow track South of Middleboro, the train would very likely beat the door to porthole(?) time for people driving due to the above, not even including the peak season congestion. Unlike the Cape, realistic (for middle class types) to vacation on the Vineyard without a car.

With Hyannis (or a bus transfer at N Falmouth to Woods Hole), it would have to be a train, to a bus, to the ferry for it to be timed, way less of an appeal factoring that at each of those transfers you have to account for tranfering all the luggage and the resultant time penalty that incurs. Not to mention a heck of a detour if the end destination is the Vineyard if via Hyannis.

The real hurdle of reintroducing Woods Hole rail service is what to do with the car queuing area that ate the last .75 miles of the rail ROW. No idea where that could be relocated if there isn’t room for it to remain side by side with the reconstructed tracks.

 

[OldColony]

However... Isn't the bottleneck the rail bridge? I seem to recall some discussion in past years about an expanded capeflyer schedule being stimied by the USCG refusing additional closings. That bridge is also close to 90 years old, and I don't think you can raise it substantially either.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completely rehabbed the bridge recently, so mechanically it's fine to handle additional openings and closings. It was the Army Corps that refused additional bridge openings and closings, as described by F-Line in this June 11, 2021 post.

Regarding ferry connections, the main reason the CapeFLYER's Bourne station was opened was to allow better CCRTA bus connections to the ferry in Woods Hole. Its location allows the shuttle buses to largely avoid Bourne Bridge traffic.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completely rehabbed the bridge recently, so mechanically it's fine to handle additional openings and closings. It was the Army Corps that refused additional bridge openings and closings, as described by F-Line in this June 11, 2021 post.

Regarding ferry connections, the main reason the CapeFLYER's Bourne station was opened was to allow better CCRTA bus connections to the ferry in Woods Hole. Its location allows the shuttle buses to largely avoid Bourne Bridge traffic.

The state can get as many openings as it wants if they were merely willing to pay in for any of the bridge's maintenance. As is, MassDOT pretty much washed its hands of the structure before its big rehab and the Army Corps took on all the costs of the rehab and subsequent maintenance. So if they want to use it, they can pay their fare share instead of trying to milk it for a free ride. But MassDOT and the Army Corps don't get along at all, so there's no dialogue and things like a single extra Cape Flyer slot become negotiating stalemates.

NYNH&H used to run substantial Hyannis and Woods Hole commuter rail schedules as well as substantial freight over the bridge back when maritime traffic was way higher than it is today, so the existing setup is completely fine for giving the Cape all the train service it needs. The state just needs to partner up with the Army Corps to get their slots.

 

[stick n move]

Washington Snubs MassDOT’s Proposed Cape Cod Highway Expansion

“On Thursday morning, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it would not commit any funding from its new Bridge Investment Grant program for MassDOT’s “Cape Bridges Program,” a $4 billion proposal to widen several highways and intersections in the vicinity of the Cape Cod Canal in Bourne.

The proposed Cape Cod Bridges Program is often described as a project to replace the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges over the Cape Cod Canal in the town of Bourne.

But the project is much more extensive than that. In addition to building new, 6-lane bridges – each of which would be nearly twice as wide as the existing 4-lane bridges – MassDOT is also proposing to add more lanes to connecting highways like Route 6, add more lanes to local streets like Sandwich Road, build a new mile-long bypass road, widen intersections, and build new highway-style interchanges on both sides of the canal….”

“MassDOT’s proposed Cape Cod Bridges program is proposing a major suite of roadway expansion projects (highlighted in green) on both sides of the Cape Cod Canal, in addition to the replacement of the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges. Projects include a 4-mile-long widening of Route 6 between the Canal and Route 130 in Sandwich (labelled E), a new mile-long bypass highway along with new connecting highway ramps between Route 6 and Route 130 (D), and numerous road widenings and new highway ramps on both sides of the Bourne Bridge (A, B, and C). Courtesy of MassDOT.”

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/0...massdots-proposed-cape-cod-highway-expansion/

 

[BosMaineiac]

Washington Snubs MassDOT’s Proposed Cape Cod Highway Expansion

FYI this was from 2 months ago. It isn’t an outright denial of funding, just a non commitment to it in the first round.

I enjoyed looking at the graphic and reading about what a great project it will be, though.

 

[Stlin]

MassDOT recently had public events where they showed some design alts for the interchanges on each end of the proposed Borne and Sagamore bridges. Since the Sagamore got interchanges in ~2004, looks like much more minor touches are being proposed there.
First the Bourne,

And the Sagamore;

 

[jklo]

Seems rather busy.

 

[Koopzilla24]

In my opinion a better way to spend the money would be an actually way to comfortably walk or bike from one side of Bourne to the other rather than more car-centric infrastructure to bring more traffic and pollution to the residents. Improve the rail infrastructure and crossing for more frequent and faster service to get people out of their cars that are only going as far as Hyannis. You wouldn’t need the Bourne stop on the Cape Flyer if you could get to that side from Buzzards Bay. Then you also wouldn’t need to blight the area with big highway interchanges and more asphalt as the vehicular traffic demand shouldn’t increase beyond the current sized infrastructure. Save money on a smaller, easier to maintain, bridge too.

 

[jklo]

In my opinion a better way to spend the money would be an actually way to comfortably walk or bike from one side of Bourne to the other rather than more car-centric infrastructure to bring more traffic and pollution to the residents.

You pretty much need a car to be on the Cape. I figure that the people taking the Cape Flyer are (one way or another...) getting to a car once they get off the train.

 

[HenryAlan]

You pretty much need a car to be on the Cape. I figure that the people taking the Cape Flyer are (one way or another...) getting to a car once they get off the train.

Yeah, the Cape is pretty terrible without a car. Very limited walkability, and fairly dangerous bike conditions aside from the rail trails. I have taken the Cape Flyer many times, but it has always involved meeting somebody already there, who came with a car.

 

[dhawkins]

The route 6A extension in figure 34 seems like a little more torturous but has good intensions. But I hate merging at a 10% grade directly onto the bridge as shown in figure 28.

 

[Vagabond]

Sagamore;

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As someone who does this trip very often...
Southside:
Love the proposed Cranberry Highway connection. It spreads out the connection to Sandwich road and the transition to 6A. But please don't add a second westbound on-ramp. Drivers slow down just before the go uphill now, and the addition of a second on-ramp within a few hundred yards will just gnarl traffic further. The single onramp sourced from the east is currently effective.

Northside:
The State/Canal westbound offramp to State/Canal makes sense to reach the retail corner on the south side, but then why even bother doing the split loop offramp at all?

 

[DBM]

Yeah, the Cape is pretty terrible without a car. Very limited walkability, and fairly dangerous bike conditions aside from the rail trails. I have taken the Cape Flyer many times, but it has always involved meeting somebody already there, who came with a car.

No arguments here--but I have to advocate for Provincetown/Truro's status as a bicyclists' (and, in the case of the former, walkers') paradise. Downtown P'Town to Truro Center is a 20-mile round-trip, perfect for good conditions (especially given the nearly perfectly flat terrain). Walking the densest part of Commercial St. in downtown P'Town is a delight (unless of course you're a vile fascist, but fortunately the scene is generally self-selecting from my observations). And, of course, P'Town's connectivity via ferry from Boston is superb. What percentage of P'Town visitors between May 1-October 1 are there, car-less? A massively high percentage, I presume.

Finally, of course, biking within the Cape Cod National Seashore in this area (separate from doing Route 6) is also amazing...

 

[Koopzilla24]

You pretty much need a car to be on the Cape. I figure that the people taking the Cape Flyer are (one way or another...) getting to a car once they get off the train.

Getting up the Cape does require a car to really get anywhere or do anything, but just going to Buzzards Bay, Hyannis, or the islands doesn’t. Better connecting the three by better alternative means of transport than a car is very doable and would take cars going to these places off the road leaving roadway expansion unnecessary. New bridges and the Sagamore connection are fine and good but making them bigger and attracting more cars to stink up the area isn’t great.

 

[LexSEDotVille]

You pretty much need a car to be on the Cape. I figure that the people taking the Cape Flyer are (one way or another...) getting to a car once they get off the train.

Agreed! ^^^ The Cape really suffers from poor transit options for both local and regional connections. Trips on P&B or PP are too expensive to be a regular option (25 + 5 service fee (bike 10 extra)) and only get you Mid Cape. Any connections from Hyannis remain mostly Mid and Lower Cape focused. PP runs routes beyond Hyannis, though only 2 trips a day with layovers + transfers in Hyannis. Unfortunately the CapeFlyer's schedule is limited and suffers from transfers and schedules beyond Hyannis. Has there been any talk of schedules not limited to weekends?

(The WHOOSH, Bourne Run (pink) have since been eliminated, and H2O backtracks to E Harwich from Chatham)

CCRTA is pretty limited in scope and seems to be most focused on Hyannis of ferry connections. The 'flex route' stands out to me as a big missed opportunity for connections to Lower and Outer Cape locations - it really should extend to Hyannis for transfer options. That and a route 6A route would make the system more 'complete' in my opinion. I could see two routes extending beyond Cape to Middleborough/Lakeville and Kingston CR stations being useful, including service to Wareham and Plymouth.

From my understanding, on-off Cape commuting has grown significantly as the vacation vs. worker housing crunch on the cape has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Off Cape connections really should be a new priority, though I'm unfamiliar with where most Cape commuters are coming from - Wareham, New Bedford, Plymouth are my guesses.

The Cape Cod Rail Trail, Old Colony Rail Trail, and Shining Sea Bikeway are pretty great trunk routes for a bike network, but they suffer from a lack of 'feeder' bike lanes and a direct connection to Hyannis (I'm looking forward to the extensions indicated above!). Unfortunately most roads lack shoulders requiring high rider confidence and it makes the addition of bike lanes a pretty involved process.

An issue I've run into is how to get a bike TO the Cape (so I don't have to rely on the limited CCRTA). P&B and PP seem to allow bikes in theory, but in practice it's unclear - "only if space is available." (P&B charges $10 extra for a bike making one-way $40 Boston - Hyannis)

I have family on The Cape and have found the limited transit options to The Cape and on Cape be the main reason I have not gone Car-free up here in Boston.