C.A.R.S. C Weapons of Gas Destruction:

Sagamore/Cape Cod Flyover Project

By Jay Critchley

The ASagamore Rotary Grade Separation Project@ proposed by federal and state highway agencies, better known as the Sagamore AFlyover@ has critical flaws, limited vision, and faulty assumptions. We not only have a unique opportunity of meeting the proposed project=s objectives of improving safety, reducing peak hour traffic volumes, reconfiguring a new highway interchange, but additionally, reducing traffic on Cape Cod itself while contributing to our nation=s anti-terrorist agenda and preventive war strategy.

Through the Office of Homeland Security, The Cape Cod Flyover Project proposes to create Asmart bombs@ from gas guzzling cars and vehicles C SUVs, vans, luxury pick up trucks. These C.A.R.S.C Weapons of Gas Destruction would be aerodynamically and technically retrofitted and positioned for take off from the Sagamore Bridge Runway, Aflyover@ and bypass the Cape altogether, and head toward global destinations, which could include Iran, North Korea, Saudia Arabia, even Iraq. Teaming up with the Otis Air Force Base, the fed=s plan would trump the state=s uninspired and shortsighted reconfiguration of the rotary and bridge bottleneck, which they have declared Afutilely inadequate and not in the best interest of national security.@

While the Cape Cod Flyover Project meets the determined needs of the state plan by reassuring the gridlocked Cape and its affluent residents and visitors, it also offers perks to the car-phobic town of Bourne. A large Park & Glide Transportation Hub would be built under the rotary in cooperation with Governor Romney=s Afix it fast@ program. Here vehicles with under 30 miles per gallon would be retrofitted as Weapons of Gas Destruction and readied for take off, while cars with over 30 miles per gallon would park in the underground hub facilities. All visitors would take public transportation across the upgraded Sagamore Bridge to their Cape destinations, whether by bus, train, or light rail. Traffic and pollution would be diminished C no idling cars C and Bourne residents would have a reclaimed Sagamore Rotary Park, new jobs, and a healthy revenue stream from parking fees.

In according with the concerns of the 520-page ARevised Environmental Assessment /Final Environmental Impact Report@, no longer would drivers visiting the area experience Aconfusion@ or be subject to Aimproper operations of drivers more familiar with the rotary, such as improper yielding@ since there would be only one visible entrance to this modern underground parking and recreational destination. Bourne would change from a pass-through town to a pass-to town. Concurrently, the Sagamore Bridge would add a second level roadway, already dubbed Sagnomore, for public transportation, sightseeing, bicycling, and recreational uses, with the top level rebuilt as an airstrip. Sagamore Rotary Theme Park would be the centerpiece of the Cape Cod Canal Scenic Highway, a tourist attraction with outdoor cafes and open air concert facilities, replacing traffic jams with music jams.

Public comments on the state=s proposed project are due December 8 and may be sent to: Thomas F. Broderick P.E., Chief Engineer, Mass Highway Department, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116.

Jay Critchley is an artist living in Provincetown.