Residents of a quiet Cape Cod neighbourhood awoke on Friday to a devastating legal reality: the state of Massachusetts now owns their homes. In a sweeping act of eminent domain, the Commonwealth has seized most properties in Round Hill, Sagamore, to make way for a critical new bridge, shattering lives and upending retirement dreams.
The $4.5 Billion Bridge Replacement Plan
This drastic action marks the first concrete step in a $4.5 billion Massachusetts Department of Transportation plan to replace the ageing Bourne and Sagamore bridges. These two crossings, built in 1935 with a 50-year design life, are now deemed structurally deficient yet funnel nearly all traffic between Cape Cod and the mainland, carrying an estimated 38 million vehicles annually. State officials have long argued that replacement, not continual repair, is the only viable option for these vital but crumbling links.
A Community Torn Apart
The project will bulldoze through the tight-knit Round Hill enclave, which overlooks the Cape Cod Canal, forcing families out with as little as 120 days' notice. For homeowners who built their lives there, Friday's seizure was a brutal blow. "This is like losing a family member," said Joyce Michaud, a resident of over 25 years, to the Boston Herald. She now faces starting over in one of Massachusetts's most expensive housing markets.
The seizure feels especially cruel for Joan and Marc Hendel. The couple moved back from Iowa and settled into their brand-new, custom-built Round Hill home in October 2024, only to be notified in March 2025 that it would be taken. They had purchased the land in December 2023 for $165,000 and spent roughly $460,000 constructing their 1,700-square-foot retirement dream home, unaware of the looming bridge plans.
Compensation and a Final Insult
Under the state's action, owners have been offered what officials call fair-market value. Once ownership transferred, residents were given 120 days to vacate. Those unable to move can, in theory, pay rent to the state to remain temporarily—an offer some find insulting. "There is no way I am doing that," said Marc Hendel. "I am not renting my home from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
While residents like the Hendels understand the safety and economic necessity of replacing the bridges, they cannot accept being treated as collateral damage. The Round Hill area is expected to serve as a staging ground for construction equipment before eventually being converted into green space. The new Sagamore Bridge, funded in part by a $933 million federal grant awarded in July 2024, will be a near replica of the 1935 original.
The human cost, however, is immense. "We literally used our life savings to move here," Marc Hendel said. "This is our dream home, this is our dream location, it was our forever home. We were never gonna move again, ever." For now, the community is left to pack up a lifetime of memories, their homes destined not for future generations, but for the wrecking ball.
