The Numbers Now
Massachusetts has 5,311 bridges in the National Bridge Inventory, and 501 of them are rated in poor condition. (ARTBA 2025) That 9% poor rate is above the 6.7% national average and places the state at #12 nationally. (ARTBA 2025)
One in 10 daily bridge crossings in Massachusetts is over a poor bridge: 10.3 million of the state's 108.9 million daily crossings. (ARTBA 2025) The average bridge age is 56 years, compared to 44 nationally, and 778 bridges exceed 100 years old. (FHWA NBI) New England's freeze-thaw cycles and heavy road salt use accelerate deterioration on an inventory that was already old at the time of the last major repair push.
Total bridge deck area in poor condition stands at 11.4%. (ARTBA 2025) ARTBA estimates that the cost to address all bridges needing some level of repair, not just the 501 rated poor, is $39.3 billion. (ARTBA 2025)
The Accelerated Bridge Program and What Happened After
In 2008, Massachusetts had 543 structurally deficient bridges and projections showed the count reaching 700 by 2016 without intervention. The state responded with the Accelerated Bridge Program, a $3 billion capital commitment that advertised 200 construction contracts over eight years. (MassDOT) By October 2016, the program hit its target: 432 structurally deficient bridges, a reduction of more than 100.
Then it ended. Routine capital budgets could not sustain the pace the ABP had set, and the inventory kept aging. By 2019 the count was back to 469, and by 2025 it reached 501. (ARTBA 2025) The trajectory tells a clear story: a state that proved it could fix the problem when it committed the resources, and then watched the gains erode when the commitment expired.
| Year | Poor/SD Bridges | % Poor | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 543 | ~10% | ABP launched |
| 2016 | 432 | ~8% | ABP target met |
| 2019 | 469 | 9% | Post-ABP uptick |
| 2025 | 501 | 9% | Current (ARTBA 2025) |
Note: The 2008 and 2016 figures used the older "structurally deficient" (SD) classification. Current ARTBA data uses "poor condition." The two measures are roughly comparable but not identical NBI categories.
The ABP proved Massachusetts could reduce its poor-bridge count when it committed $3 billion and dedicated institutional capacity. The regression proves that one-time capital programs cannot substitute for sustained annual investment. The inventory does not stop aging when the program ends.
Who Owns What
MassDOT owns about 66% of the state's NBI bridges (3,489) and carries 322 of the poor-condition bridges. (FHWA NBI) Cities and towns collectively own roughly 32% (1,677 bridges) with 140 in poor condition. Massachusetts has no county highway departments, which is unusual among states and means municipalities bear the cost of maintaining their bridges with limited local revenue.
MassDOT inspects all bridges statewide regardless of ownership, but the inspection-vs-funding mismatch matters: towns know what needs fixing because MassDOT tells them, yet many lack the budgets to act on the findings. The Municipal Small Bridge Program, which has distributed $50 million since 2017 and was relaunched with $95 million, and the FAIR program ($75 million for closed and restricted municipal bridges) are direct responses to this gap. (MassDOT)
How It's Being Paid For
Massachusetts is in the strongest bridge funding environment it has had in decades. The Fair Share surtax, a 4% levy on income above $1 million approved by voters in 2022, collected $2.46 billion in FY24, nearly $1.5 billion above projections. (Mass Budget and Policy Center) Governor Healey's $8 billion, 10-year transportation plan leverages this revenue through bonding.
Federal IIJA Bridge Formula Program funds total roughly $1.1 billion over the life of the law, with $677.9 million of $974.1 million committed to 30 projects as of June 2025. (FHWA) Chapter 90 municipal allocations increased to $300 million per year, providing cities and towns with their primary source of road and bridge funding. The full state profile is available on ARTBA's Massachusetts bridge report.
Even at this scale, ARTBA's $39.3 billion estimate for all bridges needing some level of work contextualizes the current investment as substantial but partial. The state's gas tax has held at $0.24 per gallon since 2013, below the national median, which limits one of the traditional revenue streams for ongoing maintenance. (ARTBA 2025)
A detailed analysis of the funding gap is available from the Mass Budget and Policy Center's "A Bridge Too Far" report.
The Cape Cod Canal Bridges
The Bourne and Sagamore bridges, both built in 1935, are 90 years old, functionally obsolete with narrow lanes and no breakdown shoulders, and serve as the only highway access to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. (MassDOT; Army Corps of Engineers) Replacing them is the most expensive single bridge project in this series: $4.5 billion total, split between the Sagamore ($2.13 billion) and the Bourne ($2.37 billion).
Federal funding of $1.72 billion has been committed, and MassDOT has pledged over $700 million in state funds. (MassDOT) Sagamore demolition is targeted for winter 2033/2034. As of late 2025, federal funding appeared paused amid government shutdown concerns.
The Cape Cod project illustrates the cost of deferred maintenance at its largest scale. Two bridges that should have been replaced decades ago now require a $4.5 billion commitment because the work was postponed while the structures continued to age and traffic demands grew. That dynamic, smaller in scale but identical in pattern, plays out across the state's full inventory.
What Comes Next
The Fair Share surtax, IIJA funds, and the Healey administration's transportation priority represent the strongest investment push since the ABP. MassDOT's own target is no more than 8% of bridges in poor condition, and it is currently exceeding that threshold at 9%. (MassDOT)
NHS bridge deck area at 12.3% poor triggers FHWA minimum obligation requirements, which means a portion of federal highway funds must be directed toward bridge work rather than other transportation priorities. (FHWA) MassDOT's 2024 update acknowledges a ramp-up period, with meaningful improvement expected in the latter part of the decade.
The question this data leaves open is whether the current investment cycle will produce sustained results or repeat the ABP pattern. The ABP showed that Massachusetts can bring the numbers down when the money and institutional focus are there. What happened after showed that a single capital program, no matter how large, does not permanently solve the problem. Bridges keep aging, and the math of maintenance is cumulative.
What "Poor Condition" Means
A bridge is classified as being in "poor condition" if any one of its three primary components (deck, superstructure, or substructure) receives a rating of 4 or below on the NBI's 0-to-9 scale. A poor rating does not mean a bridge is unsafe or at risk of collapse. It means the bridge has deteriorated to the point where it needs repair or replacement. Bridges rated poor are typically subject to increased inspection frequency, load restrictions, or both.
Data Sources
Statewide totals (5,311 bridges, 501 poor, 9%, rank #12) are from the ARTBA 2025 Bridge Report, based on 2025 FHWA National Bridge Inventory data. Ownership breakdowns and municipal program figures are from MassDOT. Federal funding data is from FHWA. The Accelerated Bridge Program trajectory uses MassDOT-published figures for the 2008 and 2016 endpoints. The Cape Cod Canal bridge project figures are from MassDOT and Army Corps of Engineers reporting.
Caveats
The ABP-era figures used the older "structurally deficient" classification; current data uses "poor condition." These are roughly comparable but not identical NBI measures. The $39.3 billion repair estimate covers all bridges needing some level of work, not just the 501 in poor condition. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers except for the national average (6.7%), NHS deck area (12.3%), total deck area (11.4%), and MassDOT's published 8% target.