MassTrails Grant to fund study examining future connections in Sandwich 

Bicycle advocates in Sandwich are imagining a safe connection between the future shared-use path along the Service Road and the Cape Cod Canal. 

A $124,000 Mass Trails grant awarded to the Town of Sandwich in August will be used to study a preferred route for a multi-use path that will connect the western end of the Sandwich Service Road shared-use path to the Cape Cod Canal bike path and close an important gap in off-road bike accommodations from Provincetown to the Cape Cod Canal. Matching funds from the town in the amount of $31,000 will enhance the grant.   

Construction of the Sandwich Service Road shared-use path, which will stretch from Route 130 to Chase Road, is expected to begin in 2023.  

Sandwich Bike Committee member Sean Polay advocated for the MassTrails Grant, seeing the Service Road project as an opportunity to further extend shared-use path opportunities in the region.  “Bourne and Falmouth are doing their part for planning and executing a Shining Sea path extension and connecting that to the canal via the Bourne Rail Trail. Yarmouth and Barnstable are doing their part to extend the Cape Cod Rail Trail westward,” said Polay. “A cross-Sandwich trail is not only important for our town's residents and visitors, but it's also crucial to the region.” 

The study, expected to conclude in summer 2022, will examine a number of safe alternatives to bring cyclists and pedestrians from the Service Road shared-use path to the Cape Cod Canal path. It will include robust outreach, engaging residents, abutters, businesses, and other stakeholders to understand what they’d like to see and to discuss potential impacts.