Distraught Cape Cod widow told 'forever home' is one of 13 set to be demolished to make way for new bridge... with neighbors whose properties were spared dreading the thundering traffic
Joyce Michaud, 80, is among 13 unlucky residents who will have their properties flattened by Massachusetts officials as part of the $2.1 billion project to replace the Sagamore Bridge.
A distraught Cape Cod widow will see her home of more than 24 years demolished to make way for a new bridge.
Joyce Michaud, 80, is among 13 unlucky residents who will have their properties flattened by Massachusetts officials as part of the $2.1 billion project to replace the Sagamore Bridge.
Her three-bedroom home will be bulldozed to make room for workers' equipment, and will eventually become a basin to catch stormwater rolling off the bridge, The Boston Globe reported.
'[I thought:] "I’m all set. My kids don’t have to worry. I’m all set",' Michaud told The Globe. 'And now, I'm not.
'It’s really hard to lose something that you thought was yours.'
The residence is being seized through eminent domain, which allows the state to take property for public use.
An additional 17 homes will be partially acquired. Seven vacant properties will also be seized.
Meanwhile, neighbors who have been spared demolition say they are dreading the onslaught of traffic and noisy works which will take place for the next ten years during construction of the replacement bridge, which connects Cape Cod to the mainland.
Joyce Michaud, 80, of Sagamore (second right), thought she had her retirement set and a great place to live with views of the water and the Sagamore Bridge. But next week, the retiree will be forced out of her Cecilia Terrace home to make way for the construction of a new bridge
She has to move out of her home, which she's lived in since 2002, as part of the State of Massachusetts' $2.1billion project to replace the 90-year-old bridge
The Commonwealth State is paying homeowners an above-market rate for their properties.
Luisa Paiewonsky, the executive director of MassDOT's project, said homeowners could also rent their properties from the state if they needed extra time to move, but many of those affected balked at the idea of having to do this.
She also said the government agency started the process early to avoid rushing residents out of their houses.
Paiewonsky told The Globe: 'We want to make sure the bridge project is not slowed down in any way - and make sure homeowners are not hustled out of their homes.'
The state has not said how much it would spend on the acquisitions, nor how many properties they believe they will have to seize to fix the Bourne Bridge, the next project. Both projects are projected to cost the state a total $4.5 billion, The Globe reported.
Joan and Marc Hendel were notified in March that their home would be seized, they told the Daily Mail in August.