Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School Your bridge to the future… Your gateway to success.
Colleagues,
We are always pleased to share interesting articles concerning our member schools. It was an exciting day at Upper Cape Tech yesterday!
Massachusetts Interim Secretary of Transportation Phillip Eng told students at Upper Cape Regional Technical School Monday that the Sagamore Bridge project and other transportation facilities will provide 30,000 jobs in the near future!!
David
30,000 transportation jobs are coming to MA. Cape Cod bridge project is part of the boom
<![if !vml]><![endif]>Susan Vaughn Cape Cod Times Oct. 29, 2026
- The Massachusetts Department of Transportation hosted a career awareness day for students at Upper Cape Regional Technical School.
- Upcoming infrastructure projects, including the Sagamore Bridge, are expected to create around 30,000 jobs.
- The event showcased opportunities in fields ranging from highway maintenance and civil engineering to drone operation and MBTA roles.
Massachusetts Interim Secretary of Transportation Phillip Eng told students at Upper Cape Regional Technical School Monday that the Sagamore Bridge project and other transportation facilities will provide 30,000 jobs in the near future.
“We have opportunity for you for building infrastructure and to be part of something long lasting,” Eng said.
He said a Transportation Career Awareness Day sponsored by his department was intended to generate the students’ interest in using skills in many areas, including the bridges, highways and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
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<![endif]>Sophomores and seniors in the school’s construction, engineering and environmental vocational programs came to learn about career opportunities in those fields and others and to check out the large state highway vehicles stationed outside the gymnasium, School Assistant Superintendent Josh Greeley with Superintendent Roger Forget, explained as the students were filing into the gymnasium.
Representatives from various agencies and trade unions were stationed around the large gym providing information for the students. They represented various transportation fields, as well as a plumbers and pipefitters union, HVAC technicians, a carpenter’s union, civil engineers, MassDOT’s Research and Materials Lab, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and state park lifeguard opportunities.
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Jean Fox from external affairs at MBTA told students the agency has many transportation jobs in maintenance, on the buses, subways, commuter rail and desk jobs.
“I encourage the soft skills, the interpersonal skills,” she said.
Blake Demers of the DOT’s Research and Materials Lab had core samples showing the composition of the three layers that make up the roads and highways. The field is for students interested in chemistry and testing materials, he said.
Christopher Shackett had a drone to show how the Transportation Department is just starting to learn how drones can be used on bridges, roads and projects and for emergency incidents.
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<![endif]>“We’re trying to get all departments to use them to save the DOT money,” he said.
Other presenters had pamphlets on registering for apprenticeship programs. Students also got information to sign up for student memberships in the American Public Transportation Association to learn about paths to industry resources, internships and jobs.
Many of the students enjoyed climbing in the driver’s seats of the Broom Bear street cleaner and the large plow truck and checking out the woodchipper and other large Highway Department equipment outside.
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Owen Pope, a sophomore in the HVAC track, who was climbing into the street sweeper with his friends, said he was considering all the possibilities for careers at the event. Other students said the career event was a good idea.
Luisa Paiewonsky, executive director of the Megaprojects MassDOT Highway Division and in charge of the Sagamore and Bourne bridges program, also greeted the students and was on hand to answer questions about the bridge project with construction beginning next year.
Chapter 74 Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education
LEARNING THAT WORKS FOR MASSACHUSETTS
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
DavidFerreira