Four new bridges for Cape Cod

State officials want Massachusetts residents to weigh in on the designs for a pair of twin bridges to eventually connect Cape Cod to the mainland.

Driving the news: MassDOT officials floated the idea of replacing the Bourne and Sagamore bridges with two pairs of twin bridges at a public meeting Tuesday evening.

The big picture: Twin bridges "would eliminate traffic from the existing, flawed structures as soon as possible," Boston.com reported, adding that state highway officials think building a total of four bridges would be best for traffic flow during and after construction.

• "Twin bridges are structurally more efficient and have a shallower structural depth than one single bridge, according to officials."

As anyone who's driven over the bridges can tell you, the roadways are incredibly narrow, there's no shoulder to speak of and pedestrians and cyclists weren't exactly on the minds of the designers of the 1933 bridges.

What's happening: MassDOT officials proposed three feasible designs, per WCAI. They're looking for people to provide comments and fill out a survey on the project.

• An arch design would be most similar to the existing bridges and could be preassembled and floated in on the canal.

• A cable-stayed bridge like the Zakim bridge in Boston would be a visual departure, could cost more and might be more vulnerable to wind during construction.
• Concrete box girder designs would basically be twin flat surfaces without any kind of "gateway experience" into Cape Cod.

What's next: MassDOT doesn't expect construction to begin on the bridges until 2027, so there's plenty of time to argue over what design should be put in place.