Healey on Adding Tolls to the New Cape Cod Bridges

The Sagamore and Bourne bridges in Bourne, Massachusetts are on the National Transportation Safety Board's list of bridges that should undergo a risk assessment in case they are struck by a vessel. Boston's Tobin Bridge is also on the list.

Preliminary plans to replace the Cape bridges are in motion, but a replacement for the Tobin is still in the discussion phase and could involve a tunnel.

READ MORE: Boston's Tobin Bridge Could Be Replaced by a Tunnel

Millions of residents and tourists use the Sagamore and Bourne bridges each year to cross the Cape Cod Canal while traveling on and off the Cape. The bridges, considered structurally deficient, were built in the 1930s.

Get our free mobile app

The Cape Cod Times reported that replacing the Cape bridges will cost an estimated $4 billion. The Sagamore will be replaced first, as it is narrower, tends to carry more traffic than the Bourne, and records more traffic accidents.

Some politicians are already discussing how much to charge to use the new bridges.

Boston's WVCB-TV reported, "David Weeden, vice chair of the Mashpee Select Board, proposed the idea of charging tolls for vehicles crossing the Bourne and Sagamore bridges during a meeting this week."

"I think we could generate a lot of money towards helping the local Cape Cod communities address the lack of infrastructure," Weeden said.

READ MORE: Massachusetts Seizes Homes to Build New Sagamore Bridge

"There's over 35 million cars across those two bridges combined annually," he said. "Even if you did $2 an axle, only calculating cars, you'd bring in about $70 million a year."

State House News Service reported Weeden's proposal for bridge tolls received a chilly reception from Governor Maura Healey at the State House on Wednesday. Healey reportedly said, "I don't support the tolls on the bridge."