For more than a year now, Simpson Road has been closed at the Stackpole Bridge between Route 112 and the Salmon Falls area of Buxton. Saco farm businesses, commuters and health care providers must drive almost seven extra miles to get to downtown Saco and other turnpike corridor locations. Postal service has been reduced to a group mailbox, accessible only by walking across the barricaded bridge. Residents on the Route 112 side of Simpson Road need to drive farther to reach Buxton and other locations. The closed bridge creates greater expense and diminished access to public services for our community.

The search for an economic solution to restoring or replacing Stackpole Bridge has gone on in earnest since 2007. On Nov. 4, we will vote on a $990,000 bond package that is likely the most affordable option the city will ever have. The bond package has two parts: a Maine Department of Transportation, 10-year, 1.625 percent loan and a matching $495,000 regular Saco municipal bond for 20 years. Replacing or restoring a 166-year-old bridge on a public road with more than 80 residences for under $1 million seems a fair price to taxpayers.

If we vote to pass the bond, the city will request bids for both the replacement and the rehabilitation options. Either way, Saco taxpayers will finally get a solution to an infrastructure problem for a reasonable price.

Tom Klak and Jeanne Hey, Saco