I read with interest about the new group that has sprung up to support the Maine Department of Transportation’s effort to replace the Frank J Wood Bridge connecting Topsham and Brunswick (“New group emerges in debate over Frank J. Wood bridge replacement,” Aug. 9).

A massive span is planned to replace the green bridge that has served the communities. Sadly the replacement lacks beauty and architectural merit. This for a cool $35 million. Critics from other towns would call it a boondoggle.

It would seem to me that for that money, something memorable could be built. If we are going to spend big money, then build something awesome, something to write home to Mom about.

Build a cable-stayed bridge with two towers, big cables spidering out from the tops and colored spotlights, like a smaller version of Boston’s Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. Like you see on the Boston TV stations. If you are going to go grandiose, then do so.

If you are going to bury the civil engineering achievements of previous generations, build something better, not something nondescript, so future generations will remember us.

Steve Lindsey
Keene, N.H.