Kudos to Wendell interim town manager Teresa Piner for jumping on the effort to have the bridge across Old Battle Bridge Road reopened now that DOT has some additional funds to complete bridge work across the region.

When she first learned of the additional funding and the governor's directive to address bridge issues, she was quick to stand in front of DOT officials with her hand out.

She needs help, though. Every single elected official in Wendell should be aggressive in his or her effort to see that DOT listens to the needs of Wendell residents.

Like no other issue in the past two years, the town's elected officials have been in agreement on the notion that the town needs that bridge reopened and that road made whole.

It will ultimately be a significant connector between traditional Wendell and the newly annexed Wendell Falls development.

Wendell's town leaders - those in office now as well as those about to take office next month - should be working the phones and email lines, pigeonholing lawmakers and DOT leaders on the cocktail circuit in an effort to win DOT's attention.

Wendell has long sat back and allowed things to happen around it or to it. The bridge closure is just another example. Commissioner Ira Fuller seems content to let the issue be decided at the staff level and get involved only if asked to by staff.

But we suggest that if the matter is left there, Wendell will not see that road reopened any time soon.

Legislators and political appointees at the top of DOT can be swayed and urged to reconsider the need in this town. But they aren't likely to get that push from within the DOT ranks. It's got to come from local leaders.

And legislators, in particular, are always eager to advocate on behalf of a local government in the district where they serve.

Wendell is going to need that bridge open. It's not often that government budgets grow the way the budget for bridges has grown this year.

Now's the time to make a major push to get something we need. We may not get another chance for 20 years or so. That could be too late.