I think no one questions that fencing is needed on the I-440 bridge over Crabtree Creek. However, we have become so accustomed to the very high costs of DOT road building that a $50,000 price tag for a fence seems cheap, but do the math: 50 feet of 6-foot-high chain link fence from a home improvement store is about $90. Say the bridge is twice that long - $180. Ten hours of labor for two men to install it at $15/hour is another $300.

Toss in another $200 for miscellaneous supplies and the total is $680. Even doubling that (this is the DOT, after all), the total is under $1,500, not $50,000. Just what is it that taxpayers are buying for the additional $48,500?

Gertrude Kappel

Raleigh