BUCKSPORT (AP) – A local advisory committee asked the Maine Department of Transportation to narrow its focus to two styles for a replacement of the 72-year-old Waldo-Hancock Bridge.

The state will move forward with separate proposals for a suspension bridge similar to the current style or a cable-stayed bridge like the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge constructed as part of Boston’s Big Dig.

Seeking to complete the project in three years, the state is moving at an accelerated pace because deterioration of cables supporting the existing Waldo-Hancock Bridge between Prospect and Verona.

Officials announced on July 11 that vehicles weighing 12 tons or more were prohibited from crossing the bridge.

The ban has forced large trucks, buses and large RVs to make a 40-mile detour to Bangor to cross the Penobscot River.

As the Public Advisory Committee looked at the various proposals, Waldo County Commissioner John Hyk, a committee member, told the Deaprtment of Transportation officials on Wednesday that money is no object.

“Cost is not that important,” Hyk said. “We want the best possible bridge we can get. We want a signature bridge, a bridge that will be so spectacular that people will come just to see it.”

The design must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration, which likely will provide up to 80 percent of the cost of the bridge, estimated at around $50 million, said Tom Doe, DOT project manager.

Meanwhile, work continues on the existing bridge as state troopers monitored traffic and diverted large vehicles away.

DOT spokeswoman Carol Morris said electronic monitoring devices installed on the south cable have not picked up any new cable breaks since they were installed last week.

There’s a chance that the plan to add supplemental cables to the existing bridge could increase the safety factor enough to allow truck traffic back over the bridge by Christmas.

Transportation officials on Wednesday cautioned, however, that there was no certainty that goal could be met.

AP-ES-07-25-03 0903EDT