PROSPECT (AP) – A new bridge crossing the Penobscot River has been designed and funded. That leaves only the choice of a name for the span.

The volunteer group Friends of Fort Knox is suggesting that the replacement for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge be named “The Fort Knox Bridge.”

The bridge passes next to the fortress, and there will be an access road from the fort to the bridge’s observation deck. Naming the bridge after the fortress also would bolster the 150-year-old fortress as a tourist attraction, said Leon Seymour of Friends of Fort Knox.

“We need to do all we can to promote the tower and the area,” Seymour said. “This benefits everybody up and down the Route 1 corridor.”

The group already has forwarded its suggestion to a local legislator and has written to officials in the towns of Verona Island and Prospect seeking their endorsement. The board also will seek endorsements from the Waldo County Marketing Association and the Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

It appears to be the first formal suggestion of a name for the bridge, according to Maine Department of Transportation spokeswoman Carol Morris.

The MDOT has referred to the project as the Penobscot River Crossing for some time, but the department has no jurisdiction over the naming process.

Some communities involve area residents in the naming process by holding a contest or scheduling a vote on proposed names. Several names also have been offered informally, including “Penobscot Narrows,” reflecting a historic reference to the bridge’s location; “Downeast Gateway Bridge” and even “The Waldo-Hancock,” maintaining the name of the existing bridge.

According to Morris, there is a prohibition against having two bridges with the same name. If local residents want to keep the existing name, she said, the bridge cannot be formally named until the old bridge came down.

The $84 million bridge will replace a suspension bridge. The modern, cable-stayed bridge and observation deck are due to be completed late next year.

The 72-year-old bridge currently in use was being restored in the summer of 2003 when problems on the two suspension cables came to light. Engineers later determined that building a new bridge was the only long-term solution.

AP-ES-01-13-05 1741EST