To the editor:

Here two highways join as one,

O’re the river they do run.

At their junction, called The Wye,

Cars and trucks go whizzing by.

Crashes proved the danger there.

Engineering solved the snare.

Traffic shouldn’t have to wait.

The Wye shouldn’t be a gate.

So a plan was soon devised

For The Wye to be resized

With a crossroad built so high

To let other traffic by.

Nearby hills could furnish fill.

Flying ramps would fill the bill,

Soaring traffic overhead,

Up above the low roadbed.

Merging safely was the way

To keep danger from the fray.

Roundabouts helped link the roads

To maintain the newer codes,

As they joined the main highways

Safely and without delays.

Soon bulldozers, tall cranes too,

Built of earth what others drew.

Asphalt, steel and strong concrete

All helped make the plan complete.

Countless workers toiled for days

On the job in many ways

To connect The Wye’s high ridge

With the Seventh North Street Bridge.

Paul L. Willems

New Ulm