As a structural engineer I find Diana Noyce's suggestion (CP letters, 19-12-21) of a bridge to connect the Island to the mainland technically exciting, but it doesn't take long to work out that this is a non-starter.

The Skye Bridge in Scotland, completed in 1995, is about 2.5km long, including approach spans, and cost approximately £25 million.

Looking at a map of the coastlines either side of the Solent, quite apart from any considerations of shipping lane access or space to accommodate the approach roads on either shore, and ignoring environmental considerations, any bridge crossing the Solent would be of the order of at least 5km long.

Taking the pro rata length increase, and inflation since the 90s into account, the approximate cost of such a bridge would be in excess of £110m.

Such a sum could only come from the national budget, not the IW Council's.

However, given the current wrangles over funding for all sorts of important causes, it is difficult to see such a bridge coming high on any list of national priorities — we're at the wrong end of the country for 'levelling up'!