You can only fix a broken thing so many times.

Case in point is the King’s Highway Bridge, which a VDOT official said Wednesday the agency would not do again when the time comes.

That’s understandable, especially when you consider that the bridge is 65 years old (give or take a year perhaps), and has gradually lost its ability to carry the tonnage of decades past (it’s gone from 18 tons 41 years ago to 5 tons now).

In short, Suffolk needs a new bridge and needs it soon. Preferably within a few years – sooner than five or six, as projected, would be ideal. But realistically, City Council and other concerned agencies should do all they can to work with VDOT in speeding up work on this matter.

The last thing anyone needs is for a vehicle to cross the dilapidated span, only to be stranded or, worse, fall into the Nansemond River, when the bridge finally breaks.