Campbell Blasts Proposed Bridge To Coop Annex

State legislator Levin H. Campbell (R. Camb.) said yesterday that the proposed Inner Belt and Memorial Drive highway construction would be "almost catastrophic" to Cambridge.

He also labeled the Coop's plan for a two-story glass bridge over Palmer Street between its main building and new annex "ugly and undistinguished."

Campbell's remarks on highway construction followed the announcement that he and Mary B. Newman (R-Camb.) had requested, in a letter to Gov. Peabody, that the Metropolitan Area Planning Council study the projects.

Citing the "tremendous loss of homes" that the highway construction would involve, Campbell said in a telephone interview that "someone has to start thinking broadly about this matter." He added that a copy of the letter to Peabody had been sent to Reverend Seavey Joyce, S. J., president of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

Campbell criticized the Coop's bridge plan "as a resident of Cambridge" and added that he had sent a letter to the Cambridge City Council to express his disapproval. In the letter, Campbell suggested that the Council refuse the Coop permission to build the bridge because of its unattractiveness and because it violated Cambridge soning laws.