To the editor,

I'd like to urge the voters of Edgartown to reject Warrant Article 24 asking for an appropriation of $27,842.00 from the CPA Funds for a study and survey for a bike path on Chappaquiddick. The Financial Advisory Committee voted not to recommend the article and the Selectmen have never voted to approve this survey of Chappaquiddick Rd. for a bike path. Please go to the Website "Chappybikepath.com" and read about this issue and how Chappaquiddickers feel about a bike path along the Chappaquiddick Rd. Although it at first seems like a desirable improvement, upon closer investigation, a bike path on Chappy may not be much of an improvement. I urge the voters to consider these reasons and withdraw their support for this article.

1. The proposed bike path could cost more than one million dollars and a vote for a survey for such a path will lead to requests for these kind of expenditures in the future. The need to spend this kind of money on Chappaquiddick, where traffic is light, is a huge waste of scarce taxpayer revenues.

2. CPA funds should be used to fund much needed affordable housing projects and to buy open space threatened by over development or to preserve our town's historical assets.

3. There already exists a reliable survey of the Chappaquiddick Road done as recently as 1995. This survey can be viewed as PDF files at Chappybikepath.com. 

4. The claims of bicycle safety made by the proponents of the Multiuse path are called into question by many studies that actually show bike paths, as opposed to bike lanes, raise the accident rates of bicycle/vehicle collisions. You can read about bike safety at many links available at the website Chappybikepath.com and I recommend rereading the excellent article in the MV Times of Dec. 31, 2008. Go to MVTIMES.com and click archives, then the date. 

5. The roads on Chappaquiddick are more than adequate for the needs of motorists, cyclists, rollerbladers, joggers, and pedestrians as they exist presently. The seeming congestion one might occasionally observe is only a two month problem and given the 25 mph speed limit on Chappy and the three cars at a time traffic pattern, it would be wisest and cheapest to just take a breath and wait until the congestion clears. As most Chappaquiddickers know, racing to the ferry, passing others along the way just to wait in line in order to ride the boat with those you passed is considered, well, poor etiquette.

6. There are many paths crisscrossing Chappaquiddick thanks to the work of the Chappaquiddick Island Association path committee together with the MV Land Bank.
A map showing these paths is available at the website Chappybikepath.com and hikers and cyclists are encouraged to come and enjoy Chappy away from the bustle of the paved road. 

7. The mowing, clearing, tree felling and excavation required to run a bike path, paved or otherwise along the Chappaquiddick road and the necessity of road relocation and bridge building where wet lands run along the road would only serve to ruin the rural, country road feel of the existing road for which people come across the sound and then across the harbor to enjoy. 

8. The proponents of the bike path claim the "Study" and survey are needed in order for there to be an intelligent discussion of the idea of a bike path on Chappy. The Town of Edgartown does not need to spend tax payer money on another survey in order for Chappaquiddickers to hash over the pros and cons of a bike path. A quick review of the website Chappybikepath.com will reveal only a minority support of the proposed bike path and plenty of discussion without the town spending a nickel. 

Yours, Roger Becker