Roger,

Thanks for email. For some reason I am unable to open attachment, unknown format. Could you send in pdf or other readable format. Is this about bike path? Email only mentioned "path." 

If it is and I cannot make meeting, you can communicate my position in general that although I am a bike commuter and strong advocate for all things bike, on chappy the need for a bike path needs to be weighed against the impact of a roadside path on the unique rural aesthetic of the chappy road. I do not think the need is so great as to warrant a negative impact that would come with the effective widening of the road. FYI, I am leading the Vol Comm of Transportation Alternatives for Safe Biking on Eastside of NYC, commute by bike on the streets of NYC everyday, and advocate regularly for bike lanes etc in my community. 

My sense is that the advocates of a bike path on chappy are not committed everyday bikers but are really advocates of getting the bikes off the road in favor of unimpeded auto traffic. Bikes have as much right to the roads as autos. The reason for bike lanes is when real safety issues arise, definitely the case in NYC with the incredible congestion of auto, taxi, bus pedestrians etc. 

Not the case on chappy, just the opposite. Biking on chappy is like biking on the rural roads of France/Italy, banked by trees, shrubs and fields, a wonderful relatively safe experience, even in mid summer. The ferry is a natural regulator of the amount of traffic. There are no commercial establishments, buses, etc that make biking so dangerous elsewhere. 

I might perhaps support a bike/hike path on chappy if it was completely off road in woods and did not negatively impact rural beauty, like an extension of the dirt path that now exists. People really worried about safety can bike on that. A nonpaved path not visible from road would be more aesthetically desirable for both walkers and bikers. 

However if the path was not paved, personally, I would probably be more likly to continue to use the paved road to bike. Also, in the stretch from ferry to woods there are no woods to hide a path in. It would involve taking private property. But if a path must be built (I do not think safety data or my own safety observations warrant it), a nonvisible narrow path in the woods would be the only kind of path that might both add to safety for walkers and bikers while minimizing negative impact on island's rural beauty. I realize that the pressures for development are unrelenting, but once we lose the rural forest and farmland beauty in favor of a more suburban environment, it is gone forever. 

Thanks, you can share my email if helpful, and please keep me updated, sorry for length, enhancing biking and preserving chappy are both subjects about which I feel passionate. 

Brad