From: GRodneyart
To: krose@edgartown-ma.us
Sent: 8/10/2009 7:00:33 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: bike path
Dear Selectmen 
I am writing to oppose the bike path along the Chappaquiddick road. As an artist I have been painting the landscape here for 30 years and I hate to see the rural landscape chipped away at and slowly turn into the suburban landscape so prevalent on the mainland. Chappy is a place where people can feel closer to nature. A narrow road with scrub oak and bushes near the road is the natural look of this place. A wider road destroys the sense of place. A path with a few trees separating the road from the path is little better--you will see the path in most of the length and it will have the same effect. 
A wider roadway will encourage faster driving. Serious bikers do not use the paths. We will be trading one set of safety concerns for another set by establishing the path along the road with driveways across the path. Because they are not used frequently, bikers will be tempted not to stop. Over time, bushes will tend to creep up around the driveways obstructing views. 
The ferry acts as a natural limit on the number of cars on the road here. In thirty years, raising a child here, I have never felt unsafe. Young children should ride on the road without an adult. 
A much better solution would be to establish a path away from the road using the network of paths already in place. This may be harder to do with right of ways, but it would be safer for pedestrians with baby carriages, dog walkers, and slower bikers. It would also help to bring our divided community into consensus. 
Don't waste money exploring the path along the road. Spend it on a project we can all get behind. 
Gail Rodney