Terry, I'd be opposed to a paved bike path given that it would attract roller bladers, skateboarders, scooters, high speed road bikers, etc. Instead, why not consider a crushed stone bike/jogging/pedestrian path adjacent to the road. less expensive to build, low maintenance. Crushed stone would keep all of those higher speed risks off the bike path and on the road, where they should be.
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> As a source of perspective, we've just gone through an extensive process in Concord looking at many options for a new rail trail coming through a 3.5 mile stretch of the town and research indicated that 60% of all rail trails in the US are built with a crushed stone base and, built properly, require less maintenance and upkeep than paved ones. In the interest of full disclosure, at Town meeting, it was decided (not by a very concerned minority including me!) to construct a paved trail for all the wrong reasons.
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> Hope this is helpful.
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> George Barnard