WESTPORT - Dedicated to the notion that Westport could be a much friendlier place for people to walk and ride their bicycles, a group of volunteers will meet later this month to explore the possibilities. Calling themselves Westport Wheels and Walkers, they will consider some old and new ideas for potential bike path and walking routes in town.

"It's a grassroots project and we don't know yet where it will lead," said Melissa Quinn, the Westporter who is leading the effort. "But we do know that there is a real need for easier and safer ways to get around that don't always require getting into your car."

The group will meet on Thursday evening, Jan. 27 at the Bell Schoolhouse.

Although this isn't the first time Westporters have looked into establishing such paths, she and others believe chances of success improve as the need grows. And bike path momentum is building as communities all around Westport are planning and completing paths.

Fall River is building one on the rail line that runs east to the Westport town line, Fairhaven and Swansea are doing the same, and Wareham is next on the list. Across the state line, Tiverton and Aquidneck Island communities are taking a close look at the rail line that runs through those towns.

Although nothing has yet been explored in detail, some general options and suggestions have been offered. Funding is always the biggest challenge but path projects can be eligible for a mix of federal and state funding (often 80 percent federal, 10 percent state and 10 percent from sponsoring group).

For all its beauty, "Westport really doesn't have many places where people, especially children, can get out and ride," added David Dionne, another member of the group.

A few possibilities:

Central Village

"Right now it is really very difficult to ride your bike through the village ... the road is too narrow," and it isn't safe for children, Ms. Quinn said.

That's too bad, she added, because there are many things that could be linked by a path — the playground, ice cream shop, grocery store, new senior housing center, town hall and more. "It would be great to be able to walk or ride from place to place."

Here, a "shared path," typically eight feet wide with space for walker and bikers might work and would mesh well with the town's master plan which urges that the town be made more "walkable."

Horseneck Beach

The state operators of Horseneck Beach have indicated that they could be supportive of a bike/walking path there, one that could link the large areas of open space and parking lots within the reserve. In a survey done awhile back, Westporters listed the beach areas as a place they would like to have such paths.

Route 88

The Route 88 corridor could provide a good route for cyclists to ride south to the shore and beach areas. When Route 88 was planned, it was conceived as a four-lane road although only two lanes were built. That leaves considerable extra space to the east side of the road where a path could be built. Since pedestrians and bicycles are not allowed on Route 88, a path would probably require fencing to separate it from the roadway.

"It would be a large project," Ms. Quinn said, but Mass Highway has said it could be done if a group was willing to get behind it.

Railroad route

The new Fall River path which follows the railroad right-of-way east will stop abruptly at the Westport line. That has led some to wonder whether the path might someday continue into or through Westport, eventually linking up with rail line paths being built in Fairhaven, Wareham and other towns on the way to the Cape.

That is an intriguing possibility, Ms. Quinn said, but one that has complications.

For one, those rails, which run parallel to and just north of Route 6, are still used by Mid-City Steel and, while bike paths and active rail lines can coexist given adequate fencing or other measures, it is more difficult to accomplish than with an unused rail line.

Also, responses to that earlier bike path survey indicated less interest in a path across the north end of town than in one that would enable people to ride in the village or to the beaches.

She knows bike paths

When they selected Melissa Quinn to lead the Westport Wheels and Walkers grassroots bike path effort, members chose someone with experience. In the 1980s, Ms. Quinn, then a civil engineer with Pare Engineering, was project manager for the East Bay Bike Path in Rhode Island. Although it has become immensely popular, she recalls opposition when it was proposed. Some didn't want the path going through their neighborhoods and predicted that a path would lead to break-ins and other crime (which has not been the case). In fact, the path is now a selling point — these days, real estate listing for houses anyplace near the path invariably boast "easy bike path access." She now works for Tibbetts engineering in Taunton, a firm whose design projects include bike paths in Fairhaven, Marion and elsewhere.