There are many reasons to support the proposed extension of the East Bay Bike Path to the Mt. Hope Bridge. It will bring more visitors to town to help our local businesses. It will encourage residents of the town to be more active and spend more time outside. It will make the beautiful Ferry Road area more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

However, I want to focus on how it will make our streets safer for everyone. I walk downtown a lot, and I already see a lot of people on bikes on High Street and the cross streets. The proposed road markers and signage will reflect the current mixed use of the roads and make the roads safer.

A few years ago, a young boy was killed while riding his bike on the bike path at the intersection with Poppasquash Road. Many residents of the town were outraged at the lack of stop signs at that intersection, and members of the public paid to put up a sign themselves. The town has an opportunity to get ahead of safety issues downtown with this proposal to prevent another tragic accident.

The safety issue also applies to the Ferry Road stretch of the proposed path. I’ve ridden my bike on that stretch of road and it’s scary. There is no shoulder. When there is no shoulder or designated bike lane, cyclists should use one-third of the lane, letting cars pass in the other two-thirds of the lane, but Ferry Road isn’t wide enough to do that.

In that situation, cyclists can, and should for safety reasons, ride in the center of the lane. That will slow down traffic, and no one wants that any more than they want to see cyclists hit by cars.

The East Bay Bike Path extension project will make the streets of downtown and Ferry Road safer for everyone.

Bethany Sousa Foster
Bristol