Letter: Bike plan can be an attraction for our community

Posted 2/4/21

As stated in the Town’s approved Comprehensive Plan, creating safe bicycle connections and sidewalks is a priority of the Town. Thanks to Rhode Island voters approving a Green Economy Bond, …

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Letter: Bike plan can be an attraction for our community

Posted

As stated in the Town’s approved Comprehensive Plan, creating safe bicycle connections and sidewalks is a priority of the Town. Thanks to Rhode Island voters approving a Green Economy Bond, which led to a DEM Bikeways Program Grant, I am overjoyed that a serious proposal is finally being considered.

Ever since the 1980s, I have wished for a safe direct way to bike to the lovely Rogers Williams University campus and enjoy the magnificent views of the Mt. Hope Bridge and further explore the old lighthouse and coastline at the bottom of Old Ferry Road. I can visualize the possibility of a multi-use paved path along scenic Ferry Road, with its beautiful stone walls and gorgeous canopy of trees, as the plan proposes. The mature and healthy trees would be incorporated into the route design, and it is the intent to add additional trees to maintain and even increase the canopy.

Walkers and runners use the grassy path now, but the ground is uneven and unsafe, especially for older residents, who would enjoy a pleasant place to stroll, and for casual bikers, who are now forced to ride in unsafe conditions on the road next to the cars with only two-foot-wide shoulders.

I certainly understand the concerns of the residents with driveways on Ferry Road, but they must use caution currently when exiting and watch out for the walkers and runners, as well as the bikers and cars on the road, as I must do exiting my driveway across the sidewalk into Wood Street.

A multi-use paved path would most likely attract casual bikers, who normally ride more slowly, watching for driveways, as they must do when riding on our local streets or when encountering pedestrians. The important point is that this beautifully designed path, as pictured in Bristol Bicycle Connector online, would be safer and more enjoyable for both bikers and walkers.

I am reminded of the many issues that nearly prevented the East Bay Bike Path from being built, how the concerns faded away afterward, how well-loved it is now, and how it is actually a major selling point in the real estate market.  This new path would also be 10’ wide, the same as the bike path, which crosses several streets.

This bike project in its entirety is extremely well thought out and has benefitted from multiple public workshops. Our downtown streets will become safer for bikers and cars with the share-the-road street markings near the intersections, a much safer crossing from High Street to Hope Street for both walkers and bikers will be created, no parking spaces will be lost anywhere, and our small-town character and natural beauty, including the canopy of trees on Ferry Road, will be maintained. 

Several business owners have already expressed their enthusiasm for the project. As Bristol’s bike-friendly reputation grows, our local businesses on Thames, Hope, and Wood streets, including the new Unity Park on Wood Street, will surely benefit.

MaryKae Wright
Bristol

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