To Governor Charlie Baker:
We, the undersigned, request your IMMEDIATE ACTION to:
1) Halt efforts by the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to develop a parking lot and bikeway terminus at US Route 6 in Wellfleet;
2) Halt MA Department of Transportation (DOT) efforts to develop a bikeway alongside US Route 6 in Wellfleet; and
3) Direct those departments to collaborate with the Town of Wellfleet on bikeway projects the state proposes in Wellfleet.
The currently planned state projects damage Wellfleet and Cape Cod. They fail to promote or enhance the Cape’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources. They are missed opportunities to improve the Outer Cape and promote safe cycling.
• Foremost, DCR and DOT plans needlessly compound dangers in a congested stretch of US Route 6 with multiple curb cuts, already known for traffic accidents and fatalities.
• Secondly, the DCR project will demolish high-quality affordable housing – already rare in Wellfleet – and evict its residents.
• Thirdly, better alternatives exist. Wellfleet’s Bike and Walkways Committee seeks to collaborate with DCR and DOT to evaluate alternative bikeway corridors that promote safe cycling on the picturesque Outer Cape instead of funneling cycle traffic toward and alongside a congested US highway.
The State DCR and DOT are imposing low-quality, highway-centric bikeway projects on Wellfleet in the interest of expediency, with poor sense of location, disregarding safety and resource objections expressed in near-unanimous town votes and meetings, and in opposition to the interests of Wellfleet voters, taxpayers, and vacationers.
The DCR and DOT plans for Wellfleet diminish our historic town, complicate safety along the Outer Cape’s main traffic artery on Route 6, and squander opportunities to promote the pristine Outer Cape.
Governor Baker, we request your immediate action to halt DCR and DOT efforts and to direct those departments to collaborate with the Town of Wellfleet on bikeway plans.
Why is this important?
The State DCR and DOT are imposing low-quality, highway-centric bikeway projects on Wellfleet in the interest of expediency, with poor sense of location, disregarding safety and resource objections expressed in near-unanimous town votes and meetings, and in opposition to the interests of Wellfleet voters, taxpayers, and vacationers.
