An innovative proposal to revitalize the upper State Road business district and relieve congestion along the main artery in Vineyard Haven was warmly received this week by residents, merchants and town officials.

The new road system would cut across town-owned land between Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and State Road. A driver coming from Oak Bluffs along the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road could turn left onto a new road near the Edgartown National Bank. Drivers would then have a choice of three branches to access State Road, emerging at different points between Cronig's Market and Crane Appliance at 529 State Road.

The presentation of the town planning board was given Wednesday at the Tisbury Senior Center. More than 30 people attended the meeting, which was called to build support for a town meeting warrant article. Voters will be asked to approve $35,000 to survey the road system laid out in the plan.

"I find this plan intriguing and certainly doable. I think it is wonderful to see how the planning board is looking at roads, trails. Overall, I think it is a laudable goal," selectman Tristan Israel said.

"In the next generation, it will be a village in the more traditional sense," Martha's Vineyard Commission executive director Mark London said.

"I'm thrilled," declared longtime resident Jim Norton of Bayes Norton Farm.

Similar presentations have already been given to the board of selectmen and to residents in the neighborhood.

The system would relieve traffic at the bottleneck of Look street, State Road and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, which planning board member Henry Stephenson characterized Wednesday as a failed intersection - especially in the summer, when cars back up in all directions and traffic slows to a creep.

If drivers had another alternative, he said, the upper State Road corridor could be saved.

Planning board chairman Tony Peak opened the meeting by describing the origins of the proposal. He said the effort began two years ago with a survey of residents in town.

Mr. Peak said the townspeople wanted to prevent commercial sprawl in town, to develop affordable housing opportunities and to find a solution to the summer traffic problems.

Mr. Stephenson said the town owns a lot of land in the area around the town standpipe that extends from State Road almost all the way to the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road. The land includes the old landfill, the Park and Ride lot, the town Department of Public Works buildings and wastewater treatment plant.

Paying attention to land usage and avoiding protected areas like the town landfill and the Sanborn well, roads could be cut to connect the two larger thoroughfares, Mr. Stephenson said. He added that over time the roads could be made to look almost rural in nature, with tree canopies overhead.

The plan also calls for the improvement of the neighborhood between Evelyn Way and High Point Road.

Public works director Fred LaPiana reported that in only a few months, the leaching field of the town's new $7 million wastewater treatment plant will be turned into a soccer field.

Mr. Stephenson said a proposal to build a fire station on town land next to the standpipe is being explored. He said bike and walking paths could be incorporated in the project to improve the appearance of the neighborhood.

There were few questions after the presentation, and many spoke favorably of the plan.

Whit Hanschka asked whether the board had done enough work to determine whether the road near the Edgartown National Bank could handle the added traffic.

Another person asked whether the town should be looking at two solutions - like using Red Hill Road as a possible access to Holmes Hole Road which enters State Road across the street from Crane Appliances.

MVC chairman Linda Sibley said that for years people have considered that possibility too expensive an option, adding the residents of that road would be opposed. Mrs. Sibley said she liked the planning board effort. She owns Vineyard Electronics, a business on State Road across from the entrance to High Point Road.

Mr. Norton cautioned the board on looking at their map and not paying attention to the topography of the area. He wondered whether the roads could support emergency vehicles.

MVC transportation planner Srinivas G. Sattoor said work had already begun on constructing computer models to predict traffic patterns, and said more will be done as the project moves forward.

Mr. Stephenson added that survey work is the just the beginning, and said the questions being raised by Mr. Norton and others are part of the process.

Ned Orleans, a former member of the planning board, urged the board to start looking at zoning issues in the area. He cautioned that the hopes of having some of those lots for affordable housing might fail if property owners move to capitalize on the road improvements in the area. "I don't think it is too early to start," Mr. Orleans said.

Mrs. Sibley warned that movement toward the roads could lead to rapid development in that area. She urged the board to proceed with the road while also looking at zoning. "It has to happen close together," she said.

Chris Fried urged the board to pay close attention to bicycle and pedestrian traffic safety. He described the State Road area as already treacherous.

Mr. London offered his own perspective on what might occur in that upper State Road corridor if the idea is realized, saying he envisions the area becoming a village not unlike other Vineyard downtowns.

Mr. Peak concluded by assuring everyone that the board is aware they are working with one of the largest pieces of town-owned land and will move forward carefully.