Tisbury selectman Geoghan Coogan’s letter to state authorities about the unsafe condition of State Road was understandably emotional, given the bicycle tragedy which had recently occurred the previous day right outside his office.

A tourist, Dina Dececca, 40, was killed on July 6 when she fell from her bike into the path of an oncoming truck. As Mr. Coogan put it in his letter, he had become “intimately involved with the details as the situation unfolded.”

Would it take another tragedy, perhaps while the governor was vacationing on the Island, he asked, to open the eyes of state highway authorities to the need to do important maintenance on what is one of the state’s busiest roads at this time of year.

Specifically his concern was that the state had long failed to renew the paint for either the lane markings or crosswalks along the length of State Road. And when pressed for an explanation of why it had not been done, the Highway Division of the Department of Transportation offered two: that budget cuts had left it too broke, and that it had run out of paint.

Poor excuses both, in Mr. Coogan’s view, especially considering that he has been waiting well over three years to have a crosswalk painted across State Road adjacent to his office, where the fatal accident happened.

Mr. Coogan said he was required to pay for the crosswalk under terms set by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in its approval of his new law office in that spot, so it would have cost the state nothing. Could they really have lacked the paint to do it for three years?

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Mr. Coogan said in his letter to Cape and Islands State Rep. Timothy Madden: “I kept thinking about the fact that we have very few visible crosswalks in Tisbury.

“I know the state is aware of this fact and to date has done nothing. From the intersection of Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road and State Road, to the corner of Main street and State Road, to the cross in front of the fire station, as well as Five Corners, the crosswalks are either barely visible, or gone. In addition, the center dividing line is basically gone in numerous areas of the State Road, including the very location of yesterday’s tragedy.”

He attached photographs to underline the point, and noted that the town Department of Public Works (DPW) had been forced to take it upon itself to mark the intersections at Five Corners.

“By no means do I mean to insinuate that this tragedy was caused by the lack of markings on the State Road,” Mr. Coogan wrote. “My point is a larger one. Without proper markings, there will be another tragedy.

“Does it take a death to open the eyes of the state highway department? I believe our governor enjoys the occasional vacation to Martha’s Vineyard. Does it take a tragedy when he is here to alert the administration that markings are not a convenience, but a necessity?

“We’re talking about safety. On one of, if not the, busiest roads in the busiest vacation spot in Massachusetts, our state can’t pay for the proper painting of our crosswalks. Lives will be lost, you can guarantee it.”

He concluded with a plea.

“Before we get any further in our summer season, please, have our State Road properly marked.”

The letter was only part of Tisbury’s campaign to get the state to act. The selectmen also raised it at a recent meeting on the Island with a member of the governor’s staff. Representative Madden and Tisbury DPW director Fred LaPiana added their voices.

But Mr. LaPiana told the selectmen on Tuesday this week that the people at the highway department were very difficult to deal with.

“We have to tag-team these guys. They’re very arrogant,” he said.

But the nagging paid off, at least in part. On Tuesday night, the crosswalks were repainted. At least some of the centerlines and lane markings were supposed to be redone at the same time, but as of yesterday, that had not happened.

It appeared the side lines of the road would not be done at all, for lack of funds or paint.

Mr. LaPiana said he was sure that if it had not have been for Mr. Coogan’s letter referring to the bike fatality, nothing would have been done.

Speaking to the Gazette yesterday, Mr. Coogan said he found the whole situation exasperating.

“At first it was, ‘We don’t have the money.’ Then it was, ‘We don’t have the paint.’

“Fred [LaPiana] actually said he was told the type of paint they use comes from China and it was sold out. But he said there’s an alternative they can use and they were trying to restock on that.

“It’s ludicrous. How can they not have paint?” he said.