My friends Jamie and Barbara live in Farmington, Conn. Their power was out for a week after the recent storm. The temperature in their house dropped to 45 degrees. Jamie says they wanted their power back for heat, lights and all the other things that electricity brings. But mostly, he said, they wanted to be able to communicate. Everyone in town was driving around looking for places to charge their phones and laptops.

On the Vineyard it has been a long time since we had an extended power outage. But we have many short ones, and all those trees hanging over all those wires are outages waiting to happen. We’ve luckily avoided major storms in recent times but we’ll surely get our share in the years to come.

Those same vulnerable power lines make a mess out of some of the most beautiful views in the world. Wouldn’t it be nice if they were underground?

Let’s switch subjects. One of the worst things about this wonderful Island is the hostility of our road system to bicyclists. It’s not a place where you can get around safely on a bike. This is a topic that has stimulated plenty of discussion for many years but we’ve done nothing about it. I’ve been in many communities that have. They are a delight.

So why not try to hit three bullseyes with a single arrow?

Let’s design a great system of bike lanes and paths from here (and there) to Aquinnah and let’s put the power lines under the bike lanes during construction.

Greater resilience, improved aesthetics, and safe bicycling — all at once!

I have no idea how much this would cost, but it’s not trivial. Some say a million dollars a mile. Would it cost more than our fine new hospital? I don’t know; probably less. Would this project improve our lives — residents and visitors alike — as much as our hospital does? I don’t know that, either, but it’s an easy call to say that Martha’s Vineyard would be a far better place with the wires underground and the bikes safely at the side of the roads.

Could it be done? It would require unprecedented planning and cooperation, but of course it could be done.

Next time the power goes out for a few days or a week, and we need to charge our phones, we could probably head down to the hospital; they have a good back-up generator. While we’re waiting for our phones to charge, let’s have a meeting there, and talk about burying our power lines right under a world-class bike lane system. What do you say? Will you be there?

John Abrams is president of South Mountain Company, a West Tisbury design, building, and renewable energy company.