Chappaquiddick’s Long and Winding Road

Is a bike path really needed on Chappy, the last rural outpost on the Vineyard? It’s hard to say and there are two distinct points of view on the subject, but this much can be said: the current debate raging over the issue has grown needlessly vituperative. People on both sides of the issue must put down their swords and stop the finger-pointing or risk irreparable harm in their community.

Chappaquiddick, a neighbor-to-neighbor place where residents see each other every day on the small ferry that is their only link to the main Island, is simply too small for such divisiveness.

The latest flare-up has taken place over a study done by a group of graduate students at Northeastern University. The students examined a number of issues, including the accident rate on the Chappaquiddick Road, and sketched a purely academic scenario with three alternatives, ranging from doing nothing to widening the road and building a bike path parallel to it. Commissioned by the group that wants to build a path, the study was done at no cost. Results were presented at a public meeting at the Edgartown town hall last Friday.

The flare-up came when bike path opponents cried foul at the manner in which the meeting was advertised and the fact that it was held at the town hall, claiming an appearance was created that the planning board and selectmen somehow backed the study. The finger-pointing has extended to the town highway superintendent Stuart Fuller; bike path opponents claim that he is pushing an agenda to build this path that they passionately oppose.

All this bluster is way off the point, and the selectmen are to blame, not for taking sides (they haven’t) but for providing zero leadership at precisely a time when Chappaquiddick needs their help. It is not wrong for the selectmen to offer town hall space for the meetings and public discussions about an issue having to do with Chappy — after all, Chappy is part of the town of Edgartown. And opening up the town hall for such meetings does not put a stamp of approval on a project — to suggest so is just plain silly.

But back to the Northeastern graduate study. The idea is well-meaning, but the early results are disappointing. The students are quick to say that they are completely objective and had not even visited Chappaquiddick prior to commencing the study, but that may not be such a good thing, because there is more to study here than road layouts and accident rates. No responsible study having to do with Chappaquiddick can exclude an examination of the way of life there. And the study’s recommendation that a roundabout be built at the Dike Road intersection would be comical if it were not so alarming; it shows a clear disconnect from reality, because even at the height of summer there is not enough traffic on Chappy to justify building a roundabout.

So what now? The bike path debate has grown polarized and unproductive. A wise mediator is needed: someone who can be neutral, objective, sensitive to the issues at hand and help guide the good people of Chappaquiddick into a sensible outcome. The selectmen would be right to ask their respected town counsel, Ronald Rappaport, to play such a role.

Because what’s good for Chappaquiddick is good for the town.