Oak Bluffs selectmen voted Tuesday evening to permanently close East Chop Drive to vehicular traffic, but rejected an engineer’s recommendation to ban bicycle and pedestrian traffic on part of the scenic roadway.

Perched high on a bluff overlooking Vineyard Sound, the coastal roadway is exposed to the ravages of storms and has been badly undermined by erosion for years. Efforts to shore up and restore the bluff have been repeatedly thwarted by funding barriers, government red tape and other factors. For a number of years, the road has periodically been closed or partially closed.

Now a three-year plan to repair and stabilize the bluff has been developed by town engineers and the conservation commission. The plan recently cleared approval with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. But the town still needs $17 to $20 million in funding to pay for the project.

Meanwhile, coastal storms this year further eroded the coastal bank that supports the drive. On March 15, the town closed the road on a temporary basis.

Following visual inspections on March 27, JCK Underground, a consultant to the town’s engineering firm CLE Engineering, recommended that East Chop Drive be closed to all traffic — vehicle and pedestrian — from Brewster avenue to Harrison avenue. JCK also recommended that the seaward lane of the roadway be closed to vehicular traffic from Harrison avenue to Munroe avenue.

“Major sections of the coastal bank have eroded away with the 1,200-foot section between Brewster avenue to Harrison avenue,” the report submitted to selectmen says. “Portions of this section have lost vegetative cover and is now more susceptible to erosion by future storm events, which increases the potential of roadway failure.”

At a public hearing Tuesday, selectmen discussed the difficulty of enforcement, especially if only part of East Chop Drive is closed to vehicular traffic. There was broad consensus to close the entire roadway.

“It’s crazy to keep this open,” said selectman Mike Santoro, who heads the town’s roads and byways committee.

Selectman Brian Packish said the town faced a responsibility to heed the warnings of its engineers.

“I don’t want to get into a situation where it’s a scene from Jaws, and we let everybody swim,” he quipped.

But for some members of the public who spoke at the hearing, the idea of keeping pedestrians and bicyclists off the roadway came across as ludicrous.

“I cannot believe that riding my bicycle along East Chop Drive is going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Steve Auerbach. “I personally am willing to take a chance and walk up there.”

Fred Hancock agreed. “Short of electric barbed wire fences and land mines, you’re not going to keep people off there,” he said.

After closing the hearing, selectmen voted unanimously to permanently close the drive to all vehicles from Brewster avenue to Munroe avenue.

The board directed public safety officials to meet soon and formulate a plan to allow access to the area for emergency vehicles.

Also Tuesday, selectmen adopted a new policy governing tour buses and vans operating within the town, and established a new procedure for filing and resolving complaints.

Tour buses congregate mostly near the passenger ferry landing spots on the harbor near the North Bluff.

Instead of offering two parking spaces for tour buses and vans in a bidding process, the town will now designate five spaces and charge a fee of $600 for buses and vans to stage for tours. Each tour company will get one space. Each company will be allowed a sandwich board to identify itself, but will not be allowed to hawk its services.

Complaints will be submitted in writing and investigated by police.

Selectmen said increased competition among tour bus companies generated numerous problems during last year’s summer season.

After a brief debate, the board voted to join the Island towns of Chilmark and Aquinnah, as well as 75 other Massachusetts communities in a federal lawsuit against manufacturers of opioid pain medications. Hundreds of other towns nationwide have joined the litigation, which alleges that the manufacturers and distributors knew the medications were addictive and falsely marketed them to doctors.

The meeting began with election of new officers for the board. Selectmen unanimously voted Gail Barmakian as chairman and Brian Packish as vice chairman. They also welcomed newly elected member Jason Balboni to the board.

In other action, selectmen:

• Changed shellfish regulations to allow commercial fishermen to use their license to take the recreational limit of one half bushel of oysters per week;

• Voted to open section four of Sengekontacket Pond to quahaug and clam harvesting on April 28, section five on June 30, and section one on Sept. 8;

• Approved an entertainment license for the restaurant 20 by Nine;

• Granted a one-day liquor license for the Martha’s Vineyard Craft Beer Fest on Sept. 22 in Waban Park.