In June 2018 I witnessed a close call when a car almost struck a child crossing the street on his bike west bound on the Edgartown-West Tisbury road near Metcalf. I then noticed that the bike-crossing sign was gone from the west side of the bike crossing (there are two signs eastbound). I notified the Edgartown police, who told me to call the highway department, who told me to call the state highway department. I went over in person and no one was there so I left a phone message. Over the course of the next year I wrote two emails and left two more phone recordings to the state about the danger. I even tried soliciting the DMV office for help but to no avail.

In July of 2019, with still no sign up, I notified the Edgartown selectmen’s office and Mrs. Rose put me in touch with James Hagerty. Mr. Hagerty contacted the state highway department and they said they had other priorities. So for two years, the sign has not been replaced. The bike crossing is just past the crest of a hill making it very difficult for a driver in a sedan to see a child at the bike crossing.

When I was 24, I was on board a Coast Guard training vessel and our ship collided with another and we lost 11 shipmates out of the 29 on board. I wrote a book about it 30 years later. In that book I noted that many people identified and reported safety concerns but no one followed up or did anything to mitigate the dangers. I find myself in that same situation today. Two years to replace a safety sign, there must be systemic failure in the state’s approach to safety.

Please help me make the Island safer and let’s get a sign in place!

Peter Eident

Edgartown