There are no ripples or wake anymore, but the impact of no Schamonchi and no fast ferry from New London, Conn., has hit some businesses in Tisbury hard, especially along Beach Road where the ferries used to dock and disgorge tourists by the hundreds.
A formidable Islandwide transportation planning project and a slew
of fresh development proposals are expected to keep the newly configured
Martha's Vineyard Commission busy in the months ahead.
Calling it an important step for the Vineyard and signaling a new determination to take the lead in regional transportation planning, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted with one voice last night to designate an Islandwide harbors and highways district of critical planning concern (DCPC).
“This DCPC proposal is a culmination of a lot of time and thinking about existing DCPCs and about the impact of the car and what it is doing to the Island roads,” declared MVC executive director Charles W. Clifford.
Carmel Gamble glared at the chain-link fence surrounding the beachfront lot next door to her Vineyard Haven cottage. “This is not the Vineyard Haven I knew,” said Miss Gamble, a veterinary technician and self-described “clown on sabbatical” who returned to Martha’s Vineyard two years ago after five years in Hawaii. “But this ugly steel chain-link fence, I mean, what we love about the Vineyard is that it’s beautiful. That’s why people come here,” she said.