Sudbury Town Crier
Thursday, April 5, 2007
TO THE EDITOR:
A few months ago I've started to attend meetings related to the
construction of a multi-use trail in our town on the old rail bed that
runs north - south from Concord to Framingham.
A few things prompted me
to attend these meetings. First one was a bicycle trip last fall with
my (7-year old) son from Loring School to the library, DPW and back. While
most of the roads have sidewalks they are suitable just for walking and
not other activities. Coming back from DPW on Union I’ve discovered
that
Union has no sidewalks. It was a very scary and dangerous trip back to
Raymond Road, which has a sidewalk. I wish there was a bicycle trail.
After this trip I’ve decided that next weekend we’ll get in the car
and
drive to the closest bicycle trail, which happens to start in
Marlborough and ends in Hudson. The trail was a blast and we’ve
enjoyed
coffee and ice cream in Hudson. Because of the trail, Hudson center has
changed. It’s much cleaner and new shops opened doors. I wish we had
trail like this in Sudbury and we did not have to drive. We, as a
family, have traveled on many bicycle trails in Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and New Hampshire. I cannot remember any crime, litter and so
forth.
We have friends that live on the Minuteman bicycle trail in
Lexington, which has been in service for many years, and we’ve heard
only good things about it.
The reason I wrote this note is that I’ve seen misleading
information being mailed to the residents of Sudbury and published in
the local newspaper. Some people say that it’ll cost the town a
fortune.
If one does the math, the money spent so far amount to $1.47 /
resident.
The average annual tax bill per household in Sudbury is $9,200. The
vast
majority of the investment is paid by the state of Massachusetts not by
Sudbury residents.
The same group of people is afraid of increased
crime. This trail comes from Concord. I think this is an insult to our
northern neighbors. Does anyone think that when the trail is ready the
"criminal people" from Concord and other northern towns will pick up
their high speed bicycles and come to rob the citizens of Sudbury?
The
same people are afraid that animals will be hurt when the trail will be
ready. I have yet to see a dead animal due to a bicycle accident. Every
day we see unfortunate animals being hurt by cars on the roads.
I invite everyone that wants to see the bicycle trail project
continue in Sudbury to come to the town meeting and cast their approval
vote for articles 22, 23 and 24 and reject article 35.
Fred Floru
Alta Road
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