To the Editor:
As a member of the Oak Bluffs planning board and the streetscape committee, I would like to offer a few thoughts on the proposed, then scuttled, Oak Bluffs park and ride.
I do believe the selectman rushed it through at the end, and there should have been greater outreach to the surrounding neighbors. I attended the meeting with neighbors and read the Letters to the Editor on this matter.
At the meeting I heard a lot of concern about traffic on Pacific Avenue. Personally, I think it needs a line down the center and maybe some traffic calming by the library. I also learned that the area across from town hall has had other proposals as well, including a sewer plant and an affordable housing project, which the neighbors objected to.
While I think that the sewer proposal might have been too much, affordable/elderly housing or maybe a park and ride/walk still is a good idea that should be pursued. I know the neighbors there have legitimate concerns, but they also have to realize that they live next to town property which is already a parking lot, as well as a buildable lot. The neighbors there need to be for something, not against everything.
Erik Albert
Oak Bluffs