Make it harder to get here

0

To the Editor:

The following is a copy of a letter to the Steamship Authority board members:

Thank you for so publicly presenting next year’s proposed sailing schedules. For the first time I was able to appreciate just how many trips you have scheduled. I appreciate your soliciting comments. I, for one, a year-round resident of Oak Bluffs for over 40 years, feel you have made it much too easy to come and go, whether we are traveling with our vehicles or not.

Many people I spoke with this summer complained about our congested roads. I think that visitors may rethink their vacation plans if they spend a good part of it stuck in traffic. You mentioned in your schedule presentation your willingness to add additional boat trips if things get very busy. This is exactly the wrong time to add more vehicles to our roads.

Provide the 30-plus trips a day if you think the demand is there, but unless there is a very serious emergency, please do not add extra trips. Sounds a lot like a step back toward guaranteed standby. We all remember how disruptive that was. I am pretty sure there is little appetite or funding for adding adding extra lanes to our roads. We like how our roads look, and the fact that we still have no red lights except on our new, finally almost finished, drawbridge. Thank you for the opportunity to offer my thoughts and concerns.

Richard Toole

Oak Bluffs