To the Editor:
After over a decade of serious study on the future of Lake Mansfield — including a year or more of holding public meetings and surveys — a group of Johnnies-come-lately want to scrap it all in favor of maintaining Lake Mansfield Road as a two-way street so that they can avoid driving through downtown. Convenience is the essence of the argument for keeping Lake Mansfield a two-way road. This approach was the topic of a recent letter written by Nadine Foster to the Berkshire Edge.
Ms. Foster maintains the proposal has been rejected in the past “because the majority of the residents want this road to remain a two-way access.” Not true. When the project was presented to the residents of Great Barrington over the past year, the majority of interested citizens recognized the necessity of a permanent solution, one that will provide the highest benefit to our town. Any citizen who really wants to know the specifics of this plan, should contact a member of the Lake Mansfield Task Force, or attend the Select Board’s meeting on September 26 at 7 p.m.
The letter writer and the signers of a petition to retain two-way access say they knew nothing of these numerous public meetings and surveys regarding Lake Mansfield Road. In reality, they are becoming involved now because they envision being inconvenienced. Sometimes, the big-picture and the greater public good have to be paramount. One of the goals of our Master Plan is to build a town to encourage outdoor use of our beautiful area, including walking, biking, swimming and fishing.
The professionals who have studied the road agree; Lake Mansfield Road is an accident waiting to happen. Ms. Foster argues the road would not be unsafe if everyone followed the rules of the road, and it should remain two-way because it has always been so. Well, everyone doesn’t, nor will they obey rules. It is a miracle no one has been seriously injured or killed on Lake Mansfield Road up to this point. And, because of the loss of shoreline over many, many years, there is simply not enough physical width for a safe two-way road.
Ms. Foster is critical of the cost of the project, but neglects to mention much of it will be picked up by grants because of the environmental and recreational benefits resulting from a one-way configuration. Again, for an accurate description of the project, contact a member of the Task Force, or attend the Select Board’s meeting.
Don’t bury utility lines? As well as eliminating the negative visual impact, it is more cost-effective to bury utility lines during construction than to maintain them forever.
Provisions for the use of safety vehicles have been made to the satisfaction of our emergency service personnel that will readily accommodate any and all emergency vehicles traveling in either direction.
Ms. Foster argues that people on “The Hill,” of which I am one, only want the road one-way to decrease traffic on our residential streets. While that would be great, it will not happen. Drivers will continue to bypass downtown to reach points north. They will accomplish this by driving through “The Hill” to Alford Road. I would also rather have my convenient shortcut, but not at the expense of long-term and irreversible damage to the eco-system of the Lake and the enjoyment of a great number of residents.
As to Ms. Foster’s argument that we don’t need a larger parking lot because whenever she drove on Lake Mansfield Road in August, there were only 7 – 17 cars at the beach and never more than 24, I think the owners of the overflow cars who were ticketed for parking on the side of the road would disagree. The beach was pleasantly full, but there were no parking spaces left in the lot. I saw this happen more than once this summer.
I received telephone and email blasts to inform me of the surveys presented on the Town website, and read them very carefully. I considered all the pros and cons and decided the benefits of maintaining and protecting this beautiful Lake for present and future generations of our citizens was preferable to building a more efficient two-way road. This new road would encourage and increase the use of cars, trucks and heavy equipment to go through the area as fast as they can, and discourage individuals and families from making optimum use of this beautiful great facility. There is still time to protect the vital ecosystem surrounding Lake Mansfield, and demonstrate we care about our environment and our families more than our convenience.
Dana Dapolito
34 Castle Hill Ave.
Great Barrington
