To the Editor:

 

I am a resident of Swifts Beach and I took the opportunity to take part in the Zoom meeting on June 21 about the redesign of the Route 6/Swifts Beach Road area.

 

I am happy that we will be getting a traffic signal and new crosswalks. These are greatly needed for the busy area, but the narrowing of the vehicle travel lanes is concerning.

 

Swifts Beach Road is the only way for residents to enter and exit this beach community. We are a peninsula with one road in/out. Taking away two travel lanes on Route 6 will slow down any evacuation from the beach or use for emergency vehicles in/out of the community.

 

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation acknowledged that they are aware of the new housing development being built off of Swifts Beach Road and the new food pantry being built at the top of the road.

 

This, along with the limited access to the beach community, is a recipe for disaster.

 

I kept hearing over and over that the shared use path being developed will make Route 6 more “residential.” While it may sound like a visual improvement for the few houses that line Route 6, it will become a major safety issue for the beaches.

 

I ask that the designers take another look at the negative impact this proposal will have on the greater community. It sounds lovely and very enlightened to have shared use paths, but in my mind, it is a major safety issue and a sacrifice for the beach community. The cars idling on the road due to the narrowing will add to the pollution in the area.

 

I am requesting that MassDOT reconsider this proposal.

 

If there are future meetings to discuss this issue it would be great for MassDOT to notify the community via newspapers that people in this area actually read such as Wareham Week. I found out about this meeting while I was looking for another meeting scheduled on the town website.

 

More community input would be a sound idea.