By Kim Siebert MacPhail
With the exception of one, lone “No” in the rear of Bedford High School auditorium, support for the proposed Bicycle Master Plan was unanimous at the November 4 Special Town Meeting. Funded by Community Preservation funds, the $40,000 Master Plan is intended to improve the bike-friendliness of Bedford’s streets. Additionally, according to the Planning Board, the Master Plan will mesh well with the soon-to-be-completed Comprehensive Plan.
Proposed by the Bicycle Advisory Committee, the Master Plan received unanimous support at a recent Planning Board meeting. [See https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2013/11/01/bicycle-master-plan-gets-nod-from-planning-board/] Planning Board member Amy Lloyd spoke at the Special Town Meeting about how the Bicycle Master Plan dovetails with components of the Comprehensive Plan.
Lloyd said, “The proposed Bicycle Master Plan is a timely complement to Bedford’s Comprehensive Plan. It will map out the details required to develop an alternative transportation infrastructure, one that supports a non-autocentric mode of transit, encourages healthy activity, gives greater recreational opportunities and has clear environmental benefits. The Planning Board unanimously supports this article.”
A second resident spoke in support of the Master Plan as well, saying he had previously lived overseas and witnessed the positive effects of investment in bicycle infrastructure.
“This would benefit our town, not only in terms of revenue—in terms of making small businesses more accessible—but it’s beneficial for our children and for the traffic issues that we have. Forty-thousand dollars seems to me a very small amount for the potential of a very significant return on investment.”
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