Dear Friends,
The Cape Cod Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has now released its draft Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) detailing a whole series of projects for funding over the next five years across Cape Cod. Thanks, in large measure, to the overwhelming number of messages received last year in support of the Bourne Rail Trail (BRT) during the comment period for the 2019-2023 TIP (in which the BRT was merely identified in the appendix as a project requiring funding sometime in the future), the proposed 2020-2024 TIP now includes funding the construction of the first phase of the BRT in 2024!
The second exciting development concerns the MPO’s Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), that lists planning activities anticipated to be performed by MPO staff over the next year. Study and formation of a Bourne Bicycle Transportation Plan is on the potential project list for 2020! Such a plan would involve studying existing conditions and recommending measures that could be taken to improve non-motorized transportation options within the town of Bourne. The BRT is, of course, anticipated to be a major component of that plan.
We are in the public review/comment period for the proposed TIP and the draft UPWP right now, and it is critical that you voice your support for the Bourne Rail Trail. Comments must be received no later than next Monday, May 13. We would like to let the MPO know of our strong endorsement of the inclusion of the BRT as a project to be funded within the timeframe of this TIP, and our great interest in the proposed Bourne Bicycle Transportation Plan. Please help us deliver that message by emailing the following email template (feel free to copy and paste) or a similar message to Steven Tupper of the Cape Cod Commission at stupper@capecodcommission.org. Be sure to put “TIP and UPWP” in the subject line of your email.
Thank you for your continued support,
The Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail
Dear Mr. Tupper,
As a community member who is an ardent supporter of the Bourne Rail Trail (Shining Sea Bike Path Extension), I am writing to applaud the inclusion of the Bourne Rail Trail in the upcoming Transportation Improvement Program funding cycle (FFY 2020-2024 TIP).
The Bourne Rail Trail is currently a 6.25 mile “missing link” that could be a magnificent, safe multi-user path, and will connect the Cape Cod Canal path in Sandwich and Bourne to the Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth and Woods Hole. This unbroken path, from the town of Sandwich to the village of Woods Hole, will tie multiple villages to one another, as well as providing an uninterrupted non-motorized transportation option to Martha’s Vineyard. It will provide an extraordinary transportation and recreation facility for users of all ages, skills, and interests. Based on the experience of the Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth, it will provide economic benefits to all the villages will increase property values.
This is such a great project that it clearly deserves its inclusion in the TIP – FFY2020-2024!
I am also writing in support of the proposal to include formation of a Bourne Bicycle Transportation Plan in the MPO’s Unified Planning Work Program for 2020. With the plans for the Bourne Rail Trail moving forward, it is the perfect time for a broader study of the options for maximizing the benefit from the Bourne Rail Trail.
Thank you very much for your support of this exciting project.
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