For some time, I have been trying to think of how to respond to certain individuals who admonish us to go along with the “progress” of widening Mt. Baker Road for the convenience of all.

As someone who actually lives and works in Eastsound – and regularly walks the roads – I challenge those individuals to move to our lovely UGA for a while and see if their opinions change. Alternate views of progress offer different solutions than widening Mt. Baker road in order to spend state monies just because they’re there. People speed on all of our roads, and therein lies the true danger. I often see cars doing over 50 mph on 20 to 35 mph zones, especially along Crescent Beach and Mt. Baker Roads.

There is already an existing trail on much of Mt. Baker Road and its wetlands that was never properly built, nor set up for bicycles. Much of it is unusable year-round. Raising (and widening) the existing trail-bed well above the wetlands’ winter water table and placing a culvert under the trail would solve the problem and make widening Mt. Baker road and the ensuing costs unnecessary.

Many people’s visions of progress don’t include gas-guzzling monster-trucks barreling down a highway at 50 or 60 miles per hour on a 35 mph zone that is home to, and has trails used by, many of us. We, the residents of Eastsound, have no choice but to be part of UGA high-density living. Naturally, we still care about the direction of growth here, as this is our home.

Walking, biking, carpooling, and around-town public transportation should be top priority county solutions wherever possible. It would behoove the county to hire a good grant writer and go after monies that encourage more creative and earth-friendly ideas of progress, give the road money back to the state, and tell them to put it toward our public schools.

Sadie Salim Bailey

Eastsound