Members of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee met Wednesday to review design alternatives for the Tom Nevers corridor and to weigh trade-offs between safety, property impacts and project cost.

Design consultant materials presented three separate decision points: a short segment between Old Tom Nevers/Old Towne River Road and the playing fields (presented as a choice between on-road bike lanes and a separated multiuse path), and a longer Milestone-to-Nobby/Farm Road segment where staff presented three path alignment variants ranging from right‑next‑to‑the‑road to a 4‑ to 8‑foot buffer. The consultants also presented an estimate of easement impacts and cost for earlier, wider alignments.

Why it matters: the committee is advising the town and the county MPDC on designs tied to a town meeting capital request; alignment choices affect safety for bicyclists and pedestrians but also whether the project requires permanent and temporary easements, rising right‑of‑way and damage‑award costs.

The consultant told the committee the original 6–8 foot buffered alignment for the Milestone-to-Nobby segment would have affected about 64,000 square feet of permanent and temporary easement and carried about $2.6 million in right‑of‑way costs, producing a total project estimate of approximately $7.1 million. The town had previously placed a $6.85 million article on the warrant as an initial budget number. The consultant said later, more property‑sensitive alignments reduce easement area by roughly an order of magnitude and bring the estimate back within that $6.85 million figure.

Committee members split on the short segment from Old Tom Nevers Road to the playing fields. Abutters who responded strongly favored a low‑impact on‑road bike lane (presenter: "most of them preferred option 1"), arguing it avoids utility conflicts and permanent takings. Several committee members, citing separation and rider safety observed on other island paths, pushed for a separated path (the multiuse path option) despite the higher impacts. The committee chair said he would record the group’s preference for the separated path on that short section while noting the likely higher cost and potential for contested damage awards; staff said the county commissioners and MPDC will ultimately handle damage‑award decisions.

On the Milestone‑to‑Nobby/Farm Road corridor, the consultant recommended a middle ground ("option 3") featuring a 4‑foot buffer between path and roadway with alignment adjustments around utility poles and guy wires. The consultant described that compromise as the minimum buffer that allows vegetation to grow and meet basic design standards while greatly reducing easement takings. Committee members gave a unanimous thumbs‑up to that option ("thumbs up from Edwin. Thumbs up from Joseph. Thumbs up from RJ").

Staff emphasized the political and practical realities: some abutters are willing to grant easements, others are strongly opposed, and experience shows projects rarely receive full voluntary donations of right of way. The consultant said roughly half of abutters contacted answered, and that among those respondents willingness to grant easements was split.

The committee did not adopt a formal, binding vote to acquire easements; members instead recorded recommendations to be passed up the decision chain. The consultant said he would 1) adjust cost estimates if the committee’s preferences change the assumed design, and 2) share the committee’s recommendations and the updated cost table with the MPDC and county commissioners for final decisions on damage awards.

Looking ahead: staff will update the cost table and circulate the abutter response spreadsheet to committee members. County commissioners and the MPDC remain the bodies that authorize damage awards and any required acquisitions; committee members asked staff to return with refined cost comparisons at the next meeting.