Approximately 40 Hanover residents, many of them visibly angry, argued against a proposed new bicycle path at a meeting in the Hanover Town Office last night.
The path would run from the Mink Brook area in Hanover up to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
The Hanover town board proposed the bicycle path in late March as a more environmentally sound route to DHMC because residents would be riding bicycles instead of driving cars.
However, many town residents made it clear last night that they did not agree. Most complained that it would be an impractical alternative to automobile transportation.
"Who came up with this plan? This is one of the worst of the possibilities I can think of," Kirk Endicott, a Hanover resident, said. "I was opposed strongly to this when I walked in and now I appear to be even more opposed to it."
Endicott said the path as proposed is comprised of a series of steep hills and would be better off along Route 120, which is more level terrain.
Even residents who claimed to be avid cyclists opposed the bicycle path, objecting the steep grade along the proposed path did not provide safe cycling routes.
Much of the bicycle path would consist of grades as high as 10 to 12 percent. The ideal grade for a bicycle path is five percent.
Although rest stops would be built along the areas of steep grade, residents were still concerned about the downhill speeds of cyclists, which could reach up to 35 miles per hour.
One resident complained that the path would be "a terrible waste of the taxpayers' money" because it would not be in use most of the time. The path would not be accessible at night and due to the snowy weather conditions in Hanover, residents would not be able to use the path in the winter, he said.
Town residents also said they were concerned about the wetlands and trees that would have to be cleared for the construction of the path.
"If you are going to bulldoze parts through, it would be total desecration of the land," Hanover resident Roger French said.
Town board chair Marilyn Black defended the bicycle path, citing its practicality. The proposed path would connect to another path that runs along the Ledyard Canoe Club and a path that connects Wilder and Norwich, Vt., Black said.
Hanover residents will vote on the proposal in a May 14 referendum.
If approved, 80 percent of the $365,000 funding for the bicycle path will come from federal funds. The other 20 percent will come from the $80,000 Elm Street Fund, a fund created when Dartmouth College bought Elm Street from Hanover.
