Turning Wheels

Though the wheels of government turn slowly, they apparently have begun to turn in regard to a 15-mile bicycle path that in the not too distant future may span the Amagansett railroad station and Southampton Village.

On Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Board appropriated its half of the estimated $28,800 design cost for the first four-mile segment, which would provide cyclists with a paved path adjacent to the Long Island Rail Road right-of-way eastward from the Sag Harbor Turnpike.

"What's remarkable," said Lisa Liquori, the town planner, "is that we have an opportunity, without relocating any houses or structures, to have a path in this location."

The project is estimated to cost $l.8 million in all, though 80 percent is to be reimbursed through the State Department of Transportation. According to a recent Southampton Trails Preservation Society mailer, the state also has obtained a $60,000 grant that would reduce the towns' share from $360,000 to $300,000.

Over in Southampton, government has been somewhat less ardent about this project and the Trails Preservation Society has issued an "alert" asking its members to sign cards in support of the path that the society can deliver to the Southampton Town Board. Perhaps, in past years, the bike path did not have widespread and enthusiastic support due to the price tag, originally projected at $45 million for 15 miles, or more than $250,000 a mile.

Noting the ever-burgeoning numbers of "inline skaters, joggers, bike riders, nannies pushing prams, et cetera, on our crowded roads," the society notes that the time has come finally to move forward on the plan: "It is only a matter of time before a terrible accident occurs."

And the price, at $150,000 per town, seems right.