George --

There has been some response [to my comments] from those opposed to the parkway. The following answers all that has come in.

A rail line is impossible, due to nimby. Thanks to the legal process it would be tied up in environmental appeals and legal opposition effectively for eternity.

As one who used to bike 40 miles a day as a kid, I know biking is no solution. Half the year is cold and or rainy and or snowy. More than half the population is too old or too infirm or carries too many passengers/packages to consider it. The great majority of the rest have shown they are not for biking.

If someone can point to a residential city/county area in the US where biking has successfully done away with the need for a major or minor artery, it's not merely a dream. Until then, we have no evidence it's more than well-motivated wishful thinking that flies in the face of history.

History? Wherever the citizenry improved their way of life, and I'm thinking specifically of England, France, Germany, and Spain, peddle biking gave way to power biking, to motor scooters and cycles, then to cars. There has been no other behavior model.

Biking is recreational and, for some with modest distances, reasonably reliable transportation. But between the University and Hollymead?

The arteries are where the serious congestion lies, roads clogged with people travelling distances. Getting around in Belmont or Fry's Spring or Rugby-Mcintire may from time to time be an annoyance but it's not a serious problem. Serious? I'd hate to have a house afire or a heart attack in Woodbrook at 5 o'clock on a Friday and need prompt help, because prompt it will not be.

Rey Barry (electronic mail, April 16, 2000).