A History Of Safety Concerns

The stretch of Guemes Island Road from the ferry dock to the park has long been unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists. High vehicle volume and speed, especially during ferry runs, combined with a narrow road, no shoulder, and deep ditches create an extremely perilous situation.

In September 2009, at approximately the 1-mile marker on Guemes Island Road, a motorist hit a 40-year-old female bicyclist who was riding with the flow of traffic. She suffered serious life-threatening injuries. She has commented: “I can’t take away the joy of riding a bike from my children. But the fear of my girls getting hurt is incomprehensible. The proposed trail is a destination for day trips and truly the only way to ensure safety for joggers, bikers, dog people, and plain old mommies and daddies out on a stroll.”

Additional tales from the non-motorized crowd include:

• driving a bicycle into a ditch to avoid being struck by a vehicle

• standing on the road, hoping the traffic will go around (crossing the center line) instead of risking the ditch

• crisscrossing the road from side to side to avoid oncoming traffic

From drivers' perspectives, a pedestrian may or may not be seen, depending on what they are wearing. Bicyclists are often unpredictable on the road, especially in groups. Some drivers have said that non-motorized traffic should not be on the road at all. At night, the situation for both motorized and non-motorized traffic is even more dire.

The increasing volume of people on the road, both motorized (in vehicles) and non-motorized (on foot, bicycles, strollers, etc.), is a recipe for disaster.