To the editor:

As one of its first acts of the New Year, the Bainbridge Island City Council will meet on Jan. 2 to consider the Sound to Olympics bridge project.

The bridge, maligned by its opponents in press sound bites as the “Bridge to Nowhere,” is anything but that. The bridge is one big stepping stone in a long-term, well-researched plan to provide safe, non-motorized access for all ages between neighborhoods and public destination routes on each side of the 305 highway. It consists of a pedestrian and bicycle overpass connecting Knechtel Way with John Nelson Lane (near Vineyard Lane) and the Sound to Olympics Trail.

This nearly mile long “super block,” between Winslow Way and High School Rd, separates two populated neighborhoods from the east side and, like or not, the area is expect to add hundreds more residents in the next few years. A bridge across the 305 will increase connectivity between neighborhoods and provide an ADA accessible crossing that will serve the needs all ages and abilities while ushering our Island into a new, more pedestrian and bicycle friendly future.

Future plans include reserving public easements near the bridge to allow for access to additional 305 bicycle/pedestrian crossings. If given a chance, the bridge, near the densest core residential and business district, will become the “Bridge to Everywhere” for many of our island residents.

Please support the bridge at the decisive Jan. 2 council meeting.

CHARLES THATCHER

Bainbridge Island