Portsmouth Herald (N.H.) September 16, 1999

Editorial
New bike bridge opens up a whole world of possibilities

You know how people are always complaining about how horrible the summer traffic is? And how there is never any place to park? Well, there's a method of transportation that emits no pollutants into the environment and does wonders for the health and fitness of all those who utilize it: It's called a bicycle.

And now, with the grand opening of a new bike bridge that crosses the Spaulding Turnpike parallel to Interstate-95, the Seacoast just got quite a bit more bicycle-friendly. Those two highways are not only unsuitable for cycling, they also create high-speed, high-risk roadblocks to area bike riders.

But that was before SABR pedaled into the picture about six years ago. SABR stands for Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes, and this is a group that deserves great credit for its tireless efforts to create safer pathways for bike tires.

Officials in Newington and Portsmouth also deserve credit for kicking in some public funding, as does the state Department of Transportation for seeing the project through.

"It's amazing," David Cohen, one of SABR's many spokespeople, said of the new bridge. So now, local riders can pedal from Kittery to Durham, or vice versa, as long as both legs and lungs are up for the challenge.

The exciting part is that this is hopefully just the beginning. More pathways are proposed, and federal funding reportedly is in place for some of them. It's all about "quality of life," says Cameron Wake, another SABR spokesperson.

For anyone wishing to contribute to SABR, the nonprofit group's address is: Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes, P.O. Box 412, Durham, NH 03824. For more information, SABR's Website is: www.SeacoastBikes.com

2008 © Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes : info@seacoastbikes.com
P.O. Box 412 Durham, NH 03824

Site Designed and Hosted by Harbour Light