Thursday, September 13, 2007

Thin line connects Mount Baker to the bay


Logo from visitor's organization for branding Bellingham in the eyes of tourists. Emphasizes bay to Mt. Baker connection. A refreshing change?

Logo looks nice, but too bad there is only one highway connecting Bellingham to Mt. Baker. State Route 542 (Mt. Baker Highway) is getting busier and busier.

Mt. Baker Hellway?

Some of it is okay, but long stretches have no shoulder. Traffic gets worse each year. Too bad there isn't a more ecologically friendly way to go.

Plans for a Bay to Baker Trail have been discussed for years, but tight funds and private property issues slow its progress. One would think the logo should mandate the trail; a no brainier for bay to Baker eco-tourism.

Another trail system called Chain Of Trails is also in the works. It calls for smaller trail segments scattered around the Foothills area. Easier for funding sources to swallow. If placed properly, these segments could provide some alternatives to, at least, the worse stretches of highway.

WTA bus service now goes as far as Kendell, but that is only part way. The rest of the way it's a long thin line of cars and trucks. Reminds me of President Carter's 1979 comment about how our nation was too dependent on a "thin line of oil tankers stretching half-way around the Earth."


* Today's flurry of posts comes from reorganizing other parts of my site.

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