Orleans' Beach Road on Bike Lane Path

Beach Road in Orleans could soon become more bike and pedestrian friendly. Concerns about the potential for a tragic accident on the popular road triggered a feasibility study; at the end of this process, the town will have four bike lane layouts to choose from.

Can you bike to the beach in Orleans?

07 June 2024 - ORLEANS, MA - The specter ever-larger vehicles sharing narrow roads with bike and pedestrians gave the Orleans Transportation and Bikeways Advisory Committee the shivers about bike and pedestrian safety - especially on popular destination routes like Beach Road. At the annual Town meeting last month, the public voted in favor of a feasibility study to add a bike lane onto Beach Road, in what Alice Thomason van Oot, Chair, calls a landslide victory.

What will a bike lane look like in Orleans?

Safety, however, is not the only aspect the Committee is focusing on. Keeping the picturesque and Cape-specific look also go into the planning, as well as preserving specimen trees and potential historic stone walls. Thomas van Oot emphasizes that home-owners with landscaping close to the road will be taken into consideration too.

Where will the bike lane be?

The bike lane will run from Orleans’ town to Nauset beach, along Beach Road in a design not yet determined. The Committee has promised four different layouts for voters to choose from at next year’s Town meeting, ranging from eight to eleven feet wide along one side of the road.

How can bikes boost local economy?

East Orleans has what it likes to call a string of pearls:  small local businesses string together, shops filled with art, home decorations and clothing, real estate offices, small bed and breakfasts and restaurants. Making it safe, easy, and enjoyable for people to leave their cars and explore Orleans by foot, bike or wheelchair could boost these businesses in particular, and the local economy at large.