Route 88 runs right down the heart of most of Westport. A harsh concrete slab in the midst of a narrow whisp of a town. Its hard to claim it beautiful, hard to find what is lovable about a straight line in a willowy landscape. It is very much a piece of the Fifties in the middle of our timelessness. It was started and finished in the fifties and sixties, as a connector from 195 to Horseneck. It is the longest state road to be contained all in one town, topping eleven miles. There is a lot of history here, even in our highways… http://www.bostonroads.com/roads/MA-88/…, and it is clearly with a mix of chagrin and common sense that we all both love and hate our 88.
There it is, all the time, sitting smack dab in the middle of everything. Our path to the beach,(everyone‘s path to the beach!) a shortcut to the schools, the library, the grocery, the churches, and to the/by the end of it all, the ‘Point’. It most definitely has its uses; it is a means to leave town for work, to move about in the fastest way possible…(I’m positive the Fire and Police Departments are mildly in love with it..) … it is an everpresent and reliable shortcut- a way to avoid the country roads, and their treachery as the plows move into season.
God knows, when there is a problem on 88, an accident, a breakdown, it is felt in a town-wide fashion. But we are blessed with our fine country roads, and circumventing the straight and narrow is always possible.
Tell me… is it love or hate you feel for the Magnificent 88?
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