WILLIAMSBURG — With decision time nearing on the first section of the long-planned Mill River Greenway that will one day create a trail connection from Northampton to Williamsburg, a dispute over the project’s design through Haydenville’s residential South Main Street is complicating progress.

The opposing views were given a full airing Sunday afternoon at the Mill River Greenway Committee’s 12th community forum as residents packed the Anne T. Dunphy School gymnasium to listen and learn.

On one side, the greenway committee favors its proposed design of an 8-foot-wide shared-use path separated from the street by utility poles in a “green strip,” and a 24-foot repaved roadway with parking on the west side only.

Many local residents, on the other hand, see a bike path crossing their driveways, with cyclists heading in both directions, as a safety hazard.

Resident Gerry Shattuck said he generally supports the greenway plan, but that the planning process didn’t involve the neighborhood at a critical stage.

He said the bike path as proposed for South Main Street, a 1,700-foot section between the bridges and the Northampton Bike Trail, was deeply unpopular.

“We realized we had to come up with an alternative plan,” he said.

That plan, resident Jim Weigang said, is a bicycle boulevard, or neighborhood greenway, in which bicyclists and motor vehicle drivers share the road.

Showing a film of bike boulevards in operation in Portland, Oregon, Weigang said the concept is well suited to neighborhoods with low traffic volumes such as South Main Street, with peak traffic at about 40 vehicles an hour. Bike boulevards employ speed bumps to keep vehicular traffic speeds down.

“A shared-use bike path is grossly excessive on South Main,” he said.

Cora Lee Drew said the population of the neighborhood leans toward elderly and that most residents like spending time close to home. Sidewalk gatherings are an important component, she said.

“We can’t compete with a two-way bike path,” she said. “Please understand our desire to save our sidewalk.”

The neighborhood group wants a repaved, wider roadway, a 20-mph limit with speed bumps, and a 5-foot sidewalk, with parking on both sides of the road, Weigang said.

In response to a question, Gaby Immerman, chair of the Greenway Committee, said the committee’s proposed timetable for the project is to have the Select Board approve it May 16, leading to the start of construction next spring. If the town prefers the bike boulevard, the timetable is unclear, she said.

South Main resident J.M. Sorrell said she disagreed with the assertion that residents were not invited to participate in the greenway planning process, and she said the town would lose credibility with the state if it changed its plans.

Other speakers took turns weighing in on perceived pros and cons of each plan. Some praised the bike boulevard idea, while others saw it as dangerous.

Amy Weber said some people don’t like riding on the road and would ride on the sidewalk anyway, and she suggested that there would be plenty of room for everyone on the 8-foot-wide path.

Shattuck said the issue for him is that bicycles crossing from both directions a foot from the mouth of his driveway are “an accident waiting to happen.

Considering children’s safety, John Connolly said he’d choose the bike trail over the boulevard.

George Kohout, president of Friends of Northampton Trails, said he didn’t foresee a lot of conflicts on the trail.

“I think it’s a mistake to push people onto the road,” he said.

Transportation bond funds and state grants have already been appropriated for the greenway as designed, though the project is not under contract yet, Immerman said. The town would need to submit a revised design to the state Department of Transportation if it decides to change course.

Select Board member Paul Wetzel said he thought the greenway committee’s proposed time frame for the board’s decision was reasonable, but the board has not yet committed to a May 16 vote.

The Northampton Bikeway ends just over the Williamsburg line. Along with other connecting projects in the planning stage, the Route 9 Mill River Greenway project calls for a 2.5-mile trail from Northampton through to Williamsburg.

The larger goal is to build a trail connection to Boston, 105 miles east, over the Mass Central Rail Trail, where 55 miles of trails have been constructed to date, according to MassDOT.

More information can be found online from the Mill River Greenway Committee on the town website, or the South Main Street neighborhood group, southmain01039.blogspot.com

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.