Will Fairbrother, a commuter and member over at Bike to Brown, posted on Governor Chafee’s forum suggesting that the state make Providence and RI more bike friendly by plowing the EBBP. If you support the idea, you can add your voice to the cause.
I’ve approached RIDOT and RIDEM about this very issue in the past and all I hear about is liability. My counter argument of “what’s the liability of not plowing the bike paths and forcing cyclists to ride on sloppy, narrow roads instead” is met with silence. Aside from the fact that there is no money, the only real concern I’ve heard is that people ski on the various bike paths. While this is certainly a valid concern, I think there is plenty of width to accomodate both interests without conflicts.
UPDATE: Added some fairly extensive additional info in a comment below.