I’d like to second John Ritz’s letter about stone dust trails in last week’s Independent. My dog and I use Center Trail almost every day and it’s always a pleasure to leave the noise and heat of Main Street and enter its peaceful shade. In a hundred feet you’re in the woods. I’ve seen bicycles, tricycles, strollers, baby carriages and wheelchairs doing just fine on its flat, stone dust surface, to say nothing of runners and walkers, plus snowshoers and cross-country skiers in the winter. Paving the trail would be like extending Main Street into the forest. I hope the town will see the wisdom of keeping our entire portion of the Upper Charles Trail in stone dust rather than paving it.

— David Dollenmayer, Hopkinton