It's all well and good for former Rockport Selectman Nicola Barletta to seek a remedy for the traffic congestion he sees between his town and Gloucester, especially at the height of the summer season.

And Gloucester city officials should meet with their Rockport colleagues to assess if there's any viable means of alleviating that traffic crunch, whether that means a bypass road or some other means.

But before state Sen. Bruce Tarr and state Rep. Anthony Verga secure money for a bypass feasibility study, all sides should venture into these talks with one proposal already off the table: that's the notion of running any bypass through the Babson Reservoir watershed. The reservoir is simply too important to the city's water supply and too vulnerable to risk for development that could bring about a fourth - albeit primary - Gloucester-Rockport thoroughfare.

The idea of piercing the watershed for a bypass seems to be getting support from those in Rockport - most notably Barletta, who noted that the route would follow the footprint of Old Rockport Road from Dory Road to Gloucester's Blackburn Industrial Park. There is a context for building such a bypass: While residents and officials can debate the need for expanded access between the two communities now, congestion will likely become more of a problem when the Gloucester Crossing shopping center becomes a reality. And clogged roads don't just mean inconvenient drives for tourists - they can mean delayed emergency responses, and that's a big problem.

But Gloucester Watershed Chairman Joseph Orange is also right on the money when he notes the fragility of the reservoir and watershed, even with no further development at all. Orange says that 75 percent of the 2 square miles of watershed land set aside in 1933 has already been developed over the past 75 years, meaning only 25 percent of it remains. And any type of major fuel spill in that area - a very realistic prospect if it were home to a highway bypass - would mean the water supply wouldn't be useable, he says. That's a chance that neither Gloucester officials - nor Cape Ann lawmakers - should want to take.

Barletta said he believes there could be alternative routes for a bypass. That's good. There could also be other options altogether for easing traffic concerns, including the widening of existing roads in some sections. Those options could well be worth a feasibility study.

But as former Gloucester City Councilor Mike McLeod indicated, there's no need for a feasibility study of a road running through the Babson Reservoir Watershed.

It's neither safe nor feasible from a water-quality standpoint - and there's no need to spend a dime to get that answer.