The Federal Railroad Administration needs to get the message sent loud and clear by the audience that packed Lyme-Old Lyme High School on Wednesday.

Plans for a bypass from Kenyon, R.I., to Old Saybrook, taking some passenger rail service a few miles inland, is not worth the havoc it would cause this region. It would cut through attractions in Mystic, sections of New London not previously disrupted by Interstate 95, and the historic district of Old Lyme.

Those are just a few of the problems it will cause.

“I hope the FRA brings that picture back to Washington, D.C.,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, looking out at the audience, united in its opposition to the plan. “I know I certainly will.”

If the FRA recommends the spur as the preferred alternative — it expects to reach a final decision by the end of the year — it knows without question that it will face strong legal and political opposition. The state’s elected leaders in Washington have made clear they will fight it.

In the end, even if the proposed bypass is recommended by the FRA, it is unlikely to be built given the opposition it would generate. The FRA should reach the conclusion that inviting such a fight is not worth it given the relatively minor improvement in rail service.

Yet even a recommendation that fails to become reality could prove damaging. As speakers noted Wednesday, a recommendation in favor of the alternative would hang like a dark cloud over these communities, potentially to the detriment of property values and development plans.

This newspaper supports the plan that would instead add a new line running from Providence, R.I., across Northeast Connecticut, connecting with the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs and continuing to Hartford. Another new spur would carry riders from Hartford to New Haven.

These added, straight-line spurs would allow high-speed travel, provide more connections, and attract more riders. This alternative would also free more existing shoreline track to carry local commuters, with positive benefits for the region.

FRA should reject the local bypass plan, so-called “Alternative 1.”