Bridge problems

The celebration on the new bridge between Brewer and Bangor barely had ended before drivers crossing to the Bangor side impressed two thoughts on city officials: the right turn is too sharp and the traffic lights are too hard to see. Right on both counts.

City Engineer Jim Ring noticed these problems too. He contacted the Maine Department of Transportation, which is in charge of the bridge, and state officials have begun looking for ways to improve things. They should do so quickly. Motorists have had four accidents at that end of the bridge in just over a month. This is not a matter of area residents just getting used to the new structure. The turn’s radius is too tight for cars and a serious headache for trucks.

The problems are compounded by the temporary closure of the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge. Normally, each of the three bridges between the cities carry a total of more than 60,000 vehicles a day, with the distribution fairly equal among the three. With the middle bridge down until late fall, the new bridge is carrying more than what will be its normal load.

Even when all three bridges are operating again, however, that turn off the bridge will be too tight and the lights will be too hard to see without intervention. Mr. Ring said DOT could consider several options, including changing the placement of the lights, modifying the traffic island at the end of the bridge and pushing back the curb line on the far side of the turn.

Brewer city councilors recently suggested that one lane of traffic not make that turn at all, but proceed up Oak Street. This idea was brought up when the bridge was in its planning stage, debated by a local committee that included Brewer officials, and rejected for some good reasons. It may harm the structure of the All Soul’s Congregational Church, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and would create traffic problems at the intersection of State Street, increase traffic through the city’s historic district and send more traffic in front of John Bapst High School and the playground in Broadway Park.

Before doing anything that that drastic, DOT engineers should be given an opportunity to improve the turn. And with safety at stake, the change needs to occur quickly.