BANGOR – With an even larger crowd than last year expected for the National Folk Festival next weekend on the city’s waterfront, festival organizers have taken steps to help avoid some of the traffic and parking hassles some attendees experienced in 2002.

This year’s festival runs Aug. 22-24 on the waterfront.

The changes are aimed at enhancing the festival experience by making it easier to get there, according to Heather McCarthy, the national event’s local organizer.

“Last year, particularly on Saturday, traffic backed up from Interstate 395 to Bass Park,” McCarthy said. “The maximum wait [in traffic] last year was upwards of an hour and I don’t want that to happen again. We’re fixing that this year.”

Last year, an estimated 80,000 people attended the festival over its three-day run. This year, the second in the festival’s three-year stay here, as many as 100,000 are expected to attend, based on local research and past national experience, McCarthy said.

According to McCarthy, previous festival host communities have recorded attendance increases of 20 percent to 25 percent from the first year to the second year and another increase, though smaller, in the third and final year the event is staged in a given city.

To accommodate the anticipated increase, McCarthy said, more shuttle buses will run between Bass Park and the festival grounds, and access points and lanes into Bass Park will be doubled. “That way,” she said, “we hope to get cars parked twice as quickly.”

In addition, each shuttle bus will be dedicated to one of the three shuttle stops – the Railroad Stage at the corner of Main and Railroad streets, the Heritage Stage between the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge and Broad Street, and West Market Square on Main Street in downtown Bangor.

That, she said, should make riding the shuttle less chaotic than last year, when each shuttle bus stopped at all three sites, with some riders trying to board at the same time others were trying get off at each stop.

People who are familiar with downtown Bangor are encouraged to consider parking in the free public lots and spaces downtown as well as in the Pickering Square Parking Garage for a nominal fee of $4.50 a day, McCarthy said. The municipal parking garage, she noted, was underused last year, never once filling.

According to City Engineer Jim Ring, some 5,000 parking spaces are available downtown, near the waterfront and at Bass Park.

Those unfamiliar with the city should follow these directions to Bass Park:

. Those arriving from the northbound or southbound lanes of Interstate 95 should take Exit 45A to Interstate 395, then Exit 3B to Bass Park.

. Motorists coming in from the east should take Route 1A into Brewer, get on I-395 to Bangor and get off on Exit 3.

For those who prefer to bike to the festival, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine will provide a bicycle valet and ride-and-pedal program at no cost to attendees. According to McCarthy, the space it takes to park one car can accommodate 10 bicycles.

The coalition has offered the service at the Common Ground Fair in Unity for the past several years as a way to encourage fairgoers to leave their cars and trucks behind, according to Sandi Duchesne, a coalition member and bike and pedestrian coordinator for the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System, or BACTS.

Bicyclists riding in from nearby can ride directly to the valet parking area near the Railroad Stage. Those coming from farther away can choose to drive to one of the seven designated park-and-pedal sites set up along major routes into the city. The parking sites range from one to 10 miles in distance from the festival grounds.

Duchesne reminded bicyclists that Maine law requires a headlight and rear red reflectors visible from at least 500 feet when riding at night. She also recommends that bicyclists wear light-colored or reflective clothing. While state law requires that riders under 16 years of age wear helmets, everyone should wear them to prevent head injury.

Duchesne said the bicycle coalition could use some more volunteers for its valet program, particularly on Saturday, Aug. 23. She said the group needs four to six volunteers per four-hour shift. Shifts run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3-7 p.m. and 7-11 p.m. Volunteers will receive free festival T-shirts. To sign up, contact her by e-mail at sduchesne@emdc.org or call 942-6389.