ACADIA NATIONAL PARK – On any nice summer day, parked cars jam the shoulders of Route 233 near the Eagle Lake parking lot, and park officials fear that the combination of congestion and speeding traffic will lead to problems.

“You could say that almost 100 percent of those people are there for visits to Acadia National Park,” said Ranger Kevin Cochary, who is responsible for the park’s Mount Desert Island operations.

“We feel the responsibility to provide for their safety,” he said.

The nature of the congestion along the side of Route 233, or the Eagle Lake Road, is typical of the park.

Sunny weather brings out droves of families with children, pets and bicycles to unload from their vehicles before starting a trip around the popular Eagle Lake carriage trail route.

But rangers say the whole scene is ripe for a disaster as cars race through the area at speeds greatly exceeding the 45-mph limit.

“We did speed surveys in there and it was just atrocious,” Ranger Mike Wilson said. “People were above 60 [mph], if you can imagine that.”

Police jurisdiction along Route 233 is shared among the park, the town of Bar Harbor, the Hancock County’s Sheriff’s Department and the Maine Warden Service, Cochary said.

The road, classified as a secondary state route, is known as the fastest and most direct way to get across the island.

About a month ago, worried park officials decided to do something about the potentially dangerous situation and had law enforcement rangers run radar speed checks during busy times.

Although the rangers said that they have focused on educating the public to the dangers of barreling down Route 233, they also have issued three speed citations and five written warnings to motorists.

Officials said that they intend to continue to run radar speed checks as needed throughout the year, including the winter months when cross-country skiers flock to the carriage roads after snowstorms.

“It’s our job to protect the resources and the visitors that are coming to Acadia National Park,” Ranger Neal Labrie said.

The radar speed checks are an important part of that job, he said.

“It’s mostly to let people know they’ve got to slow down, and that’s for visitors and locals alike,” he said.