Shoppers report fewer traffic problems

BANGOR – During one of the busiest shopping days of the year, traffic on Friday near the city’s newest stores on Stillwater Avenue was not nearly as bad as anticipated, suggesting that recent steps to eliminate gridlock may have worked.

Bangor police reported only minor complaints, and most came early Friday morning before the lights along Stillwater Avenue changed from their overnight blinking settings.

According to Sgt. Jim Owens, many of the stores opened at 5 a.m. Friday and the lights don’t change over until about 7 a.m., which confused some drivers.

“Some people called in early to complain about the traffic, but I think it was mainly due to the blinking lights,” Owens said later that afternoon. “I think Mother Nature really helped us; [the snow] stopped in time for public works guys to salt the roads, but it kept heavy traffic away just long enough.”

Bangor Mall Manager James Gerety agreed, but said he was happy with customer volume as the day went on.

“[Traffic] wasn’t quite as brisk early on as it was last year, but it sustained later in the afternoon,” Gerety said late Friday afternoon by phone.

The new Bangor Parkade development, which opened recently and includes retailers such as Kohl’s, Old Navy and Linens ‘n Things, has been the subject of debate about increased traffic along Stillwater Avenue.

Since the stores opened, traffic has been a nuisance, particularly for cars heading toward Broadway from Hogan Road and for cars turning from the Bangor Mall onto Stillwater Avenue.

Earlier this week, the city teamed with Bangor Parkade developers to widen a small portion of the road to allow for an extra lane where Stillwater meets the new mall. Previously, the city had tweaked the timing of traffic lights to make vehicles move more smoothly.

“They have made some adjustments there, but it still might be just a little early to see if they’ve worked,” Gerety said. “We’re going to experience some growing pains, but on the flip side of that, the city has some great new retailers.”

City officials were not available Friday for comment as it was a holiday for many workers.

Beverly Hathaway, 44, of Natick, Mass., who was visiting relatives in Hampden over Thanksgiving, wasn’t one of the real early birds, but she was out shortly after 8 a.m. at Old Navy.

“I shop every morning after Thanksgiving; it’s kind of a tradition,” she said outside the store with a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in her hand.

Hathaway said she barely noticed traffic along Stillwater.

“If there was no traffic at all I’d be surprised, but we’re used to traffic in Massachusetts,” she said with a smile. “At least there’s plenty of places to park.”

Susan Fogerty, 58, of Ellsworth said late Friday morning outside Kohl’s that this was the second time she has driven to Bangor to shop at the new development.

“I expected [traffic] to be much worse, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was two weeks ago,” she said.