City to address Howard Street traffic woes

BANGOR – Howard Street residents might soon get some relief from drivers taking a shortcut to Stillwater Avenue and the Bangor Mall.

During a meeting Tuesday at City Hall, the City Council’s transportation and infrastructure committee voted to recommend that the full council make a section of the street one way for a six-month trial period.

Howard runs between busy State Street and Stillwater Avenue. It crosses Garland Street, where one of the city’s middle schools is located. It also intersects with Mount Hope Avenue.

Traffic counters placed in the area last month concluded that Howard – which is only 22 feet wide in some spots – is seeing average traffic volumes of some 3,500 vehicles a day.

In contrast, average daily counts for nearby streets were: Maple, 1,258; Birch, 845; and Fern, 1,981.

Under the six-month trial, the section of Howard Street that runs from Mount Hope Avenue to Garland Street would become a one-way road with traffic heading toward State Street.

The matter is set to go before the full council at its next regular meeting, set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27, in council chambers at City Hall.

“These people have been very, very patient with the city. … I just think we owe these people the courtesy of trying this,” said Councilor Patricia Blanchette, noting that by her reckoning the traffic problem there has been building for 20 years.

“If there’s frustration, I’m sorry, but it just keeps going on and on,” said Gary Bolduc, one of the Howard Street residents leading the charge.

The idea is to give city officials time to look at the bigger picture, namely how traffic pattern changes on Howard would affect nearby residential streets, including the “tree streets,” and to determine which, if any, recommended improvements the city will construct next summer.

“I think it behooves us to have a larger picture,” Councilor Geoffrey Gratwick said.

The committee will resume its discussion of the problem after the holidays.

The city tried to work out a solution six years ago but was unable to get a neighborhood consensus, City Manager Edward Barrett said during a meeting in the fall.

When residents went back to the city two years ago, a four-way stop was installed. That helped cut down on accidents at the intersection with Mount Hope Avenue, but it didn’t reduce congestion or the rate of speed on their street.

More recently, 49 Howard Street residents petitioned the city demanding immediate relief for a problem they say has been building for more than a decade.

All but a few of the 49 residents surveyed said they wanted a double dead end, which would be located near Angela Street, a short dirt road leading to the athletic fields at the middle school. Rescue vehicles, however, would be allowed to go around the roadblock.

City officials, however, were cool to that concept. Instead, they tapped John Theriault, a transportation engineer with the Bangor firm Ames A/E, to study the traffic issues and to recommend solutions.

In his study, which is nearing completion, Theriault suggested several steps the city could take to keep Howard Street accessible for neighborhood and emergency access, while making it less attractive for through motorists and those wishing to use it as a shortcut. The steps include:

. Limiting access to Howard Street to right-in/right-out movements, which would require most through traffic wanting to turn left onto Howard to access Stillwater Avenue and Hogan Road via State Street.

. Build a small island in the center of Howard Street where it intersects with Angela Street. The island would require motorists to slow down while driving around it.

. Build a raised crosswalk, also known as a speed table, on Howard Street, about 550 feet north of Garland Street. The crosswalk would connect the sidewalks on either side of the street, which Theriault said will help reduce driver speeds in this location.