Bangor council rejects Howard Street proposal

BANGOR – City councilors rejected a proposal Wednesday night to turn a portion of Howard Street into a one-way road, citing concerns that area neighborhoods should be involved in the decision-making and that the new regulation could exacerbate speeding.

Councilors voted 6-2 against the proposed ordinance, which was originally designed to relieve the high traffic volumes that use the street as a shortcut to Stillwater Avenue and the Bangor Mall. Councilors Patricia Blanchette and Gerry Palmer endorsed the proposal, while councilors Anne Allen, Peter D’Errico, Frank Farrington, Geoffrey Gratwick, Susan Hawes and Chairman Richard Greene opposed the ordinance. Councilor Richard Stone was absent.

“I feel the problem really comes down to speed,” Allen said. “If it is speed, there should be other ways to rectify it and a one-way will not help with this issue.”

Nearly 20 residents showed up to voice their opinions about the ordinance, which proposed turning the section of Howard Street that runs between Garland Street and Mount Hope Avenue into a one-way road for six months with traffic heading toward State Street.

The city hired a transportation consultant from Ames A/E to perform a traffic study, complete with traffic counts, to find permanent solutions to the problem. Some of the solutions were to build a small island in the center of Howard Street where it intersects with Angela Street, build a raised crosswalk or speed table, and limit access to the street by using only right-in and right-out directions.

All suggestions, however, would take time to implement.

Blanchette said the temporary one-way would at least be a good-faith effort to make a change until the construction season nears and one of the engineers’ solutions could be utilized.

“We know the street, we have been there, we know the answers,” said Bob Cimbollek, a Howard Street resident, noting the issue has loomed for nearly 20 years.

But some councilors feared the one-way street would simply become a “racetrack” and move traffic to nearby residential streets not designed to handle the volume.

The Maine Department of Transportation identifies Howard Street as a collector road, not a residential one, according to city engineer Jim Ring. Howard sees approximately 3,500 vehicles a day, whereas nearby Fern Street carries almost 2,000 and Birch Street about 850.

“Howard is designed as a collector street in the comp[rehensive] plan and for zoning and planning purposes,” Larry Willey, a Howard Street resident who opposed the change, said. “This isn’t just a typical residential street.”

Willey said if the council approved this ordinance, it would only snowball, leading residents from other areas of the city, in particular those from Kenduskeag Avenue and Essex Street, to request the same action.

One group of concerned residents is “using up a great deal of the city’s resources,” Gratwick said, asking the councilors to look at the bigger picture. “This is what it’s like to be in a community that’s growing.”

Although the council turned down the proposal, many agreed some action should be taken to alleviate the problem.

“I have a lot of New Year’s resolutions,” Palmer said. “And Howard Street is on that list.”

No timeframe was set to address the issue in the future.