Bangor to revisit Howard Street left-turn ban

BANGOR – A ban on left turns from State Street to Howard Street that has generated frustration for some in the community will be revisited next week.

During their next regular meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, city councilors will consider an ordinance amendment that would undo the ban, which was implemented last spring to calm traffic and improve safety in that part of the city.

The issue was brought back before the council about a month ago at the request of Councilor Hal Wheeler, who said he was approached by a group of residents displeased by the original move.

Five of the current eight active council members would have to vote yes to reverse the ban, according to City Manager Edward Barrett.

Howard Street, which many drivers had been using as a throughway to and from the Bangor Mall area, 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 Mount Hope Avenue.

The intersection of State and Howard streets also was identified by the state Department of Transportation as a high-crash location.

The left-turn prohibition was one of three steps city officials agreed last year to try for six months in an effort to reduce the volume and speed of traffic on the street. After a six-month trial period that ended last October, city councilors voted 7-2 to make the left-turn ban permanent.

The other two steps, which councilors earlier agreed to leave in place, were a raised crosswalk and a traffic island, both built on Howard.

The ban on left turns initially was implemented in a temporary, low-tech manner with city employees placing orange barrels on the section of State Street leading to Howard to block vehicles from making the turn.

Workers were getting ready to build a concrete traffic island at the intersection earlier this spring, but put the project on hold when they received word that a movement to eliminate the restriction was afoot.

Though the measures the city put in place appear to have had the intended effect, at least on parts of Howard Street, some of the people living in that part of the city recently told councilors that traffic had increased on other nearby streets. Others said it had proved an inconvenience they thought was unnecessary.