Bar Harbor chamber: Acadia plan will have much impact on downtown

Photo / Laurie Schreiber Visitors and tour buses congregate on in Bar Harbor’s downtown on an autumn day. The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce is trying to understand potential impacts of Acadia National Park’s transportation plan.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Acadia National Park’s development of a transportation plan designed to alleviate congestion within the park is under scrutiny for its potential impacts to Bar Harbor’s downtown business community.

The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and business round table, a committee that discusses local business and government affairs, this month submitted a letter to the Bar Harbor Town Council requesting formation of a task force to consider impacts of Acadia’s plan on the downtown.

“We have been thinking about the multiple ways the plan will impact business and traffic flow in Bar Harbor,” the letter said.

Acadia’ plan is well-thought-out and provides a good starting point for the park to protect visitor experience, upon which the business community relies, the letter said.

However, the letter said, the plan could exacerbate congestion in town and impact businesses. For example, “The very large, 55-foot tour buses that we see around town throughout the summer will soon be prohibited from entering Acadia,” the letter said. “These are the primary vehicles currently used on cruise ship days for passenger tours and also by many other tour providers that stay in local lodging establishments or daytrip from off-island.”

The park’s plan includes the assumption that the private sector will adjust to the new limits and continue to provide some form of transportation using vehicles less than 38 feet, the letter continued.

“We understand that the current inventory in New England is extremely limited in this regard,” the letter said. “While we are in the preliminary stages of this plan, it seems clear that one or more companies will need to make significant investments to come even close to accommodating the current visitor numbers. We feel it’s possible that the aggregate number of new shuttles could rival the Island Explorer in size and ridership.

"In addition, the expanding taxi/tour fleet will likely continue to grow. There does not appear to be anywhere in town for activity of this scale to operate.”

The assumed need for a shuttle depot could also coincide with satellite parking shuttles, the increase in overall ground transportation on cruise ship days, and fall foliage tours, the letter said.

The presumed expanded number of shuttles and a depot will result in significant adaptation in the business community “that will require ample forethought and planning,” the letter said.

At the council’s Dec. 3 meeting, the chamber’s executive director, Alf Anderson, said the chamber’s goal is to be proactive in meeting the changes that will happen when the plan goes into effect.

“We feel strong there will be very significant changes that will happen” that will affect vehicle and traffic flow, he said. “We feel it’s important to be ahead of this as much as possible.”

The council agreed to provide a town representative to the task force if the chamber decides to form it.

Councilors agreed the park’s plan is one of a variety of issues impacting downtown congestion. Others include cruise ship visitation and limited parking.

'No idea' of ramifications

With regard to Acadia’s plan, “We have no idea what the ramifications are going to be,” said Councilor Gary Friedmann. For example, an increase in the number of shuttles into the park will be a big piece of the plan, but could impact parking congestion outside of the park, he said.

It’s known that the park is contemplating additional parking and reconfiguring the Hulls Cove visitors center, he said.

“But the ramifications of this ripple out,” he added.

Acadia’s plan includes a reservation system for the park’s most popular spots, smaller touring vehicles of no more than 38 feet long, expansion of the Island Explorer shuttle service, redesign of Acadia’s primary visitor center in Hulls Cove with a larger parking lot, and redesigned parking at Trenton’s Acadia Gateway Center, a regional transportation hub and an Island Explorer terminal with room for a larger park-and-ride.