BANGOR, Maine — The intersection of Stillwater Avenue and Broadway can be the source of traffic backups during rush hour, and Bangor Daily News readers have gone to the See It, Fix It feature on the BDN website to voice their opinions.
Readers can visit the See It, Fix It page to report problems with in their towns and promote problems their neighbors have reported.
In the last six days, five readers have reported issues with the traffic light at the four-way intersection of Broadway and Stillwater Avenue, claiming that the light on the Stillwater side takes too long to change, causing traffic backups.
“It takes a certain amount of time for the lights to go through their cycle,” noted Bangor Public Works Director Dana Wardwell, who advised motorists to be more patient while commuting.
Wardwell said a common problem when a light takes a while to go through a cycle is that vehicles don’t pull up all the way to the stop bar on the road.
Wardwell said the intersection his staff has had the most complaints about is not too far from the one BDN readers aren’t pleased with: another four-way stop at Stillwater Avenue and Essex Street.
“It’s because the stop bar is so far from the crosswalk and the streets are at a weird angle,” Wardwell said, acknowledging that the lights at the intersection can be occasionally slow.
Other roads readers want to see fixed include Route 181 in the Washington County town of Mariaville. They say the road is rough from the Route 180 interchange to Route 9.
Readers also reported that drivers have been speeding on Sherman Avenue in Bangor and that there is rough pavement on Skyway Street in Presque Isle.
Dude, it is NOT WORKING right. I sat through first cycle, let all three other drive through and started again in same thing, NEVER turning from French St side, and then did a turn back to French……………
I reported this problem a couple of weeks ago. In the evening the light goes thru several cycles and never turns green to allow traffic to advance from Stillwater. It has nothong to do with vehicles not pulling up to the stop bar. The light on State St and Forest Avenue also has a problem at night.
Not too long ago in the evening I interrupted the light by the Career center next to the bridge by getting out, and pushing the crosswalk button. After waiting nearly 8 minutes with minimal traffic I had it, I pushed the button, the crosswalk signals went off, then I got my right of way. Pretty sad Bangor, pretty sad…..
The light worked fine for me last night, but I did find myself a few weeks ago waiting in disbelief as Broadway got about three green-light cycles while I sat in the dark on Stillwater waiting to go through the intersection.
Another problem light is the one at the northernmost entrance/exit for the Bangor Mall. One night I had little choice but to go through the red light. I had waited more than five minutes and had even driven forward and backward several times in a vain attempt to trip the sensor. I kept glancing in my rearview mirror all the way to Parkade, and the light STILL hadn’t changed, even though someone else had taken my place and was waiting for the light to change.
What was really stupid was it was well after 9 o’clock — the mall’s closing time. Why on earth aren’t those lights switched to flashing after the mall closes?
7 minutes at a red light, 3 full cycles for all other sides. Exactly how patient are we supposed to be?
At some point, the city staff is going to have to do something more than just tell us to be patient. This is the same response they gave last week when people were complaining about the ridiculous Stillwater/Hogan Road intersection.
Routes 180 and 181 are in Hancock County, not Washington.
Right. Mr. McLaughlin should have checked his Maine Atlas and Gazetteer first. :-)
The copy editors should have, too. That’s supposed to be their job.
Let’s set the record..ok a few straight. See Click Fix per the operators of that site is not a BDN feature, the BDN provides easier access to get to a site operated by another company to report complaints.
Now….
An intersection missing on here is Howard and Stillwater, how about Drew and Stillwater? How about every intersection in Bangor? I have seen them lights jump cycles, Bangor needs to check their lights and the programming. How about Broadway by Tom T’s and Kev-Lan, like most intersections you pull up to the stop line (bar) and with noone in the turn lanes the lights still have the need to cycle through the arrows when nobody is there!
Get it together Bangor, stop telling motorists to “be patient” we are, your lights need some adjusting. That’s why people are running red lights!
Nobody in Maine should complain about traffic, ever.
They are complaining more about the management of the traffic. Just because we aren’t in Washington, DC, doesn’t mean that it should seem that way.
I have issues with the City of Augusta and their signals. I cannot think of many things that are more stupid than a small town of 18,000 running those signals on the full cycle at 2:30 AM.
I hope someone at the City of Augusta is reading this. You should come sit in a big rig sometime and hold the clutch pedal down for a few minutes while no vehicles are coming – and then watch – as soon as one comes down the other road, *that* vehicle has to stop and wait while I have the green.
Absolutely idiotic.
Center and Cumberland is getting to be an issue as well. I sat at the light on center street, cant recall how long but it was at least the length of a song on the radio, so at least 3 minutes and it never changed. I ended up taking a right turn and turning around at the flower shop.
Bangor telling us to “be patient” is a load of crap. How patient will they be if my taxes get behind?
The lights on Broadway by Rite Aid and Walgreens as well as the one at Broadway and Husson Avenue really cause back up as well as long waits. I’m really surprised there haven’t been more accidents there.
Whoever programmed the timer on that light should be kicked in the head.
i have seen many drivers for what i dont get it stop ten feet from the line dah. has anyone besides me got two those lights they have instead of flagers if that arrow that points and says stop here was any larger you could not get by IT same thing i got tired of telling the driver in front to move up and drove around stopped were it said wala it changed YOU CANT FIX STUPID