Bike crashes surged in Bangor this summer

Bangor saw more crashes between motor vehicles and bicycles this summer than all of last year, and bicycle advocates say the trend will continue unless big changes are made to the city’s infrastructure.

Fifteen crashes involving bicycles have been recorded in Bangor so far this year, 10 of which happened since May 31. That puts the city on pace to see the most collisions involving bicycles since 2017, when Bangor had 18, according to data from the Maine Department of Transportation.

By comparison, Bangor saw just six crashes with bicycles in both 2022 and 2023.

Bicycle advocates say the alarming spike in collisions proves Bangor’s road infrastructure does not cater to people who use a bicycle for transportation, either by choice or because they have no other option. They argue the city should, at the least, add more painted bicycle lanes.

“Crashes that result in damage, injury, and death will continue until sufficient resources are provided to keep all road users safe — and in this effort, the most vulnerable users really need to be focused on,” said Erik daSilva, associate education director for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

But adding designated bike lanes that cyclists could use to get through Bangor is easier said than done, according to city officials.

These concerns come two years after Bangor finalized its comprehensive plan , which lists making the city more bicycle and pedestrian friendly as a priority. Since then, however, few changes have been made to keep cyclists safe. But a new partnership aimed at improving downtown Bangor’s roads could lead to the addition of bike lanes in the future.

While Bangor’s spike in crashes between drivers and bicyclists could be caused by more people riding bicycles, daSilva said motor vehicles are also getting bigger, faster and are taking up more space on the road. But the root cause of the spike is the region’s poor road design.

Certain areas of the city, including downtown, Broadway, Stillwater Avenue, and Union and Main streets, are seeing the most bicycle crashes year after year, daSilva said. This shows those roads are particularly unsafe and must be improved.

Officials from the city and local organizations have spoken about adding bike lanes, but arranging them in a way that cyclists could use them to travel through the city is a challenge, said Aaron Huotari, Bangor’s public works director.

“We have some roads that are very narrow and difficult to add a separate bike lane, while others are plenty wide enough,” Huotari said. “But, we want to create travelable corridors, not just bits and pieces of designated bike lanes.”

Bangor’s only marked bike lane is on a 0.7-mile strip of State Street, which debuted in October 2023. The city also recently secured the last piece of state funding necessary to complete a pedestrian and bicycle pathway along 14th Street Extension. That final 0.38-mile stretch will connect with the existing Kenduskeag Stream Trail, which leads pedestrians into downtown Bangor and along the waterfront.

Last week, a group of road engineers, transportation experts, and city and state officials unveiled preliminary recommendations for ways downtown Bangor could be safer and less congested. Marked bicycle lanes on both sides of the road throughout the area was a key piece of those recommendations .

The Penobscot Climate Action Plan Implementation Committee and Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System are also looking at ways to create a bike lane corridor from Old Town to Hampden.

The two groups are considering applying for a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that would fund much of the work, Huotari said.

City officials are considering adding bike lanes as crews perform other road maintenance, but Hutotari said painted lines don’t provide the same protection that a separate multi-use trail or bike lane with a physical barrier between cyclists and cars would.

Regardless of what bicycle infrastructure may come to Bangor, Huotari said bicyclists must also keep themselves safe on the road. Huotari said he has seen several people riding bikes with headphones on or paying attention to devices, putting them at risk of weaving into traffic and getting hit.

Paul Drinan, advocacy director for the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, said he hopes painted bike lanes later lead to more permanent, protected bike lanes that keep cyclists separated from drivers with a physical barrier.

“The only thing between that cyclist and moving tons of metal is a stripe of paint,” Drinan said. “A stripe of paint will never save a life.”

If the city wants to reduce the number of bicycle crashes, daSilva said spending money and temporarily inconveniencing drivers to add bicycle infrastructure is essential.

“In the long term, we’ll see more people riding bikes, which reduces the number of cars and trucks on the road and traffic congestion, and people will live,” daSilva said.