The City of Ships recently had its second public meeting regarding the traffic and parking woes perennially impacted by hosting one of Maine’s most formidable economic engines. The first one was held back in September as a meet-and-greet exploratory gathering between Bath officials, the DOT, BIW, the public and a consulting firm hired to bring outsourced planning and zoning expertise to bear on finally finding a solution to a problem that remains the single greatest assault upon Bath’s South End livability. 

That event started out along a rather bumpy road in attempting to get everyone up to speed and heading in the same direction. Residents of an exceptionally beleaguered Richardson Street were the most vocal in venting decades of frustration over municipal and state disregard and failure to unburden a private shouldering of an altogether public and corporate responsibility. The governmental and professional parties present exhibited noticeable difficulty in deferring to the immediately demonstrated authority of a citizenry that didn’t readily embrace having a long-standing, ground zero, square one, we-live-here comprehension of their everyday reality pointed out to them by those on a clearly from-away learning curve. An awkward first date, but better than no engagement at all. 

The South End Transportation Study’s return engagement was completely different in its dynamics. This time around there was no territorial arm-wrestling or hostile defensiveness from any quarter. Richardson Street’s added complexity of state jurisdiction over its right of way was successfully taken out of the general discussion at hand and accepted by all present as an area to be dealt with later as a collateral controversy. Instead of another expected kick-the-can exercise, the meeting surprisingly cut directly to the chase of actionable and enterprising solutions. No single magic bullet, but some coordinated surgical strikes aimed towards eventually reigning in the daily stampede created by letting BIW’s employees go wherever-however in their self-dictating my-way-to-the-highway exodus irregardless that such a relentless parting of residential life leaves many of BIW’s neighbors forever seeing red. 

Now, for whatever reason, BIW’s decided to take ownership of its traffic impact. Now, governmental and corporate powers have aligned in establishing a more responsible co-existence. One seemingly actually interested in honestly confronting what has traditionally been a truly shameful business and municipal model. 

It’s been two decades since state, city and corporate leadership originally gathered to address this still unsolved issue. That unprecedented forum was a grassroots convened heroic nonstarter that couldn’t even get the principal players to admit that BIW held any responsibility at all, let alone agree that any remedy was achievable. Concepts such as staggered release of BIW’s workforce, building an all-encompassing North Gate parking garage, one-way eastbound side streets and two-lane single direction use of Washington St. to control and expedite worker departure via Leeman Highway were all dismissed before they even reached half-mast. Status quo’s denial prevailed. Washington Street’s iconic Triple R soon became yet another ad hoc parking opportunity eyesore. BIW’s vehicular terrorism continued on its merry way as if an immutable force of nature. 

Why the sudden sea-change now? I’d like to think it’s due to a vastly improved leadership skillset on the part of both city government and BIW. I’ve always thought Bath had pretty good in-house staff capability to bring about proper planning and zoning redesign to the South End’s one-sided mixed-use concept dilemma. The problem’s always remained one of will resolved against finding a way. Maybe the outsourcing approach currently employed provides an essential assurance of impartial assessment. Store-bought rather than homegrown has a certain convincingly authoritative disinterest. Even if its recommendations echo those advocated in the past, second opinion confirmation only strengthens the case for putting like-minded proposals to the test. The long ago once derided suggestion of making Washington St. one-way at shift change, while eliminating cross street access to High and Middle as departure routes, now suddenly has far more credibility in its doability. Coordinating that change in traffic flow with increased green light intervals at Washington Street’s access to Route 1 now seems a no-brainer that’s only taken a mere twenty years travel time to arrive as an obviously astute takeaway solicited from a fresh outside perspective. 

Much has already been accomplished by BIW’s recent unilateral stepping up to the plate, speedily contributing to a better quality of place that will improve both the public’s and its employee’s quality of life. Its publicly stated new commitment to guaranteed dedicated parking for all its personnel is a notable raised bar in corporate performance as an employer and neighbor. Implementation of increased satellite parking, enhanced shuttle connections, incentivized carpooling and a Washington St. only delivery directive to its supply vendors all bode well in hoping that what was forever deemed an unsolvable problem can indeed be reconciled. 

Richardson Street’s traffic juggernaut’s likely to also find a solution if the will of all parties makes way for some outside the box thinking and just-do-it motivation. Instead of changing it to one-way, maybe ending it as a thoroughfare altogether, dead-ending it from two directions, is the answer. If that necessitates a legislative-driven DOT override, so be it. 

Gary Anderson lives in Bath.