Mount Desert Island’s Growing Traffic Crisis: The Battle For Space As Tourism Is Now Soaring

Saturday, July 19, 2025

For nan fortunate galore who person visited Mount Desert Island (MDI) successful Maine, nan sojourn typically includes visions of scenic beauty, serene landscapes, and nan entreaty of Acadia National Park. But arsenic nan land has grown to beryllium a celebrated tourer spot, location has travel a acold little invited issue: traffic. During nan summer, successful particular, truthful galore vehicles person been jamming nan island’s fewer roadways. This monolithic influx has rendered commuting, parking, and, yes, nan very enjoyment of nan island’s celebrated attractions much difficult than ever.

MDI is not needfully nan tract of fierce unreserved hr gridlock (like Boston, anyone?), but we do person our ain unsocial postulation situation successful nan summer. The Route 3 causeway, which links MDI to nan mainland, is infamously prone to bottlenecking that tin extremity postulation successful its place, peculiarly during tourist-heavy times. That problem is progressively urgent arsenic tourism to nan land grows.

Visitors person agelong been lured successful by nan island’s beauty. Ever since Acadia National Park was founded successful 1916, MDI has drawn summertime visitors from crossed nan globe. Since World War II and a catastrophic wood fire, nan island’s system has mostly shifted from elite summertime patrons to much transient tourists. Now, MDI is location to millions of vacationers who sojourn its charming coastal towns and parkland each year—many of them by car.

An Instagrammable Paradise, With a Traffic Nightmare

Year aft twelvemonth we watch a rather agrarian land travel to life and go a tourist’s haven each summer. During a emblematic year, millions of group make nan travel to Acadia National Park and nan surrounding villages for its miles of picturesque hiking trails, scenic drives, and expansive views of nan ocean. But pinch nary different intends of proscription readily disposable and minimal infrastructure connected nan island, not everyone tin easy get around.

The number of visitors to nan land has been increasing since nan past decade. Annual visitors to Acadia National Park, which usually number betwixt 2 cardinal and 2.5 million, surged successful 2016 to much than 3 cardinal aft nan park’s centennial events. In nan consequent years much and much visitors came there. By 2021, Acadia had exceeded 4 cardinal for nan first time, a period it had astir reached each twelvemonth since.

Even pinch these expanding figures, MDI’s year-round organization has held somewhat steady. The year-round organization of nan island, astir 11,000, has hardly declined—less than 1 percent—from 2010 to 2020. The stalling is successful portion blamed connected soaring lodging costs, which person priced locals retired of surviving connected nan island. As much homes are converted into picnic rentals, less semipermanent residents tin spend housing, and galore are moving disconnected nan land aliases commuting crossed nan Trenton causeway for work.

The Island Explorer: That’ll Help Ease nan Traffic Woes

To thief relieve expanding congestion, nan Island Explorer autobus strategy was established successful 1999. Launched successful precocious June and disposable done mid-October, this free shuttle whisks residents and visitors alike betwixt each 4 of MDI’s towns and Trenton. The autobus goes on nan Park Loop Road successful Acadia National Park, an eco-friendly intends for funny visitors to spot nan land without adding to nan postulation jam.

Though nan Island Explorer has been an important service, it hasn’t kept up pinch increasing crowds to Acadia National Park. The number of passengers nan strategy carries has grown steadily complete time, but it’s obscurity adjacent capable to meet nan demands of an ever-increasing tourer footfall. The strategy besides does not use to Cadillac Mountain, different celebrated acme successful nan park, which has been critically overcrowded and frankincense now requires reservations for centrifugal vehicles.

To make matters worse, nan authorities of Maine is moving to make proscription entree harder. The MDOT is besides constructing a marque caller park-and-ride batch successful Trenton, wherever passengers tin parkland their cars and thrust Island Explorer buses to MDI. The facility, which was first anticipated to unfastened successful nan summertime of 2025, has knowledgeable delays, but it is expected to thief trim down connected really galore vehicles are clogging nan island’s roadways during nan busiest summertime weeks.

Battle for nan Space connected MDI: A Booming Tourism Problem arsenic Traffic Increases

The much celebrated MDI gets, nan much nan infrastructure becomes stressed. The island’s already congested roads, ne'er intended to withstand specified precocious flows of traffic, person been astatine nan centre of nan controversy. Local year-round residents, seasonal workers, and visitors are each competing for nan aforesaid space, resulting successful an ongoing struggle complete nan emotion of congestion that impacts each of america who telephone MDI location aliases walk clip present during nan summer. This hasn’t travel without its stock of angst: parking, successful nan lawsuit of Acadia, successful particular, has go a superior problem, pinch galore visitors uncovering it progressively difficult to find a abstraction astatine celebrated spots for illustration nan Park Loop Road aliases adjacent Acadia’s much distant hiking trails.

The deficiency of extended nationalist transit and nan narrower-than-usual building of our metropolis streets make it difficult for group to debar driving here. The consequence has been crowded roads and agelong waits, particularly connected nan Route 3 causeway. There is nary alleviation successful show for nan unit connected nan island’s carrier system—particularly pinch nan highest to scope tourer accommodation flying ever higher.

The Future: Where Are We Going From Here?

The mobility is really tin MDI service a burgeoning postulation problem but support an easy, enjoyable sojourn for tourists? “As tourism to Acadia National Park and MDI increases, nan state, section government, and community-based organisations should activity to reside infrastructure needs successful privilege areas that use residents and visitors,” personnel of nan task unit Steve Hinchman said.

The Island Explorer autobus work is simply a awesome plus but is not capable connected its own. Raising nan stakes to see much parts of nan land and upping nan number of runs could help. Furthermore, alternate modes of transport, specified arsenic ferry services, aliases creating parking extracurricular celebrated tourer areas whitethorn connection immoderate relief.

In nan years to come, nan situation for MDI will beryllium to effort to find nan equilibrium betwixt retaining 1 of nan past fewer chaotic places AND increasing nan economies of nan rich | families who retreated present each summer—and who pull different rich | people. Or other nan land will tally nan consequence of destroying nan very virtues that make it specified a storied and beloved destination.

Source: Bangor Daily News