Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System (BACTS)

Major arterial corridors in the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System (BACTS) have experienced increased congestion and peak hour delays in the past decade, as growing numbers of suburban and rural residents commute to jobs and schools within the metropolitan area. The BACTS Policy Committee commissioned this study to identify no-cost and low-cost improvements to existing signalized intersections that would help to ease traffic congestion and increase capacity along its primary commuter corridors, thus postponing or eliminating the need for costly road widening projects.

The client selected Sewall from a field of five qualified firms to develop a highly innovative and cost-effective solution that went beyond the standard traffic study BACTS requested.

Sewall first conducted an inventory of existing equipment and timing plans for each signalized intersection in each of the identified transportation corridors covered by the study. Identified deficiencies were corrected using available spare parts, reallocated equipment, and low-cost, off-the-shelf purchases, with troubleshooting and technical support provided by Sewall and the signal equipment vendor. Sewall engineers developed and field-checked fully operational traffic-responsive signal plans for the two most critical commuter corridors in Bangor. They also provided a detailed list of equipment upgrades to enable future traffic-responsive signal operations at intersections in Orono and Old Town.

Traffic is now flowing more smoothly in the major commuter corridors, and the long queues and stopped traffic delays at intersections have been significantly reduced. Sewall also developed a detailed scoping and cost estimate document describing the signal control equipment upgrades that will be needed to permit traffic-responsive operations in the Orono and Old Town corridors, so that individual components or entire systems can be easily added to upcoming BACTS biennial transportation improvement programs.