Broad Street In Bangor Is Now Open To Cars Again

This pandemic has caused just about every town in Maine to reconsider how they do things. Especially back in late spring/early summer. While everyone was being cautious, people wanted to be able to get out more. And as much as a lot of folks don't want to admit it, Bangor tried to help with that.

You all remember at the beginning of quarantine, everything was closed. some restaurants could stay open based on a curbside takeout model. then as the weather warmed, we could finally enjoy some outside seating. To make it easier for some businesses, many cities and towns actually blocked some streets.

Bangor quickly followed suit. Originally the plan was to close Central Street and Broad Street so that businesses could expand out onto the sidewalk. Well now, Broad Street is once again open, and traffic can now pass through that part of downtown, according to the BDN. But, some businesses will keep their expanded outdoor seating.

Vehicular traffic can now access that area, but the sidewalks through there will still be a bit tight while restaurants like Paddy Murphy's and Blaze will hold onto that precious outdoor seating as long as they can. Who could blame them? Personally, I'm not ready to eat inside at a restaurant yet, but have enjoyed some occasional outdoor dining.

We'll see what happens when the outdoor seating is gone. Lord knows, that's probably on the forefront of just about everyone's mind that works downtown. some businesses have a plan set already, while others are probably trying to plan, but also mildly panicking at the same time.

But really, it's up to us. It's been pretty well proven at this point that takeout is a safe option. So if we do have to go back into some kind of lockdown, we have to keep out local businesses afloat. We know more about the virus this time around, so let's hope we take what we've learned, and keep our local economy alive and well.