Safe Streets for All (SS4A)

CHECK OUT OUR Draft Safety Action Plan! Please fill out a survey to give us your thoughts on the plan!

UPcoming events:

Advisory Group Meeting on February 5 at 1:00 PM in the Town Council Chambers

Engagement Event on February 5 at 6:00 PM at the Annex at Side Street Cafe, Bar Harbor

Survey 2 Outreach flier.pdf (Facebook Post)

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What is Safe Streets for All (SS4A)?

Safe Streets for All (SS4A) is a federal grant managed by the US Department of Transportation. It funds initiatives for communities to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.

Bar Harbor was awarded a Planning Grant of $200,000 in 2022. These funds must be spent on the creation of a Safety Action Plan. This Safety Action Plan is meant to provide Bar Harbor with a holistic, well-defined strategy to prevent roadway fatalities and serious injuries. This strategy can include anything from behavioral change initiatives (such as education on interacting with bicycles on the road) to roadway changes such as the installation of speed bumps, additional signage, or, if necessary, intersection redesign.

Most importantly, when completed, this Safety Action Plan will set the town up for additional funding opportunities, both at the federal and state level, that will assist in achieving the strategies recommended by the Safety Action Plan. 

How will this Safety Action Plan be developed?

The Town of Bar Harbor has contracted with Stantec, an international consulting firm, to assist in the creation of our Safety Action Plan. The Town and Stantec will work together to review historical crash data collected by MaineDOT and the Bar Harbor Police Department, analyze multi-modal (including vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, scooters, etc) movement patterns and near-miss information data collected around town, and organize feedback from all road users in Bar Harbor, including residents, commuters, and visitors. 

After reviewing the data and taking community input, Stantec will provide the town with recommendations for safety improvement. These recommendations will be the backbone of the Safety Action Plan.

We will be requesting thoughts, concerns, and suggestions from the public throughout this process and encourage you to reach out or attend the various events we will be hosting. 


PROJECT TIMELINE

NEW timeline:


Please note that due to government shutdowns, plan finalization has been delayed and is anticipated to be finalized in Spring 2026.

Here is the original timeline:

Bar Harbor Schedule

Key Deliverables

Data Analysis Memorandum (Completed in March, 2025)

Draft Safety Action Plan (Completed in February 2026)

PAST EVENTS

Advisory Group Meeting #3

On February 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM the Advisory Group met to discuss the Draft Safety Action Plan and discuss feedback. Agenda can be found here. A recording of the meeting can be found here (coming soon).

Advisory Group Meeting #2

On March 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM the Advisory Group met to discuss data analysis findings and priority locations. Agenda and Package can be found here. A recording of the meeting can be found here.

Advisory Group Meeting - Initial discussion

On October 29, 2024, a group of 14 community members representing a variety of organizations and employers on the Island met to discuss transportation safety concerns. The meeting Agenda can be found here. A recording of the meeting can be found here.

Town Council Presentation

The project was presented to the Bar Harbor Town Council on October 15, 2024. The presentation slides can be found here. 

Survey and GIS Map input gathered between September and October

Link to the (now closed) survey to share your experience on the roadways in Bar Harbor. link here

GIS Map where individuals shared specific locations and intersections around town. link here

Public Engagement Events on September 24 and 25

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Data Collection was completed on Wednesday, August 21, 2024. 

There were cameras placed at intersections in 20 locations around town to collect: 

  • vehicle turning movements or TMC, Turning Movement Count, which counts how vehicles are moving
  • pedestrian, bicycle, and multi-modal movements, which counts how people are moving
  • near-miss crash information, which counts any risky interactions

The map below shows the locations where data was collected, with three different types of data collected, as shown below. 

The heat-map style dots show historic crash locations.

Data Collection Map