HOULTON, Maine — While the opening weekend of Houlton’s Community Market May 30 featured less than ideal weather conditions, and even a bit of snow, the following weekend was red-hot for vendors in Houlton’s Market Square as temperatures soared into the 80s.
The new traffic flow pattern, aimed at increasing vendor and customer safety, was a topic of discussion at the May 26 Houlton Town Council meeting. Police Chief Joe McKenna informed the board that there were several concerns brought up from that first weekend.
“There were a host of issues that affected what happened out there,” McKenna said. “There were some issues with proper signage, and I understand there were some business people concerned with how it affected their business.”
One of those business owners impacted was Town Councilor Matt Carr, owner of Houlton Stamp and Coin.
“My complaints were publicly made on Facebook with customers who did not come in because of it (traffic pattern),” Carr said.
Chief McKenna acknowledged that change was hard for many, but reiterated his reason for wanting the traffic flow limited was to increase safety for both the pedestrian customers and vendors alike. In years’ past, the Community Market vendors gathered in the center island, with some parking spaces blocked off. Traffic was allowed to flow on both sides of those vendors, which raised serious safety concerns for the police chief.
Councilor Dan Peabody suggested the traffic flow should only be limited if the number of vendors justify it.
“If you don’t need to close it all down, don’t,” he said.
The council originally left it at the police chief’s discretion as to whether the road would be closed, based on how many vendors were on hand each Saturday.
“If it doesn’t work, we will have to go back to the original layout,” Chief McKenna said. “My concern is obviously public safety and people getting hit by vehicles.”
Several vendors at the Community Market May 30 expressed their appreciation for the new traffic pattern.
“I think it’s great to get the support of the town (council),” said Kathryn Harnish, owner of Took a Leap Farm. “This gives us more space, more room for people to socialize and shop. We always get additional vendors as the season goes on and this will allow us to accommodate them.”
Jackie Morse, owner of Bee Morse Farm and co-community market manager, said the change was long overdue.
“I think this whole thing is pretty cool,” Morse said. “Many of our vendors were very nervous last year having their backs to the traffic. Having this all closed off will be a huge help. We have room for 30 vendors and we could always make more if needed. We want this to be more of a community event.”
McKenna said he would report back to the town council at their next regularly scheduled meeting on June 8 to see if any further modifications to the traffic plan were needed.
