Tag Archives: paul-murphy

Shutdown at Acadia causes confusion and frustration

UPDATE: The summit road for Cadillac Mountain reopened to motorists on Friday, Oct. 3 and is scheduled to remain open through at least the end of the motor vehicle reservation system on Oct. 26. Also, the bathrooms and the Park Store at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center have opened for the first time during the shutdown.

UPDATE: The Friends of Acadia has a list of what is open and what is closed in Acadia National Park during the federal government shutdown. The list is updated when needed.

UPDATE: This story was updated on Thursday, Oct. 2 with the closure of Cadillac Mountain to motor vehicles, the closure of the Wild Gardens of Acadia and interviews and photos of several more visitors affected by the shutdown.

The government shutdown at Acadia National Park closed the park’s main visitor center, the Nature Center and a major fee station outside Sand Beach, on the first day of a federal government shutdown that left some visitors confused and frustrated.

No special sign about the government shutdown at Acadia, just a “Closed” sign that was easy to miss, as many visitors who climbed the 52 steps to the Hulls Cove Visitor Center found out on Oct. 1.

Acadia’s major campgrounds – Blackwoods and Seawall on Mount Desert Island and Schoodic Woods on the Schoodic peninsula – are open and are planned to remain open during the shutdown, according to rangers we interviewed and a federal Department of Interior (DOI) directive for managing National Park Service (NPS) campgrounds. The Park Loop Road, viewpoints, hiking trails, parking lots and the carriage roads are open during the shutdown at Acadia. The Island Explorer was operating as usual.

In a chaotic situation, the summit road to Cadillac Mountain was open on Wednesday, then barricaded on Thursday and then was scheduled to reopen on Friday to people with motor vehicle reservations. Although the summit road was barricaded on Thursday, hikers and bikers were using the road during another blue sky day. About two dozen vehicles were parked illegally along the Park Loop Road in between “no parking” signs near the summit road.

“It’s a bummer for sure — the government shutdown,” said Nathan Keever, a network engineer from Traverse City, MI, who rode his bike to the base of the summit road and was planning to bike to the summit.

He had a motor vehicle reservation for sunrise on Cadillac on Friday that he expected he could not use, but he said he was not concerned about that so much. He said he was mainly concerned with the park’s loss of entrance fees because of the closure of fee stations outside Sand Beach. Fees help pay for improvements at the park. “It could be bad for their future enhancements,” he said.

Bicyclist plans to ride on the Cadillac Mountain summit road during the government shutdown

Nathan Keever, a network engineer from Traverse City, MI, on Thursday, Oct. 2 was at the base of Cadillac Mountain and was looking forward to biking on the summit road to Cadillac Mountain, saying he could zig-zag on the road with no cars allowed during the government shutdown. On the other hand, he had a motor vehicle reservation for sunrise on Friday that he can no longer use. “It’s a bummer for sure,” he said of the shutdown

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Government shutdown at Acadia could close Cadillac access

UPDATE: Department of Interior on Wednesday released a plan for Acadia National Park and other national parks to operate during a government shutdown that started on Wednesday after Congress failed to approve a bill to fund the government at the start of the new fiscal year. In a release, the National Parks Conservation Association says the DOI plan calls for parks to be largely left open with minimal staff. The DOI plan does not urge parks to discourage visitors. Campgrounds, most of the Park Loop Road at Acadia, entrance stations, viewpoints and trails to remain open.

A federal government shutdown at Acadia National Park could hit on Wednesday, closing at least some parts of the national park during one of its busiest months of the year and hurting local businesses.

The Hulls Cove Visitor Center at Acadia National Park would likely be closed during a federal government shutdown. The flag, photographed flying at half-staff on Sept. 12, was lowered under a proclamation by President Donald Trump, to honor the memory of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated Sept. 10.

The shutdown of the federal government would come on Wednesday, Oct. 1, if Congress remains deadlocked on a bill that would extend federal appropriations beyond the end of the 2025 fiscal year on Tuesday. In past shutdowns, thousands of federal workers were put on furloughs, including employees at Acadia, but this year there could also be extensive firings of workers under a plan by President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.

President Donald Trump was scheduled to meet on Monday with leaders in Congress from both political parties in attempt to reach an agreement that would prevent a government shutdown at Acadia and much of the rest of the federal government.

How would Acadia be affected by a federal government shutdown?

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Seasonal workers at Acadia get new RV camp, lower rents

Jim Turner, an Island Explorer bus driver this year, said he is impressed with his site at Acadia National Park’s new RV camp, called White Birches and built partly to help attract seasonal
workers at Acadia during a shortage of such workers at the park.

“This camp is fantastic,” said Turner, a retired optical network engineer and Army veteran who has stayed at RV places around the US while volunteering or working at national parks, a national forest and other sites. “They did a great job laying it out,” said Turner, who is working for the first time as a driver for the fare-free bus that services Acadia.

Amid scarce affordable housing in communities around Acadia, the new RV camp and a string of other new housing projects are aimed at lowering housing costs for seasonal workers at Acadia and thereby boosting services for visitors. With more economical rents, the number of seasonal employees at Acadia should eventually increase from the low numbers each of the past several years that have hurt some services for visitors, officials said.

Jim Turner, driver for the Island Explorer, at the new RV camp for seasonal employees and volunteers at Acadia National Park.

Jim Turner, with his dog, Kara, a mixed Chihuahua breed, stands outside his RV at the new camp for seasonal employees and volunteers at Acadia National Park.

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Transit and visitor center aimed at cutting traffic at Acadia

TRENTON – US Sen. Angus King and the state transportation chief helped celebrate the start of construction of a new $32 million welcome center and transit hub, saying it could dramatically reduce traffic at Acadia National Park and transform the way people visit.

Maine US Sen. Angus King at celebration for Acadia Gateway Center.

US Sen. Angus King, independent from Maine and chair of the Senate subcommittee on National Parks, speaks at an event to celebrate the start of construction of the Acadia Gateway Center. On King’s right is Paul Murphy, executive director of Downeast Transportation Inc., and on his left, Fred Ehrlenbach, first selectman for the town of Trenton.

The Acadia Gateway Center, located off Route 3 in Trenton, is planned as a new regional tourism hub with 250 parking spaces and likely an express bus service into the national park. The center is aimed at getting more day trippers and commuters into the park’s fare-free Island Explorer bus service, thereby reducing congestion on Route 3 near Mount Desert Island and cutting traffic at Acadia National Park, the No. 5 most visited US national park in 2022.

The Acadia Gateway Center, scheduled to open in May 2025, overcame many hurdles during 20 years of planning and debate and it remains unclear how many tourists and commuters will choose to leave behind their cars and hop on a bus at the center. The project’s ultimate success could hinge on efforts to hire more scarce bus drivers to provide the express service and to boost affordable housing for drivers and other seasonal workers, people at the event said. Affordable housing is currently in such sort supply that 10 Island Explorer drivers lived out of their cars last year, according to the president of the Friends of Acadia.

The total project estimate of $31.66 million for the Gateway Center — as opposed to construction only — includes pre-construction work, according to a report in the Mount Desert Islander. Work before construction typically includes costs such as design, engineering and construction administration.

King, chair of the Senate subcommittee on National Parks, said the Acadia Gateway Center is a landmark project that can serve as a model for other national parks. People can park at the Gateway Center, get on a bus and enjoy Acadia without worrying about fighting traffic, pollution or the time it takes to find parking, said King, a Maine independent.

“The problem isn’t so much people in national parks,” said King at the event, attended by local, state and federal leaders. “It’s vehicles.”

An aerial view of the planned Acadia Gateway Center, now under construction and set to open in May 2025. (Rendering provided by Maine Department of Transportation)

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Acadia National Park bus sets record ridership, eyes growth

Since it began operating in 1999, the fare-free Island Explorer has transported more than 8 million passengers while operating in Acadia National Park and surrounding communities. In 2019, the Island Explorer set another annual record for ridership, carrying 643,870 passengers, up 3.3 percent from 2018 and 55 percent from 2010, according to National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics. The Island Explorer buses, powered by propane, are partly financed by Acadia entrance fees, the Federal Transit Administration and LL Bean. Island Explorer service on Mount Desert Island operates seasonally from June 23 through late August, and at a reduced schedule through Indigenous Peoples Day in mid-October. It starts about Memorial Day weekend on the Schoodic Peninsula to coincide with the opening of the Schoodic Woods campground.

Paul Murphy, executive director of Downeast Transportation, stands next to the door of an Island Explorer bus parked inside a garage at the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton. (Photo courtesy Downeast Transportation)

Paul Murphy is executive director of Downeast Transportation, the nonprofit operator of the Island Explorer and other transit in Hancock County. Murphy, who started as operations manager in 2002 for Downeast Transportation, took up a range of issues with Acadia on My Mind, including plans for new buses, the routes, possible expansion of the Acadia National Park bus shuttle and suspension this year of an express service for bicyclists. Edited responses:

The Island Explorer does not provide a route to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, the most popular attraction at Acadia National Park. We realize this decision was made before you started at Downeast Transportation. Why is there no service to Cadillac peak on the national park shuttle?

Paul Murphy: There are several reasons. A prominent one is that there are private operators who in large part make their living from taking people up Cadillac Mountain. It was a compromise at the time to keep those operators whole.

Second, it would require more robust braking and heavier duty vehicles. It has nothing to do with the propane engine. It has to do with the wear and tear on a vehicle climbing up and down the mountain all day.

Third, it would create demand that we don’t have the capacity to meet. It would be the single thing I can think of that would most impact demand. We struggle to fund what we already have in operations.

How big are the Island Explorer buses and how many passengers do they carry?

Murphy: They are about 30 feet. We can put 43 passengers on a bus including 13 who would stand. Continue reading →