Bangor city officials are changing the way they alert residents of construction and parking restrictions after towing 14 vehicles with minimal warning earlier this week.
The vehicles were towed from downtown Bangor early Wednesday morning so crews could begin paving various city streets. However, that action came without notifying residents that parking on those roads was prohibited during certain times.
After pushback from residents about the lack of communication, the city is reimbursing the $230 impound fee drivers had to pay to retrieve their vehicles from the towing company’s impound lot. The parking tickets the towed vehicles received have also been voided, according to Aaron Huotari, Bangor’s public works director.
To prevent this from happening in the future, Huotari said the city is changing its policy for how it alerts residents of construction work and associated parking restrictions.
“The public feedback has been helpful,” Huotari said. “I think this made a positive change.”
Now, the city will send text and email alerts about construction projects and parking restrictions to those who have signed up for them, similar to how the city notified residents of winter parking bans, Huotari said.
Previously, the city only sent alerts in this way if road work would close streets, Huotari said.
The city didn’t issue those alerts this time because residents complained to the city about the large number of texts and emails they received this past winter as the city tried a new parking restriction system for snow clearing, Huotari said.
