“We’re just little Rockland. It may never happen in Rockland,” said Police Chief Tim Carroll during a May 14, 2025 City Council meeting. “But I just feel, as a public safety official, that there are concerns that I have.”

With many stories popping up nationally and internationally regarding enraged drivers plowing into crowds at closed street venues, Carroll is hoping to play it safe.

This year, Rockland is experimenting with different barriers for its street closures. At a June 14 rally, Police and Public Works used “hard barriers” (aka “Jersey Barriers”) to divide Rockland Harbor Park’s rally area from the vehicular zone, which remained open and well used during the event.

For the June 15 Sunday Stroll, the City made minimal use of the saw horses of previous years, favoring instead heavy equipment.

“Specifically, with the Maine Lobster Festival, I’m going to demand that hard barriers are at the entrances,” said Carroll. “It is way too easy, if somebody wishes to drive down the hill, or even accidentally let the car roll down the hill into a bunch of traffic. It’s been talked about for years, that something different should be done, but I think with more recent events of those types of things happening, that we need to do something better – being able to at least slow traffic down, stagger the barriers, however we need to do it so that there’s just not free access to that.”

City Council members, during the May 14 meeting, were on board with the general idea, adding what they’ve witnessed at Rockland street events.

“When we were at Sunday Stroll...last year, there were periods of time when people were coming up to the plastic barriers, and they were like ‘I’m just going to drive around it,’” said Mayor Penny York.

And, they did, while people were walking up and down the street.

Some people got out and moved the plastic barriers. Others simply used their vehicles to push the barriers out of the way.

Yet, it isn’t just the small plastic barriers.

“It happens frequently,” said Carroll. “It may be a great big red fire truck or a police car with lights flashing, and they think, ‘but I just have to go there.’ And they want to go around, or they just start to go around.”

Councilor Kaitlin Callahan, who also expressed approval for the idea, further suggested that barricades be placed further back, away from the actual closed street, to create a buffer zone.

The overall issue comes down to finances. Hard barriers require Public Works labor, according to City Manager Tom Luttrell. When pressed for an estimate by Council members, Luttrell reasoned that since closures are usually weekends, this means overtime, and at least three-hour call times per person. He predicted more than $100 dollars per person, with a 2-3 person team. And, if the barriers need to be set up prior to the event, they will also need to be torn down afterward.

For Carroll, though, that expense is minimal compared to the risk.

“I’m not against the street closures, but I think we need to do a better job, because I’m sure it can come back,” said Carroll. “If something was to happen, the liability would come back to the City as ‘you didn’t properly close the street off to vehicular traffic.’”

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com