For more than 25 years, the National Park Service has partnered with VHB on visitor enhancements to Acadia National Park. Our integrated engineering team rehabilitated the 45-mile network of historic carriage roads, as well as 29 of the historic Carriage Road bridges. The Carriage Roads weave throughout the mountains of the park and provide hikers, bicyclists, and horseback riders with access to panoramic vistas and direct views of the park’s landscape. VHB also completed a systematic evaluation to determine the top 100 most restorable scenic vista locations on the Carriage Roads system and developed standard protocols for the park to use to restore them.
Within the last decade, VHB has completed more than 20 projects within Acadia National Park to enhance the visitor experience at critical destinations. In addition to the rehabilitation of the 45-mile Carriage Road network, VHB also provided design of the Frazer Creek Bridges and bike path on the Schoodic Peninsula and replacement of the Duck Harbor pier superstructure on Isle au Haut. VHB has also enhanced the visitor experience at the Jordan Pond House, a sought-out destination and restaurant in the southwest corner of Park Loop Road that has scenic views of the mountains known as “The Bubbles.” Our team reconfigured overflow parking lots to improve access for larger vehicles and created a more formal circulation pattern that improved visitor safety.
