The most popular trick-or-treat destination in Kennebunk will stay open to vehicle traffic this Halloween. Last year, Summer Street remained open to traffic for the first time in many years. Now, the town says it will stay open again. 

In a post on the Kennebunk town website, officials said the stretch of Summer Street between Park and Depot streets will remain open, and motorists should expect high volumes of pedestrians and delays. 

“Drivers are urged to plan ahead and consider taking alternate routes to ease traffic congestion and ensure the safety of trick-or-treaters,” the post reads. 

Parents should talk with their children about the open road status and prepare them for using designated crossing points, the post continues. 

Known as the best trick-or-treating location in Kennebunk, Summer Street homes can see up to an estimated 2,000 trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. 

Summer Street homeowner Chris MacClinchy said the high volume of children and families wandering the street makes it unsafe to keep the road open. 

“We would like to see the road closed again,” MacClinchy said. “We think it’s the easiest way to keep trick-or-treaters safe in this very busy part of town.” 

Last year’s trick-or-treating was “chaotic,” MacClinchy said, and “less safe” for trick-or-treaters. 

The measures put in place to manage the crowds and cars included barriers and a large number of fire and police personnel, all of which MacClinchy said added to the chaos. 

MacClinchy claimed there were even a couple of car-related injuries.

“I was talking to one of the firefighters last year, and he said that he saw someone get clipped by a mirror on a car,” MacClinchy said. 

MacClinchy also said that while he was talking with someone, the person started to lean into the road, and MacClinchy had to pull the person away from a passing car. 

“It was definitely an accident waiting to happen,” he said. 

Some of the reasons provided town officials on why the road was kept open included a need for emergency access, lack of personnel, and falling numbers of trick-or-treaters. 

MacClinchy said those reasons are unfounded. 

“I’m pretty sure they had to route emergency vehicles around the area anyway,” MacClinchy said. “They also said it cost more money to keep the road closed, but that doesn’t make sense to me. There were certainly more personnel last year.” 

The street also didn’t see a smaller number of visitors last year, MacClinchy said. 

“It didn’t seem like there were less people, they just seemed more on edge,” he said. “People were worried about getting around safely.” 

MacClinchy and his family aren’t the only Summer Street residents concerned with keeping the road open on Halloween. 

MacClinchy said most of his neighbors are in favor of keeping the road closed. When he surveyed his neighbors last year, only two households, out of the 23 he visited, wanted to open the road. 

“The majority of the people on the street want the road closed,” MacClinchy said. “And certainly people around the town that bring their kids to trick-or-treat want the road closed.” 

For now, Kennebunk residents and visitors should be aware of changing traffic patterns on Summer Street in the days leading up to Halloween. 

On Halloween eve, the town advises motorists to drive slowly, stay alert, and follow posted speed limits. 

MacClinchy said he wanted to remind drivers that just because the road is open, doesn’t mean they should take videos of the houses while driving. 

“People were driving through to see the cool stuff happening,” MacClinchy said. “It was a challenge.”