MOUNT DESERT — Jordan Pond Road has been reopened to all traffic.
The board of selectmen made that decision at a special meeting Wednesday morning.
The residential road, which connects Route 3 in Seal Harbor with the Acadia National Park Loop Road, had been closed since July 16 to through traffic except for Island Explorer buses, Jordan Pond House employees and service vehicles, and other authorized personnel.
Jordan Pond Road was closed to prevent it from being used as a detour while the nearby Stanley Brook Entrance to the park is closed for six to eight weeks for bridge repair work.
Last week, the Islander asked town officials to cite the specific local ordinance or state law under which the board of selectmen had the authority to decide who can and cannot use a road. Town manager Durlin Lunt asked town attorney James Collier to research that question.
Opposition to the closure had also been growing within the town’s business community.
Crews were slated to begin changing signs and moving barricades Wednesday.
Board of selectmen chairman Tom Richardson said Collier had advised them that they could close the road to everyone or open it to everyone, but they couldn’t discriminate as to who could use it.
After voting to open the road, the board agreed to ask Acadia officials not to post signs designating Jordan Pond Road as a detour while Stanley Brook Road is closed.