UNITY -- If you drove to the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity this past weekend, chances are you had to wait in a long line of cars to get in and out.

That was especially true during peak times Friday and Saturday, when a record number of people attended the popular event each day. Fair organizers reported 19,000 people on Friday and 25,000 on Saturday. Sunday attendance dropped off to 15,000, for a total of 59,000 during the three days, which is the second-most so far.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association organized the 32nd annual fair. The large crowd was a boon for vendors at the fair and businesses in Unity, but it also meant long lines of traffic to the fairgrounds.

In fact, traffic congestion in and out of the fair was the worst it's been in more than a decade, said association Executive Director Russell Libby.

"We're trying to figure out why it was harder this year than last year with almost the same number of people," Libby said. "11 years ago, our first year here, we had a traffic problem. We solved it and the fair grew. This year we got jammed up again, so we're going to work on the problem. We've been growing attendance and this is the first year we really had a saturation, in terms of traffic, in 10 years."

Driving toward the fair from downtown Unity late Saturday morning, for instance, motorists found themselves backed up onto Depot Street -- a good three miles to go until the fairgrounds. Some people even decided the lines were too long and opted instead to turn around.

The major congestion point, Libby said, seemed to be at the juncture of Routes 139 and 220. Drivers coming toward the fair from the east didn't run into much of a problem, he said. There are two entrances to the fair, but most came down Crosby Brook Road to enter at the Rose Gate.

One of the differences between this fair and ones in the past was the absence of a shuttle from the old railroad station. This year, people were encouraged to ride bicycles into the fair and leave them at a supervised valet bike-parking section.

Organizers are already thinking of ideas for traffic relief for next year's fair, Libby said. Association officials have spoken with the Waldo County Sheriff's Office, which provided about 20 officers over the weekend, about ways of getting people into the fair gates faster. The fair had crews of 10 to 30 volunteers guiding cars in the parking areas as well.

"One of the obvious pieces is, the more people who carpool the better, and we haven't figured out if there's a carpool-incentive package that could work in the process," Libby said.

Fair organizers can only do so much though, Libby said.

"People forget how hard it is to move a lot of people," he said. "It's really hard to move a lot of people in and out of any place quickly."

Although traffic became a bottleneck in some sections near the fair, that wasn't the case in downtown Unity, said Rita Menoudarakos, owner of Unity House of Pizza on Main Street. She said Friday and Saturday were banner days for sales.

"We had traffic flow in the downtown that went pretty smoothly from what I observed," Menoudarakos said. "This is our fifth year at that location, and it was definitely a great year" for the fair.

Menoudarakos said many of her customers were large groups that traveled from other states and they were "relaxed" and enjoying the sunny weather.

"I did hear a few comments that it was really crowded at the fair and traffic, but speaking from a downtown perspective we saw nothing but smoothness."

Unity Town Clerk Sue Lombard echoed those observations, saying the traffic was fine this year, especially compared with the fair's first year in Unity 11 years ago.

"The first year it completely paralyzed the town, but they seemed to have it under control," Lombard said. If traffic had been as bad this year, "I probably would have heard about it, and I haven't heard anything about it."

Scott Monroe -- 487-3288, 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com