Maine Turnpike

Here they come! The tourists flock back to Maine this long weekend and our friends at the Maine Turnpike are expecting traffic levels to be much heavier than last year.

Well, here we are. Memorial Day Weekend in Maine. The unofficial kickoff to summer and the millions of tourists who spend literally BILLIONS of dollars in our lovely state. But not this year. And with each long weekend in Maine, one of the big issues is having to deal with tons of traffic on the Maine Turnpike. Again, not this year.

Did you ever wonder how Maine State Police communicated to each other on the Maine Turnpike? If you blow past an officer at 90 mph, does that officer call up the next one up the Turnpike a few miles and give a heads up? Well, check out this live Maine Turnpike scanner. It's super interesting and shows the incredible professionalism that these Maine men and women show with their job. It's worth a listen and you might hear someone you know get pulled over!

Those with an E-Z Pass won't even have to slow down coming off the 'pike onto I-295, and soon drivers getting on the 'pike from I-295 will be able to do so at highway speeds also, as soon as that side is finished.

According to the Maine Turnpike Authority, 992,000 are expected to travel the Turnpike this weekend! That's a 1.5% increase over last year.

The Maine DOT is installing new electronic signs to let drivers know travel times to points on the highway, but it makes me wonder if this is even necessary.

3 years, 2 projects and 70 million dollars and it all starts this spring on I-95.

When I was able to pause the video at the right point I found out my hunch was right. It is a Maine turnpike sign, in fact, it's the sign for the Wells/Sanford exit.

Thought getting out of work early would put you a leg up on traffic? Not on the Maine Turnpike.

No it's not a publicity stunt. It's just someone who's a huge fan of the movie. Have you seen the custom Jurassic Park car driving around?

We've got a problem on the Maine Turnpike and it needs to be fixed.

In the 111 years that the Turnpike has been around there have been a lot of changes. One of those changes closed a pedestrian tunnel under they highway.

12 alternatives are listed to fix Portland traffic problems, including surge pricing, carpool lanes and adding tolls to I-295

"The MTA expects traffic to be up 1.6 percent over last year's Memorial Day weekend. Approximately 978,000 vehicles are predicted to travel the turnpike over the four-day period of Friday through Monday. The heaviest traffic northbound is expected to occur on Friday between the hours of 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM.

Maine State Police catch up with an alleged highway thief who skirted more than $1,300 in tolls using stolen license plates

Well, this is pretty cool Tourists leaving Maine on Labor Day are getting good-bye gifts!