PORTLAND, Maine — Editor's note: The video above originally aired on Aug. 29, 2023.
Labor Day weekend traffic on the Maine Turnpike is expected to increase from 2022, officials say.
More than a million vehicles are expected to travel the Maine Turnpike between Friday and Monday. That's an increase of nearly three percent compared to last year's Labor Day weekend, the Maine Turnpike Authority said in a news release.
"In 2022, MTA recorded 1,041,000 transactions over the four-day period. Despite an expected increase from last year, traffic is anticipated to be down compared to the turnpike’s record-breaking year of 2019 when 1.1 million transactions occurred over Labor Day weekend," the release stated.
The MTA released the following predictions for peak traffic rates:
- Friday: Volume heaviest northbound between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- (Friday anticipated to be the busiest of all four days system-wide)
- Saturday: Busiest hours expected to be between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in both directions
- Monday: Volume heaviest southbound between the hours of 12 p.m. and 7 p.m.
"All construction and maintenance activities on the turnpike will be suspended over the long weekend yet, there are still many construction areas on the pike that include narrowed lanes and reduced speed zones. Please obey the posted work zone speed limit," the MTA said.
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