PORTLAND – Maine Turnpike’s 76th anniversary-Widening Project

Maine Turnpike Authority turns 76 & receives top road project in North America 

PORTLAND, Maine – On Maine Turnpike’s 76th anniversary, the Authority is pleased to announce its Portland Area Widening project has been awarded the #1 road project in North America by Roads and Bridges Magazine. The $200 million investment in the Greater Portland area began in 2018 and reached completion this fall.

The project’s scope included much more than widening. All told, the Turnpike and their Consultant team, lead by HNTB, oversaw work involving:

• 16 bridges
• 5 interchanges
• 2 toll plazas
• 4 stream/large culvert structures
• 2 new emergency vehicle ramps
• 6 centerline miles of widening, drainage and median safety structures

In the six-year span of this project, more than a dozen contracts were awarded to local Maine contractors. “During a time when much of the economy was suffering from the COVID-19 recession, the Turnpike’s substantial investments in this project kept hundreds of Maine people employed,” said Executive Director Peter Mills. “We are thrilled to have received recognition for this project that is critical to commerce and tourism throughout Maine,” said Mills.

The Portland to Augusta extension of the Maine Turnpike opened 68 years ago, on December 13, 1955.  It was built when the average daily number of cars and trucks on the Turnpike was 2,500.  Today’s daily average hovers around 190,000 with many days seeing 60,000 vehicles or more traveling through the Portland mainline alone.

“Maine has increasingly become a very popular place, and the mainline through Portland is the passageway for tens of millions of travelers every year,” said Erin Courtney, public outreach manager for the MTA. “The expansion and the improvements were needed to make that travel smoother, safer, and more enjoyable for everyone.”