Maine

The political battle over the design of Maine's southern toll plaza has seen the town of York hire their own toll system consultant to combat HNTB and the Maine Turnpike Authority. York mayor Michael Estes announced the hiring of Atlanta Georgia based eTrans at a large public meeting on the contentious issue Thursday night in York.

From Marshall Jarvis: The Maine Turnpike Authority could, as you suggest, make changes to the York toll plaza within their current footprint. But the situation is not urgent. I believe the MTA has the time needed to produce a good long term solution.
 
Being here in York gives us the advantage of seeing the actual traffic patterns on an almost daily basis.

The tale of two I-95 toll plaza rebuilds make an interesting comparison. There are similarities and differences. Similarities are that in both states the Turnpike is the major east coast highway artery and the major link to adjoining states.

We wrote a pretty savage attack on HNTB's advice to the Maine Turnpike Authority on the rebuild of their southern toll plaza near York on I-95, and especially HNTB's belittling of the prospects for all-electronic tolling in a several page memo in Q&A format which they wrote for the local council called York Selectmen.

Maine Turnpike should ask HNTB for their money back on consulting fees on the York Toll Plaza replacement. HNTB as general engineering consultants have been providing false and misleading advice to Maine on the state of all-electronic tolling (AET).

Controversy continues in New England over whether government toll operations should be conducted within a state DOT or through a public toll authority. New Hampshire has represented the first model with toll operations part of the New Hampshire DOT while, at time of writing, Maine and Massachusetts have their toll authorities.

Today saw the last automatic coin machine removed from the Maine Turnpike. After the morning commute at the Gray interchange (MP63) north of Portland the lane was closed and the last of the Turnpike's ACMs was taken away, the Mark IV IAG equipment fired up, and the signage changed to "E-ZPass ONLY."

A columnist Jeff Pidot at the Kennebec Journal in Maine rolls out a lame cliche often hurled at tolls that they are "highway robbery." He doesn't actually compare Maine Turnpike toll rates with those elsewhere or with the costs of building and operating roads. That would be work. And the real data might undermine his case.

He just draws attention to the increase and not to the length of time tolls have been frozen while costs rise.

Maine Turnpike Authority decided this week on toll increases intended to increase revenues by about $20m/year or 25%. It adopted one of three toll increase scenarios taken to public meetings and discussed by a citizens advisory committee. Cash and foreign transponder tolls (non-Maine IAG E-ZPass) will rise an average of 55% and Maine transponder tolls (Maine E-ZPass) 18%.

Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) is focusing proposed toll increases on out-of-staters, with the possibility of legal troubles from class action suits claiming infringement of the US constitution. This in the context of proposing slightly different ways it can gain a needed 23% increase in revenues or $20m/year extra.

Maine Turnpike Authority's board have asked HNTB engineering consultants to study options for upgrading toll collection at the existing York toll plaza. HNTB are also being asked to do a more in-depth study of cashless all-electronic tolling option.

Cash toll collection is still kicking. In Maine the Turnpike Authority is pushing ahead with a planned replacement to their busiest toll plaza - the mainline plaza in York at Mile Marker 7, seven miles north of the New Hampshire border. And they plan a new $32m to $35m nineteen toll lanes plaza – 2+ 2 open road electronic toll (ORT) lanes through the middle and fifteen stop-to-pay toll lanes, eight southbound, seven northbound, straddling the ORT lanes.

Diversion from the tollroad to the parallel free road is an issue in southwest Maine, as in other places. In Maine they've just studied it again. HNTB ran surveys for the Turnpike on the nearby free roads and at the York toll plaza to establish how many people are taking the free road to avoid the toll.

The siren song of economies of consolidation is now being heard in Maine. Governor John Baldacci (Dem) is having staff look at the ramifications of turning operations of the state Turnpike over to the state DOT, retaining the Maine Turnpike Authority as a state financing agency only.

Deer are a roadway hazard throughout the US but Maine has moose too. Maine Turnpike had two car-moose crashes early his morning, AP reports, and injuries to people near Scarborough. The moose didn't get a word from AP but we guess they got smashed up too.

Having once confronted a bull moose on the rollercoaster ME9 road about midway between Bangor and Calais (at the New Brunswick border) at 70mph we can testify they are formidable beasts to meet on a road.

Maine Turnpike has chosen William Wegman, the artist who has made fame and fortune from silly but charming dog pictures to be their illustrator. Some kinds of doggery is going to be on display in three huge murals the Turnpike is buying for $102k.