Latest news with #MaineTurnpikeAuthority
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New turnpike director outlines goals for Maine's 'economic backbone'
Jul. 7—When Andre Briere became executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority in April, he knew he was hired to fix it. After three months on the job, he's got a long to-do list and a two-year action plan that kicks off in August. It will focus on improving the 109-mile toll highway as "the main thing," he says, and avoid distractions from the authority's core mission, like the controversial Gorham Connector proposal that put the agency "through the wringer" last year. The list includes reviving transparency and trust in the authority, increasing digital technology, security and automation at toll plazas and improving service plazas with updated bathrooms, children's play areas and new dining options, which could include Chick-fil-A, Shake Shack and local chefs that would highlight Maine's farm-to-table restaurant scene. Getting rid of the turnpike authority — something opponents have espoused lately and the goal of several failed bills in the last legislative session — isn't on Briere's list for all the reasons he says the agency benefits the state and its residents. That includes where most of the $170 million in tolls, or 89% of the agency's revenue for a $192 million budget, came from last year. "Almost two-thirds of our toll revenue comes from out-of-staters," Briere said. "There's no cheaper way for Mainers to run the economic backbone of the state. It would be financially ruinous for the state of Maine if you changed that." Briere, 57, started at the authority one month after the board of directors dumped the Gorham Connector proposal, leaving it to the Maine Department of Transportation to solve commuter congestion west of Portland. The four-lane toll road would have run from the recently rebuilt turnpike Exit 45 in South Portland, through Westbrook and Scarborough, to the Gorham Bypass at Route 114 in Gorham. A survey conducted by the authority showed the tide of public opinion had ebbed against the connector and the agency itself after spending more than 20 years and $18 million planning and developing the $331 million project. Briere describes the connector proposal as a well-intentioned effort that the authority took on because the Department of Transportation couldn't afford it. While the authority maintains just 577 lane miles of Interstate 95 from Kittery to Augusta, the department looks after 47,248 lane miles of roads across the state. "The DOT struggles to find funding to do projects," he said. "They turned to the turnpike authority to do the connector project and our existence was threatened in the Legislature as a result." It's a misfire Briere doesn't intend to repeat. He's committed to bolstering confidence and trust in the authority and emphasizing transparency and openness with the public, he said. He also wants to make sure the authority's 400 employees are empowered to do their best work after a report last year found that a climate of intimidation and favoritism had been fostered by former chief financial officer Doug Davidson, who left the agency in 2023. "You have to really listen to people, even opponents, and take in their input," he said. "I'm here to serve the people of Maine and make sure the turnpike is the most efficient, modern and innovative highway of its kind in the country." SEPARATE BUT WORKING TOGETHER Briere replaced Peter Mills, the longtime executive director who led the connector project before retiring in September. He took the reins as opponents of the 5-mile toll spur pitched legislation aimed taking control of the authority's spending and project planning powers and folding the agency into the Department of Transportation — something that's been tried unsuccessfully more than 25 times in the past. That's a bad idea, according to Briere, whose last job was deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, which operates a turnpike system stretching over 90 miles. Because New Hampshire's three turnpikes are funded by legislators through the state budget, Briere said the process of raising tolls and allocating revenue for highway projects is politicized, and elected officials do what they can to avoid upsetting taxpayers. Last spring, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte dismissed senators' calls to increase tolls for the first time in 15 years. As a result, "there's no money for capital spending in New Hampshire's turnpike budget for the coming year," Briere said. Without regular reinvestment in turnpike infrastructure — bridges, toll plazas, air conditioners — the viability of the system diminishes, Briere said, and if tolls don't cover turnpike needs, the system becomes increasingly dependent on taxes. That kind of uncertainty can lower a state's bond rating and increase the cost of borrowing, he said. The Maine Turnpike Authority is somewhat insulated from that process because it's a separate state agency created by the Legislature in 1941 to finance and build the turnpike through toll collection. When the initial bonds were paid off in 1982, the Legislature decided the authority should continue to operate and maintain the turnpike. While no federal or state tax dollars have ever been used on the turnpike, the authority has paid the Maine Department of Transportation $5.4 million to $9.5 million annually since 2011 for work on cooperative projects. They include the $42 million Saco interchange set to open this year, the Sarah Mildred Long and Piscataqua River bridge projects, and planned investments in public transit initiatives in Greater Portland. Briere said he's an advocate for public transit, but he believes it can only be successful if roads aren't mired in commuter gridlock. And he believes it's impossible to stop people from moving outside metropolitan areas, especially as developers continue to build housing and real estate values continue to rise. The authority's contribution the Department of Transportation represented at least 5% of turnpike toll revenue each year, Briere said, and he'll be looking for ways to increase collaboration on projects in the future. "We're better off being separate but working together," he said. BALANCING EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY A Seattle native with New England roots, Briere is a 29-year Air Force veteran who retired as a colonel in 2019 with a breadth of international experience in transportation, logistics, emergency management and large-scale project leadership. He is married with two adult children. He admits his military experience likely will help fulfill his action plan for the authority, including digital upgrades in the wake of an E-ZPass shutdown for 12 hours in March that avoided a security breach. The plan calls for providing much smaller E-ZPass sticker tags instead of the current transponders within a year; offering a Maine Turnpike app so E-ZPass users can manage accounts more easily online within two years; and making it possible for drivers to pay tolls with credit cards. "We'll also operate with the general philosophy of keeping tolls low or flat for Maine E-ZPass users," Briere said, noting that those drivers received nearly $11 million in toll discounts in 2024. With the move toward greater automation, the authority may see a further reduction in toll plaza staffing, which has fallen from nearly 400 to about 175 in the last 20 years. However, given the problems that other turnpike systems have experienced when electronic toll systems go offline, Briere said he doesn't see a time when the Maine Turnpike is fully automated. "There's always a balance between effectiveness and efficiency," he said. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maine saw more tourists than expected over Memorial Day weekend
May 27—A chilly, wet forecast threatened to dampen Memorial Day weekend travel in Maine, but preliminary numbers from the Maine Turnpike Authority show a few gloomy days weren't enough to keep tourists away. The turnpike recorded more than 1 million vehicle "transactions" between Friday and Monday, putting it on par with recent years. Officials originally predicted fewer than 1 million transactions. Friday was the busiest day, with 343,346 of the 1,008,400 trips. Erin Courtney, turnpike authority spokesperson, said that most travelers at the Kennebunk service plaza on Saturday said they were headed to Acadia National Park. People who booked a trip months ago "are not going to cancel everything based on the weather," she said. "More likely, the folks that live in Maine probably weren't doing as much travel." This year's numbers reflect a slight decrease from 2024's 1,011,200 vehicles, but this year's total could surpass last year's once all the numbers are tallied. Last year, more than 5,000 transactions were added between the preliminary and final counts. Gas prices could have also played a role in better-than-expected turnpike traffic. Nationally, gas prices last weekend were the lowest Memorial Day weekend prices since 2021, and, if adjusted for inflation, the lowest in nearly a decade, according to AAA. Heading into the weekend, Maine had an average price at the pump of $3.05 per gallon, compared to about $3.17 nationally. National gas prices were around $3.59 over the same weekend in 2024 and $4.60 in 2022. The last few years have been "banner" years for Memorial Day weekend travel, Courtney said, but 2019 still holds the record with 1,014,225 vehicles. Traffic plummeted in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the turnpike recorded just 564,000 vehicles. It's too soon to say whether the stronger-than-expected traffic numbers will correlate with a booming summer tourist season, but Courtney said that historically, a good season has followed a strong start. "It's pretty encouraging that given a less than ideal forecast, we still had good numbers," she said. Maine's busiest summer communities are gearing up for an uncertain season, as travelers grapple with an unsteady economy and polarizing political climate that could have some Canadian visitors staying home. Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, said advanced bookings are tracking closely to last year, with many businesses feeling optimistic. "At the same time, there's an awareness of ongoing uncertainties, and businesses are staying mindful of evolving trends and traveler behavior," he said in an emailed statement. The number of tourists visiting Maine has been declining, though the money they spend has increased. Last year, an estimated 7.75 million travelers visited Maine and spent $5.1 billion, according to the Maine Office of Tourism. That's a 9.1% decrease in visitors but a 9.7% increase in the amount of money spent per traveler compared to the year before. The Maine Office of Tourism launched its 2025 summer campaign early, "knowing that competition for domestic visitors will be strong this summer," Carolann Ouellette, director of the Maine Office of Tourism said in a news release. While it's typically seen as the official kickoff to summer, Memorial Day Weekend is not Maine's busiest travel day. It's usually in the top five, Courtney said, wedged somewhere between Labor Day, which is always the busiest and the first two weekends in August. The Fourth of July and Indigenous People's Day are also often busy. Nationally, AAA predicted a record-breaking weekend for travel, with 45.1 million people traveling at least 50 miles from home between May 22 and May 26. Updated numbers were not available Tuesday. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Rain expected to dampen Memorial Day traffic in Maine
May 21—The Maine Turnpike Authority expects rainy weather to reduce Memorial Day weekend traffic on the toll highway by 2.5% this year. "Just under 1 million vehicles are anticipated to travel the Maine Turnpike from Friday through Monday," said spokesperson Erin Courtney. "Stormy weather forecasted for Friday will likely keep folks away for the first part of the weekend." Even with a slight dip, Friday will still be the busiest day, Courtney said, with the heaviest volume northbound from 3-7 p.m. Saturday will be busiest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in both directions. Monday will be busiest southbound from noon to 7 p.m. Despite the stormy weather, Miles the Moose, the turnpike's mascot, will greet travelers at the Kennebunk northbound plaza from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday. The turnpike, which runs from Kittery to Augusta and is part of Interstate 95, was designated a Gold Star Memorial Highway in 1965, honoring military members who died in service and their families. Signs along the highway reflect this designation. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
E-ZPass security shutdown delays Maine Turnpike toll charges
Apr. 15—The E-ZPass system on the Maine Turnpike was shut down for 12 hours in March to avoid a potential online security breach, turnpike officials said Tuesday. As a precaution, the Maine Turnpike Authority hasn't charged tolls to user accounts for nearly a month — a process it plans to resume this week. TransCore, the authority's E-ZPass vendor, shut down its lane-scanning system after it detected an attempted security breach, said authority spokesperson Erin Courtney. The system resumed recording toll transactions immediately following the shutdown, but only recently transferred that data to the turnpike authority after the threat of a security breach had passed, Courtney said. The private data of the authority's 395,000 personal E-ZPass accounts and 13,000 business accounts was never at risk of being compromised after the shutdown, she said. "If there was even a chance that it was affected, we would have notified our patrons," Courtney said. The system was shut down from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 19, Courtney said. During that period, the authority missed about 110,000 E-ZPass transactions worth an estimated $200,000, based on tolls collected during the same period last year. Once TransCore resumed lane-scanning, toll transactions were recorded, but they weren't posted to individual E-ZPass accounts, Courtney said. The authority planned to resume posting tolls to E-ZPass accounts on Tuesday, including delayed transactions from the last month. "People will begin seeing tolls post to their accounts as soon as (Tuesday) morning," she said. "We are going to post a few days at a time, but we anticipate being caught up within the next five to seven business days." Courtney said the authority has done extensive data testing to verify that delayed toll transactions are accurate and that the system recovery has been successful. If the MTA sees any inconsistencies with a particular transaction, it won't be posted to an E-ZPass user's account, she said. "We want to ensure this system interruption does not negatively impact our patrons (and) that patrons are charged accurately," Courtney said. Courtney noted that automatic cash replenishments to user accounts may not have occurred during the last month unless drivers traveled outside Maine, which may have triggered an individual system update. E-ZPass users who load cash manually into their accounts should check to ensure they are fully funded, she said. TransCore, a toll technology company based in Nashville, Tennessee, didn't respond immediately to a request for an interview or statement on the cause and impacts of the E-ZPass shutdown in Maine and whether other states were affected. E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on highways, bridges and tunnels in the eastern and southern states and across the Midwest. In Maine, the system collects tolls at plazas and exits from York to Gardiner on the turnpike's section of Interstate 95. The authority issued a notice about the E-ZPass "issue" on March 21. At that time, some E-ZPass customers would see a red or yellow lighted message telling them to "Call Customer Service" as they passed through toll booths. The authority advised users to disregard the message until further notice. "The issue is causing a delay in transaction processing and does not indicate a problem with individual E-ZPass accounts," the authority explained. "Toll transactions are still being recorded and will be posted to accounts once the system catches up." TransCore had identified the problem and was working to restore full function to affected lanes, the authority said. Last week, the authority announced that "the E-ZPass system interruption that occurred in March has been resolved." "All toll plaza message signs and lights are functioning properly," the authority said. "If drivers receive a 'Call Customer Service' message at a toll, they should follow up, as it is no longer due to a system error." Courtney said the MTA cannot fully calculate the amount of toll revenue that wasn't collected when the E-ZPass system was completely offline. The authority collected $191 million in tolls last year. "Any revenue we were unable to collect during this time will be part of an ongoing discussion with (TransCore)," she said. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Southern Maine lawmakers want to repeal law authorizing controversial Gorham Connector
The proposed route of the Gorham Connector project that sought to expand suburban access to I-95. (Image via Maine Turnpike Authority) Lawmakers from southern Maine have banned together on legislation to scrap the controversial Gorham Connector project that sought to expand suburban access to I-95. While she knows the region needs a solution for traffic congestion driven by population growth, 'the connector is not the solution,' said Sen. Stacy Brenner (D-Cumberland), lead sponsor on the bill that is set to have a public hearing before the Transportation Committee Thursday afternoon. In 2017, the Maine Legislature passed legislation that allowed the Turnpike Authority to review traffic conditions west of Portland in Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland and Westbrook and build a five-mile connector to mitigate backups. Then-Gov. Paul LePage vetoed the bill because it was a toll access road, but lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to override his objection. When that law was passed, traffic projections were much higher than what is seen today, Brenner said. Traffic modeling assumes steady growth, she explained, but the reality depends on shifts in commuting patterns, land use and transportation choices, so it's important to base infrastructure designs on the most up-to-date data. Brenner said she heard concerns from residents and key municipalities 'loudly' on the campaign trail last summer. Opponents have said it is too large of a fix for a problem that only occurs at limited times in certain areas, according to reporting from the Portland Press Herald. And Brenner also pointed out that any route for the connector would cut through Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook, a family-owned dairy farm and valued part of the community. Preserving local businesses and working landscapes is important when planning for future transportation needs, she said. The Gorham Connector would have linked the Maine Turnpike at Exit 45 to the Gorham Bypass off Route 114. The intention was to improve the connection to the Turnpike and I-295 while reducing the commuter traffic on neighborhood roads. With an estimated cost of at least $330 million, Brenner said there should be careful consideration of the investment, especially when studies from the Turnpike Authority show a new highway would only reduce commute times by an average of four minutes. 'Repealing the law allows for a fresh approach to transportation planning, ensuring that any future proposals align with community needs and priorities,' she said. 'Hundreds of constituents have contributed their time and voices into opposing this project and have asked for this bill to be brought forward.' LD 1020 would create that blank slate by repealing the 2017 law. It would also require the Turnpike Authority to resell any land purchased for the project back to the previous owner. If the previous owner doesn't want the property back, the bill stipulates that it would then be given to the municipality at no cost. If the municipality doesn't want the land, it would need to donate it to a local land trust. If they also don't want the land, then it can be offered for sale at a public auction. Other Democrats from that corner of the state have signed on to the bill, including Sen. Anne Carney of Cumberland County, and Reps. Drew Gattine of Westbrook, Kelly Murphy and Sophie Warren of Scarborough, as well as Eleanor Sato and Parnell Terry of Gorham. Rep. Laurie Osher (D-Orono) is also a cosponsor. Transportation officials agreed in early March to consider alternative plans for addressing traffic west of Portland. The Turnpike Authority asked the Maine Department of Transportation to do a two-year comprehensive review of the benefits and limitations of changing the existing infrastructure, as well as gather input from people affected by the traffic in that area. Although the landscape has evolved due to factors such as changes in post-pandemic commuting and the state's housing crisis, the Turnpike Authority said there could still be a need for an 'innovative transportation solution' for that area. Rather than expanding highways, Brenner said there should be an effort to strengthen existing urban areas, improve mobility options and support local economies. 'Thoughtful, data-driven planning will help ensure the best outcomes for the region's future,' she said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
