The worst stretch Highway authorities are taking steps to counter congestion as they prepare to tackle the most challenging part of the Maine Turnpike widening. It is perhaps the most dreaded section of highway in southern Maine. On steamy summer weekends, the stretch of the Maine Turnpike between exits 5 and 6 turns into a parking lot.
Traffic backs up for miles in both directions.
The flow of cars and trucks expands and contracts like an accordion, frustrating any real hope of quickly reaching destinations north of Scarborough or south of Saco. 37 marker on the Maine Turnpike, the undulating roadway with a major dip of 29 feet that limits a driver's view of the roadway ahead. The dip will be filled to a safer level for motorists in the widening project plan. There is no toll plaza to blame for these traffic tie-ups. On a muggy Friday evening or a sweltering Sunday afternoon, there are just too many cars and too few lanes.