Because the Saco-Scarborough corridor is already such a trouble spot, turnpike officials expect this year's traffic problems to be the widening's worst. So they've taken extra steps to limit congestion, provide commuter information and improve driver safety this summer. It presents the most significant traffic management challenge of the widening project. The 30-mile widening project will add third lanes, northbound and southbound, from York to Scarborough. The focus of the project's second season is the widening of the Saco-Scarborough corridor.
Work is well under way.
Ground is being cleared and dump trucks are moving mountains of dirt. Crews are blasting through 20,000 cubic yards of ledge, occasionally stopping traffic for 20 minutes at a time. Subcontractors are cutting down 44 acres of trees, filling the air over the highway with the strong scent of pine. The turnpike authority plans to keep four lanes open during the Mousam River bridge project, but traffic will be down to one lane starting today at 8 p.m. through Friday at 1 p.m. while workers build the crossover lanes that will funnel southbound traffic to the northbound bridge. As part of regular highway maintenance, the authority also plans to pave a three-mile section in Kennebunk that isn't slated for widening until 2003.