29 May 2024
A record number of travelers drove on the Maine Turnpike over Memorial Day weekend, which kicks off the unofficial start of the state’s tourism season.
Through the traditional travel period of Friday through Monday, the Turnpike saw 1,073,248 travelers, which was close to the projected excess of just over 1 million vehicles, according to Maine Turnpike spokesperson Erin Courtney.
However, adding in data from last Thursday and Tuesday, at least 1,685,598 vehicles had traveled the Maine Turnpike for the holiday weekend, bumping total Memorial Day traffic estimates significantly higher.
Typically, the report is released on Tuesdays, following an exodus of travelers through the Turnpike on Monday afternoon and evening. Visitors to the state appeared to be extending their long weekend, Courteney said, as data show southbound traffic on Monday down 6.6 percent from the same time last year.
Travelers arrived to the state in large numbers earlier than typical this year as well, with a 2.7 percent increase in northbound traffic on Thursday compared with last year’s data. Thursday saw around 6,000 more vehicles on the road throughout the day than during that traveling period last year.
Memorial Day traffic in Maine has been on a steady rebound since travel was stunted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020.