State transportation engineers convened Tuesday to share data and ideas on how to improve traffic flows on Interstate 295 through Portland and beyond. The meeting comes just after five crashes within a three-hour period stalled Monday’s evening commute — again.
There were no serious injuries, but it was a concentrated series of accidents that vividly demonstrated what many Portland-area travelers have witnessed for years: that I-295 can’t handle the increasing traffic flows that have accompanied the area’s recent economic successes.
Slowly, but perceptibly, the 5 p.m. crawl often seen in summer months has extended its season into the rest of the year as well.
“Anecdotally we all think that traffic has really picked up through the corridor. Especially through Portland, into Falmouth, into Brunswick,” said Ted Talbot, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
Talbot said engineers are mining state crash data to document and pinpoint the problem areas and will use that to plan improvements. He said that one option likely not on the table is to widen the road, which has been considered in the past but which could be too costly and time-consuming.
“We’re going to be looking at a lot of the on- and off-ramps, especially through the Portland corridor. They are all very close together. The radiuses are very tough to get in and out of, it slows traffic down, and there needs to be more research done,” he said.
The city has its contributions to make, too — it has already bid out a design contract for improvements to the intersection that serves I-295’s Franklin Street ramps. The ramp and intersection were renovated less than a decade ago, but Chris Branch, the city’s director of public works, said it needs to be revised.
“There are some changes to the way the intersection geometry is and the interchanges are set up. Nothing significant — it’s not like we’re going to add a lane or anything like that,” he said. “And also improvements to the traffic signals.”
City Councilor John Hinck, who chairs the committee responsible for road and traffic policy, said it’s clear that I-295 needs work, with attention to an S-curve that carries travelers across an inlet between Casco Bay and the city’s Back Cove. But he said the solutions go beyond making life easier for drivers, but also for pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit.
“Some day soon we should have a more far-reaching public discussion of how we break new ground on public transportation in Portland. People would like it. We have the kind of participation that could go to something new and more effective and cleaner. We should concentrate on doing it,” he said.
Talbot said that by next week, state engineers should be able to present a preliminary analysis of the I-295 corridor’s traffic trends and potential fixes.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.