Since the state increased the speed limit on much of Interstate 295 in 2014, crashes on the highway have increased significantly. It is easy to point to the speed limit increase as the cause of this rise in crashes, but there are many factors, especially an increasing number of vehicles and poor driver behavior, that are making the highway a more dangerous and unpleasant place to drive, particularly between Freeport and Portland.
The Maine Department of Transportation is studying past improvements to the highway, which runs from West Gardiner to Scarborough, to determine what more may need to be done to make the road safer and easier to travel. The installation of cable guardrails, for example, has reduced crashes in which vehicles cross the median and strike vehicles in the oncoming traffic lanes.
This review is sorely needed, but drivers must also change their behavior — don’t text while driving, slow down and stop tailgating — to ease the stress on I-295.
In mid-2014, the Transportation Department raised the speed limit on the section of road stretching from Tukey’s Bridge in Portland to West Gardiner from 65 to 70 mph. The increase was made possible by passage of a bill in 2013 that gave the Department of Transportation commissioner authority to raise speed limits on the state’s interstate highway system.
The number of crashes on I-295 increased by a third from 2013 to 2015. Last year, there were 354 crashes on the 52-mile stretch of highway. There have been 265 crashes from January to September this year. On a recent Monday morning, there were five crashes involving 11 vehicles in the northbound lanes. The areas around the on- and off-ramps in Falmouth and Yarmouth are particularly crash prone.
One afternoon earlier this month, Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz drove north the entire length of I-295, then south. He set his cruise control at exactly the speed limit. He was passed by 188 vehicles. He passed two.
“Make no mistake about it. This was hazardous duty,” he wrote, sharing how drivers, cellphones glued to their ears, blew past him or puttered along going well below the speed limit.
Transportation Department officials cite increased traffic on I-295 as a major contributing factor to the increase in crashes. With more vehicles on the road — and many going faster than the posted speed limit — there is little room for error.
From 2009 to 2015, traffic increased almost 20 percent on I-295, which is an important commuter route. Traffic volume statewide increased only 2.4 percent during that time.
Accounting for the increase in traffic, the crash rate between 2013 — the last full year before the speed limit increase — and 2015 increased 25 percent. The number of vehicles on I-295 increased 5 percent in that time.
Lowering the speed limit could be a short-term solution to reducing crashes on this roadway, said Department of Transportation’s chief engineer, Joyce Taylor. The department also will use message boards — it plans to install more of them — on the highway to educate drivers. This could include messages about the dangers of speeding and distracted driving. The boards will also be used to warn drivers of crashes or other problems ahead so they can consider exiting the highway.
Encouraging drivers to use I-95, which runs from Scarborough to West Gardiner to the west of I-295, also is under discussion. Message boards could, for example, show the travel time from Augusta to the New Hampshire border on the two different routes. Other states have posted similar messages on their message boards to encourage drivers to drive less congested routes.
Longer term, the Transportation Department is looking at rebuilding on- and off-ramps in Falmouth and Yarmouth to reduce curves and lengthen the space for drivers to enter and exit the highway.
Further in the future, the department may study widening I-295, although that is not currently under consideration.
Not all solutions will come from the Department of Transportation. Amtrak has recently expanded its service to Brunswick, allowing commuters to ride the train to work in Portland, or farther south. Additional rideshare programs and bus routes, if people use them, also could help alleviate the congestion on I-295.
While the Department of Transportation works on changes big and small, drivers can do their part by slowing down, stowing the cellphone and simply calming down and not driving so aggressively.
