Maine

[fwydriver405]

When do they use the shoulder lane on the Piscataqua River Bridge?  I got caught in some stop and go traffic approaching it, only to find that the lane was closed.  There probably would have been a lot less delay had it been open.  If it's not used for peak weekend/holiday traffic, then what is it used for?

The status of the lanes can also be viewed on the New England 511 website as well, with "Message Signs" enabled.

Example of what the New England 511 displays when breakdown lane travel is active, as shown because of a crash on I-95 Northbound in Portsmouth Exit 7 blocking the left two lanes. Only the worded message part is shown here, not the lane use part of the sign.

The status of the travel time signs in Maine can also be viewed here as well for some reason, they just either show the number or the travel time status depending on the type of the sign.

[shadyjay]

Looks like the Maine Turnpike wants some new food vendors at its plazas:

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/03/maine-turnpike-courts-shake-shack-chick-fil-a-for-service-plaza-upgrades/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLfuSFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQaXl0Q1pHUDI4VXJDM21pAR68p-PsqjPD_Se9iqXn5hsMOrj-GdJ7b-tj4wvzp-20ZJIbS3wTcW3xEkrNsg_aem_JdaPLEQG2XAGI-GGL92jRQ

I can't believe they'd consider Chick-Fill-A, considering their policy of not being open on Sundays.  Sunday is a very busy travel day on the turnpike, if not the busiest day of the week (at least during the summer).  Did we not learn anything from the New York Thruway getting Chick-Fill-A and now some of their plazas have no open food service on Sundays? 

[vdeane]

Looks like the Maine Turnpike wants some new food vendors at its plazas:

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/03/maine-turnpike-courts-shake-shack-chick-fil-a-for-service-plaza-upgrades/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLfuSFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQaXl0Q1pHUDI4VXJDM21pAR68p-PsqjPD_Se9iqXn5hsMOrj-GdJ7b-tj4wvzp-20ZJIbS3wTcW3xEkrNsg_aem_JdaPLEQG2XAGI-GGL92jRQ

I can't believe they'd consider Chick-Fill-A, considering their policy of not being open on Sundays.  Sunday is a very busy travel day on the turnpike, if not the busiest day of the week (at least during the summer).  Did we not learn anything from the New York Thruway getting Chick-Fill-A and now some of their plazas have no open food service on Sundays? 

Paywalled.

I don't know what they're thinking.  Not only is CFA closed on Sunday (hopefully they would only be in NB service areas, but still), but I don't think "fast casual" places work in service areas.  Service area "food concepts" need to be fast, able to handle lots of customers at once and still get everyone's food to them quickly.  Places that take 10-15 minutes to make your food even when there aren't other customers don't work for that.  There's a reason it takes forever to get food at the new Thruway service areas, to the point where IMO it isn't worth bothering - if you have 1-1.5 hours to take for lunch, you may as well get off and go to a sit-down restaurant!

Even Sbarro can get backed up with too many travelers.  Hopefully whoever was more than one person behind me liked meat lovers or veggie pizza, because I got some of the last slices of cheese and pepperoni.  At 11 AM (it was Sunday).

[Rothman]

CFA seems to be doing okay for NYSTA...

[vdeane]

CFA seems to be doing okay for NYSTA...

I don't know what the wait times there are, though they always look very busy on days that aren't Sunday.  The URL also mentions Shake Shack, which I have heard of wait time issues on the Thruway; I've tried to eat at the one in Clifton Springs three times but only got around to it yesterday, at 10:45 AM before it got busy; the other two times I saw the crowd and deemed it "unacceptable risk", bailing for pizza or hot dogs at the convenience store.  Wait time wasn't bad with only one person in front of me, and the burger and shake were good, but the fries were dry.

I had even worse luck with the Panera Bread at Pattersonville; that one involved cancelling the order and disputing the card charges and microwaving a convivence store breakfast sandwich instead.  Pro tip: the times listed on the microwaves there are wrong and the sandwich was way too hot when I used their recommended time.

[Rothman]

But, I would deem CFA as unsuccessful if there wasn't demand for it, as opposed to long lines, which indicate lots of demand for it.

[vdeane]

But, I would deem CFA as unsuccessful if there wasn't demand for it, as opposed to long lines, which indicate lots of demand for it.

Successful as a business venture?  Sure.  Successful in getting travelers their lunch quickly so that you can pull off, order your food, eat your food, and be back on your way in half an hour?  That is the question.  I've never been to any CFA, let alone a Turnpike one, so I can't answer that.  I do know that Shake Shack is iffy at it and Panera Bread is a hard no, however.

[Rothman]

But, I would deem CFA as unsuccessful if there wasn't demand for it, as opposed to long lines, which indicate lots of demand for it.

Successful as a business venture?  Sure.  Successful in getting travelers their lunch quickly so that you can pull off, order your food, eat your food, and be back on your way in half an hour?  That is the question.  I've never been to any CFA, let alone a Turnpike one, so I can't answer that.  I do know that Shake Shack is iffy at it and Panera Bread is a hard no, however.

My wife and I stop at the Shake Shack at Junius Ponds at least once a month.  Never had a problem getting in and out of there quickly.

[Plutonic Panda]

Part of me thinks at some point Chick-fil-A will start opening on Sundays.

[TheCatalyst31]

But, I would deem CFA as unsuccessful if there wasn't demand for it, as opposed to long lines, which indicate lots of demand for it.

Successful as a business venture?  Sure.  Successful in getting travelers their lunch quickly so that you can pull off, order your food, eat your food, and be back on your way in half an hour?  That is the question.  I've never been to any CFA, let alone a Turnpike one, so I can't answer that.  I do know that Shake Shack is iffy at it and Panera Bread is a hard no, however.

The Panera at the Belvidere Oasis in Illinois is pretty good at getting customers in and out, and I've eaten many road trip meals there. Regular Paneras are more of a mixed bag.

As for CFA... I've never eaten there either, but they have a location inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons. It's still closed on Sundays, when the Falcons play most of their games. I'm not sure who signed off on that, but if they won't change their policy for that location it's never changing.

[Rothman]

Part of me thinks at some point Chick-fil-A will start opening on Sundays.

I think it will when ownership passes on.

[shadyjay]

Some new overhead gantries up for the new Saco interchange project. 

95NB-Exit35-2 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

95NB-Exit36-1/4mile by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

95NB-Exit36-3 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

Looks like the ramps are all complete and paved.  They need to be striped, and signs put up.  Also, they're still setting up/testing the toll system.  The barriers looked largely completed. 


There's also this sign, which I grabbed back on the 4th, showing not only EZ-Pass is accepted.  There are two of them NB:  one after Exit 3/Kittery and one after Exit 7/York.

95NB-northofMM7 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr


Maine Turnpike signage is in great shape.... but the rest of the state seems to be lacking.  Took I-295 through Portland this weekend and north of Falmouth last month, and the signage is deteriorating quite a bit.  Some of the US 1 shields aren't even legible anymore.  Nothing looks remotely reflectable at night anymore.  There hasn't been a blanket I-295 sign project at anytime at least back to the 1990s.  The US 1 battle scars are still visible on the Exit 6 signs.  Are there any contracts coming or pending for I-295?  Or for "free I-95" north of Augusta?

[fwydriver405]

Are there any contracts coming or pending for I-295?  Or for "free I-95" north of Augusta?

The last time I went up to Orono in May 2024, some of the guide signs from the Waterville area to around Exit 180 in Hampton on I-95 were updated from a sign replacement project starting around 2023-ish.

Some examples:
Exit 157 North: Apr 2023, Sep 2023
Exit 174 North: May 2023, Sep 2023
Exit 133, SB: Jul 2025, Oct 2023

Speaking of Exit 133, in the NB direction after Exit 130, the Quebec, P. Q. sign has also been replaced with a Quebec, Q C sign as well.

[LilianaUwU]

Speaking of Exit 133, in the NB direction after Exit 130, the Quebec, P. Q. sign has also been replaced with a Quebec, Q C sign as well.

Should be patched on the basis the name is Québec, not Quebec.

[vdeane]

Speaking of Exit 133, in the NB direction after Exit 130, the Quebec, P. Q. sign has also been replaced with a Quebec, Q C sign as well.

Should be patched on the basis the name is Québec, not Quebec.

Alas, the MUTCD doesn't allow for accents.  As I understand it, one of the reasons why Québec is so gung-ho on Clearview is because it has them natively, while the FHWA fonts never even developed them, and Québec had to use workarounds to get them on the signs.

That doesn't stop me from doing it correctly on my site, however.

[shadyjay]

Are there any contracts coming or pending for I-295?  Or for "free I-95" north of Augusta?

The last time I went up to Orono in May 2024, some of the guide signs from the Waterville area to around Exit 180 in Hampton on I-95 were updated from a sign replacement project starting around 2023-ish.

Okay, good to know!  Last time I was up north of Augusta was August 2022.  Gives me hope I-295 will get its due at some point.

[pderocco]

Speaking of Exit 133, in the NB direction after Exit 130, the Quebec, P. Q. sign has also been replaced with a Quebec, Q C sign as well.

Should be patched on the basis the name is Québec, not Quebec.

Yes, we can't have people going to Quebec by mistake.

[fwydriver405]

Are there any contracts coming or pending for I-295?  Or for "free I-95" north of Augusta?

The last time I went up to Orono in May 2024, some of the guide signs from the Waterville area to around Exit 180 in Hampton on I-95 were updated from a sign replacement project starting around 2023-ish.

Okay, good to know!  Last time I was up north of Augusta was August 2022.  Gives me hope I-295 will get its due at some point.

Not sure if Exit 20 and 22 on I-295 will be getting new signs around the area. IIRC, MaineDOT are/were doing bridgework on the Desert Road and Route 125/136 overpasses. The former 2 mile sign for Exit 22 NB was removed as part of such projects.

[LilianaUwU]

Québec had to use workarounds to get them on the signs

Indeed, the diacritics are taken from the font Univers.

[froggie]

Should be patched on the basis the name is Québec, not Quebec.

Alas, the MUTCD doesn't allow for accents.  As I understand it, one of the reasons why Québec is so gung-ho on Clearview is because it has them natively, while the FHWA fonts never even developed them, and Québec had to use workarounds to get them on the signs.

That doesn't stop me from doing it correctly on my site, however.

Hasn't stopped some DOT's on this side of the border either, like MnDOT...