Exits 35, 36 improvements project aims for November 2025 completion

Local drivers and commuters have less than a year to wait until the $42 million improvement project at Exits 35 and 36 of the Maine Turnpike in Saco is complete.

According to materials provided by the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA), work on the project commenced in Spring 2023 and will be completed by November 21, 2025.

“Winter work will go a long way toward meeting (the completion date),” said Jamie Mason, construction manager for the MTA. “A skeleton crew will pick away at things through the winter.” Mason cited the number of signs to be placed, about fifty over an area well south and north of the site, as a winter project, with concrete foundations to be installed.

He notes that electricians, plumbers, painters and carpenters will be occupied with the administration buildings at the north and southbound plazas.

As Mason outlined in materials prepared for the MTA Board, Orono-based contractor Sargent Corporation is overseeing what is the largest project within the Turnpike corridor since completion of the new York exchange in September, 2021.

Work is divided between the old Exit 5 – soon to be Exit 35 – and the existing Exit 36.

Exit 35 improvements include “…highway, interchange and toll system construction,” with the centerpiece being a new interchange at Mile Marker 35 with on and off ramps southbound and northbound. The exit will include a southbound plaza on the west side of the Turnpike with a signalized intersection with Route 112, as well as a northbound plaza on the east side, also with a signalized intersection at Route 112.

A significant piece of the project will be a new “collector-distributor” road on the southbound side of the Turnpike between the two exits. It will be a two lane road that will separate the Exit 36 on-ramp and the Exit 35 off-ramp from the Turnpike, and is intended to reduce issues with weaving and merging movements on the part of motorists.

Locals and commuters familiar with Exit 36 and the approaches to it would likely agree with the conclusion that Route 112 and Exit 36 “experience considerable congestion,” as stated in a 2019 study commissioned by the MTA, the MDOT and the city of Saco. The report considered the area from Louden Road east to Elm Street, and from just north of I-195 to the south of North Street (Rte. 112).

The report noted that several intersections along Route 112 -- Spring Street, Franklin Street, Tasker Street, Industrial Park Road, Garfield Street, Lund Road, Jenkins Road and the I-195 eastbound ramps -- all operate below an acceptable Level of Service as defined by generally accepted traffic standards. The northbound on-ramp to I-195 and the southbound off-ramp also fall into that category.

The area has its share of High Crash Locations (HCL), too. Defined by the MDOT as “a location with 8 or more crashes and a Critical Rate Factor (CRF) of 1.0 or more over a three-year period,” HCLs serve as a measure of the safety of a given location relative to similar locations statewide, according to the report. A CRF greater than 1.0 means that the crash rate at a location is higher than the state average.

HCLs in the project area as reported by T.Y. Lin in the 2019 report include Route 112 and the intersections with Jenkins Road, Garfield Street, Industrial Park Road, Spring Street, Elm Street, and North Street between Lund Road and Garfield Street.

Exit 36 is Third Busiest Exit on Maine Turnpike

The MTA website reports that Exit 7 in York is the busiest with 963,707 transactions recorded in 2024. Exit 103 in the Gardiner area comes in at 592,388, and Exit 36 is third busiest at 503,322. Also significant: the increases in traffic volume over the decades. From 1985 to 2016, the number of trips on Industrial Park Road east of Route 112 increased by 295%. The section of Route 112 west of Industrial Park Road saw a 265% increase through 2014, while Route 112 east of Industrial Park Road saw a 190% increase. Exit 36 experienced a 20% increase between 2011 and 2016.

Construction manager Mason says that the project contractors have taken pains to ensure that local foot traffic has been affected only minimally.

“We’ve maintained the sidewalk throughout the life of the project,” he said. “We’re very aware of school traffic, and have phased work to minimize the impact on pedestrians.” Sidewalks in the vicinity of the project are to be rebuilt, he said, though there are no plans to add a sidewalk on the northerly side of the bridge over the Turnpike.

Mason estimated the project at about 75% complete as of mid-December. Paving work was concluded by that time which included the northbound Exit 35 ramps and merge lanes and the Exit 36 exiting ramp. Base pavement was completed at the Exit 35 intersection and Route 112 shoulders, awaiting a final coat of pavement in the upcoming season.

T.Y. Lin Report Recommended Several Other Improvements

The 2019 report that the Exit 35 and 36 projects stems from recognized a number of shortcomings along the Route 112 corridor. Asked whether any further projects are scheduled to improve traffic flow and user safety along North Street and Buxton Road, Interim Public Works Director Travis Moore said that the city “is currently working on a Transportation Master Plan. The city will be waiting until the completion of the plan to evaluate its recommendations.”

Among the short- and long-term improvements identified in the report:

•  Route 112/Jenkins Road – has been largely completed, including installation of a traffic signal, construction of a left-turn lane on Route 112 for vehicles turning onto Jenkins Road, widening of Jenkins Road at the intersection for right and left turn lanes, and improved access management at the adjacent Hillview Market.

•  Route 112/Franklin Street – a new traffic signal is recommended, along with a dedicated left turn lane on Route 112, and the restriping of Route 112 between Franklin Street and Tasker Street to provide a three lane section and accommodate turning movements into General Dynamics and the Central Fire Station.

•  Monitor the Route 112/Spring Street Intersection – pending installation of a new signal at Franklin Street, this intersection should then be monitored and if safety and vehicle delay has not improved, the installation of a new signal should be considered, along with a dedicated left turn lane on the Route 112 westbound approach.

•  Longer term, a new roadway connecting Routes 112 and 5 just west of the Middle School is suggested “to reduce traffic through residential neighborhoods.” Priced at $5 million in 2019, this is viewed by the report as “likely in a 10+ year horizon.”

Bob Hamblen can be reached at rhh0918@gmail.com.