The Maine Turnpike Authority is a quasi-state agency created by the Maine Legislature in 1941. The highway opened on a cold day on December 13, 1947. The Maine Turnpike was the first "superhighway" in New England and the first such highway in the United States built without state or federal tax dollars. Since its inception, the Maine Turnpike has set national standards for the way it is financed, maintained and continually improved.