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MTA Maintenance Crews to Pilot New Work Zone Lane Closure Practice

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 02, 2025

Erin Courtney
513-2982
ecourtney@maineturnpike.com

MTA Maintenance Crews to Pilot New Work Zone Lane Closure Practice

PORTLAND, Maine – Beginning the week of May 5, drivers traveling on the Maine Turnpike may notice a change in how work zones are marked. Under a new safety pilot program, work zone warning signs will be placed only on the right shoulder of the highway, rather than on both shoulders.

This change is designed to eliminate the need for workers to cross live lanes of traffic to place signs in the median shoulder—an especially hazardous practice that requires crews to carry signs, easels, and sandbags across two or three lanes of active traffic.
Driver safety will also be enhanced with the addition of supplemental variable message signs to alert motorists to upcoming work zones. This allows drivers to stay focused on the road, rather than being distracted by workers installing signs across busy lanes.

The pilot program will initially be limited to right-hand lane closures in two Turnpike locations: Kennebunk and Litchfield. As crews and drivers adapt to the change, the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) plans to expand the approach to left-lane closures and additional areas of the Turnpike.

This initiative is modeled after a successful program on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, where similar practices have improved work zone safety.

MTA has consistently implemented updated technologies and best practices to improve safety in work zones, including:

Standardized and consistent traffic control plans
Truck-mounted attenuators to reduce crash impact
Work zone speed limit feedback trailers
Time-restricted lane closures based on traffic volumes
Mandatory training and certification in work zone traffic control for all MTA crews and contractors
Required use of reflective gaiters and halo-lit hard hats during night work

According to MaineDOT, there are approximately 550 work zone crashes each year in Maine. Data shows that many drivers fail to significantly reduce speed when passing through work zones. From 2011 to 2023, there were more than 7,000 crashes in Maine work zones—56% of those occurred while workers were present.

To further improve work zone safety, LD 1457, a bipartisan bill currently before the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, would authorize a pilot program allowing the use of speed enforcement cameras in designated work zones. Vehicles exceeding the posted work zone speed limit by more than 11 miles per hour would receive a warning on first offense and a fine for subsequent offenses.

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