MTA Meeting on I-95 in Portland. Phase 1 of the PAM Safety Program

[Scsmedia]

This just came over the transom on my Facebook page.  Is there really a safety aspect to this project or is that gaslighting?  I have conflicting meeting on Tuesday.  Question, Had anyone heard of this before today or are they really only providing four days notice of a meeting?

MTA is continuing work to improve safety and reliability along I-95 in Portland. Phase 1 of the PAM Safety Program was completed in 2024, and Phase 2 planning and design is underway. Improvements are being evaluated from north of Warren Avenue to just south of Exit 53.

Join us on June 23 in Portland to learn more and help shape what’s next.

WHEN: June 23 | 6:00–8:00 PM

WHERE: Gerald E. Talbot Community School – Gymnasium (1600 Forest Ave, Portland)

Explore the program webpage to learn more and share feedback: 

Direct Link:  https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/46a0b5df99724a178338130fa876ab0d

Steven Scharf

207-415-4662

SCSM...@aol.com

[Joey Brunelle]

I went to the first meeting in Riverton. It sure seemed like this is a creative repackaging of some bridge replacements and a lane expansion using "safety."  They need to replace some old bridges, that's apparently non-negotiable, and they really badly want to add an extra lane in both directions for this stretch of 95 at the same time, though they admitted in that meeting that the bridge replacement does not require the extra lanes. They could do the former but not the latter.

TBH this meeting was fascinating, as someone who's never bumped up against the Turnpike Authority before. The folks from the TA seemed like nice enough people, but it was obvious to me that their whole worldview is centered around Adding More Lanes and Adding More Cars. That seems to be how they define success as an organization, as if the TA was a business and drivers were customers - more customers is always good, right? Except they're not a business and drivers aren't customers...

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to PBPAC+un...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/87206439.10168.1781804490814%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Christian MilNeil]

Calling a highway widening a "safety improvement" is a pretty incredible claim but par for the course from the MTA, which also told us (falsely) that a highway to Gorham was going to reduce air pollution.

But just for kicks, I just looked up the crash data for the Turnpike on MaineDOT's crash database map:

https://mdotapps.maine.gov/MaineCrashPublic/PublicQueryMap

Filtering out for injury-causing crashes in the City of Portland only, and looking only at the portion of the Turnpike between the South Portland city line and Warren Avenue (which was roughly the segment they widened in 2020-2023):

• In 2024-2025, post-pandemic, post-widening, there were 27 injury-causing crashes on the I-95 mainline between the So. Portland line and Warren Ave. (not including on- and off-ramps)
• In 2018-2019, pre-pandemic, pre-widening, there were 25 injury-causing crashes on the I-95 mainline on this same segment of roadway. 

Note also that there's generally been less traffic post-pandemic than there was pre-pandemic, so not only are there more injuries now, there's also a higher rate of injury-causing crashes. So much for "safety"! 

Probably worth mentioning here that MTA is strongly motivated by the desire to issue bond debt in order to extract toll revenue from Mainers and give it to the big bond investors who wine and dine MTA executives. The more highway they build, the more they can raise tolls, and because they're effectively own a monopoly on interstate commerce into and out of Maine, it's an extremely low-risk investment for Wall Street – but they can only invest if the MTA does these big capital projects to issue more debt. 

Also probably worth mentioning here that if MTA were actually worried about safety, they should focus on the roads that connect to their on- and off-ramps at Rand Road and Riverside Street, which are among the highest-crash locations in Portland. 

Christian MilNeil
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/CAFUkeGN-f_pUyBwvK9mZ-0FoaqDAg%2BChtW7YMW%3DO8jx2DE2DwA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Zack Barowitz]

That’s a great report Christian!

207-838-6120

917-696-5649
ZacharyBarowitz.com

ATTENTION:
The information in this electronic mail message is private and confidential,
and only intended for the addressee. Should you receive this message by
mistake, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, reproduction,
distribution or use of this message is strictly prohibited. Please inform
the sender by reply transmission and delete the message without copying or
opening it.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/CAFPp_Uz-fiTdqMStt-RYbmUoLhK0ExXy7T9f8ooXoePwZ%2BkM_A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Rauschpfeife]

This is wonderfully lucid and penetrating. Thanks. In general we don't pay enough attention to just what the institutional imperatives of government agencies are, and the essentially corrupt influences that drive them. Being nice people, we tend to take them at their word and try to show them the error of their ways. You've given us a useful corrective. 

-- 

Best, 

Michael Smith

anacharsis.substack.com

On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 2:34 PM Christian MilNeil <c.neal....@gmail.com> wrote:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/CAFPp_Uz-fiTdqMStt-RYbmUoLhK0ExXy7T9f8ooXoePwZ%2BkM_A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Myles G. Smith]

I'll try to make it tonight for the second half - I have another commitment at 6pm. 

It also strikes me that this argument that wider = safer makes no logical sense. The MTA argues up and down that the Turnpike is the safest road in the state... but also it's not safe enough and needs to be widened?

In the last decade, there have been 44 fatal crashes in Portland and Falmouth. I can find one confirmed report of one that occurred on I-95 in the area that the MTA wants to widen - a vehicle that rolled over on the on-ramp at Riverside Street in February 2019. By contrast, there were 32 people killed in Portland and 12 in Falmouth during that period, and five of them were within a mile of the highway. 

The idea that this is a safety project is absurd. This is just tax-and-spend government of the worst possible kind.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/CAERgV9-BVvv4HEpnpgcsfMaE0TZ87uwqvodMfKyVRuN5Kcc6NA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Lucy Climer-Kennedy]

Big agree on the safety points Myles.

I did a little looking at fwha’s crash modification factors (CMF’s) and the addition of one lane yielded a 24% reduction in KABC crashes. (https://cmfclearinghouse.fhwa.dot.gov/detail.php?facid=8334) Note that this was a more successful study, and four ->  five lane conversions saw crash increases around 11%. 

To compare improved lighting sees a 24-60% reduction, improved marking visibility a ~13% reduction, and shoulder rumble strips a ~25% reduction. Of the serious injury crashes along the corridor many of them were snow slippage related, increased pavement traction sees a 14% decrease in that crash type.

This is a small selection of available countermeasures and many many more are available, context and crash type appropriate, effective, and FAR less costly than a lane addition. 

Seems like a big waste of money to me. 

I shall be at the meeting! Hope to see some of you there!

Best,

Lucy

Get Outlook for iOS

---

From: pb...@googlegroups.com <pb...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Myles G. Smith <myles...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 23 June 2026 17:16:30
To: PB...@googlegroups.com <PB...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [PBPAC] MTA Meeting on I-95 in Portland. Phase 1 of the PAM Safety Program

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/CAJ3bu23KgOV8QkoO5M--H%2BwgB6DdX8L-qvUHdczs0S0AjypsrQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Aaron L. Rosenblum]

Very bummed to be out of town and not able to attend the meeting. Curious whether my neighbors’ sentiments have evolved since the last meeting. 

It also strikes me that this argument that wider = safer makes no logical sense. The MTA argues up and down that the Turnpike is the safest road in the state... but also it's not safe enough and needs to be widened?

I think this specific criticism lacks merit, and the assertion is logical. There’s no conflict between something being superlative and it not superlative enough. The standard of “good enough” is separate from the attribute of being best/most/whatever. I could tell you the safest road in Portland on which to ride a bike (or we could measure and find out that way) AND I can tell you that street still isn’t safe enough, and I think you’d heartily agree. Something can be the safest and not safe enough, the best and not good enough (we have the best bike lane network in Maine, but it’s not good enough, not even close!), the tallest but not tall enough, etc. 

Vision Zero itself is one big exercise in “good” not being good enough, and we’re for it. 

We have lots of other good arguments to make to the public and the MTA - I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on this one. 

Aaron 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/CAJ3bu23KgOV8QkoO5M--H%2BwgB6DdX8L-qvUHdczs0S0AjypsrQ%40mail.gmail.com.