Weekend traffic scene jammin'

Weekend traffic scene jammin'
August 1, 2003 - Portland Press Herald
By Bob Keyes

Performers, food vendors and other possible surprises.
Amid predictions of a dire travel weekend, fans of the band Phish began trickling into Maine Thursday en route to Limestone for a weekend rock festival expected to attract 60,000 people.
Meanwhile, the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland is expecting up to 100,000 people at its five-day festival, the bulk of them over the last three days, starting today.
That means anyone who sets out on the highway beginning today should plan for traffic delays, turnpike and police spokesmen said. Road crews on the Maine Turnpike, I-95 and Route 1 will suspend most of their work to improve traffic flow, but Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said it will be slow going along the coast and throughout Aroostook County.
"It's not going to take much to back traffic up, particularly (today), because of the number of vehicles going north," he said.
Dan Paradee, Maine Turnpike Authority spokesman, said the heaviest traffic will be northbound between 3 and 7 p.m. today, in both directions from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and southbound from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Last year, when there wasn't a Phish concert, more than 602,000 vehicles traveled the turnpike the first weekend in August, including 229,000 vehicles on Friday, 195,000 on Saturday and 178,000 on Sunday. Typically, the first weekend in August is among the three busiest of the year for turnpike travel, Paradee said in a statement.
"This is one of those weekends where it will pay to beat the rush or wait until it's over," he said. "We strongly encourage people to get on the road early in the morning, if at all possible."
Meanwhile, promoters of Phish's so-called "It" festival were preparing the concert site and campgrounds, erecting infrastructure for what amounts to a small city on the former Loring Air Force Base more than 300 miles from Portland.
Adam Lewis, a spokesman for concert promoter Great Northeast Productions, said final touches were being applied to the stage and production areas. Elsewhere, workers were erecting vending booths, first-aid tents and a general store. Conveniences such as ATMs, pay phones and drinking water also will be available, Lewis said.
In all, more than 1,000 people will staff the concert, he said.
As of Thursday afternoon, festival tickets were still available, although Lewis expects they will sell out shortly after gates open. Ticket sales will be limited to 60,000, and Lewis advised anyone without a ticket to purchase one before traveling north to Limestone.
Tickets cost $137.50 each through Ticketmaster.
Hotels in the Limestone area have been booked for weeks, and past concerts in 1997 and 1998 generated as much as $25 million in economic activity, according to state estimates.
Fans began congregating near the concert site and campground Thursday. Those who attempted to get onto the grounds were turned away. Campgrounds will open at 8 a.m. today, and the first music will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Phish, a Vermont-bred band often compared to the Grateful Dead for its style of music and the loyalty of its fans, will perform three sets on both Saturday and Sunday.
Based on previous Phish festivals in 1997 and 1998, McCausland said the greatest safety concerns involve people leaving the concert site either late Sunday night or early Monday morning. A total of six people died in traffic accidents at the previous Limestone concerts, many because of driver fatigue.
This year, campgrounds will remain open until 4 p.m. Monday, in the hope that exhausted fans will take the time to rest before traveling south.
"We are going to have a lot of tired drivers on Maine roads, and that is of great concern to us," McCausland said. "The largest concern is the exodus.
"In some cases, this is a group that has been up all weekend long. Phish is extending the campground hours so fans can get a good night's sleep on Sunday night. Because they do not have to be off the base until 4 p.m. Monday, that would encourage, we hope, many to at least recharge their batteries until they head south."
State troopers will closely patrol the roads throughout the region, with the help of the Aroostook County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Border Patrol, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the police departments of Ashland, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Houlton, Limestone, Presque Isle and Washburn. All officers will be on the watch for tired drivers and those impaired by drugs or alcohol, McCausland said.
A private security force will patrol inside the concert grounds, and state police will be summoned if necessary, McCausland said.
John Stanley, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, said work on several major highway projects will be suspended or curtailed this weekend, to help traffic flow. Most significantly, on I-95, a 21-mile pavement resurfacing project between Palmyra and Carmel will be suspended beginning today, with workers concentrating instead on work associated with the exit and entrance ramps.
"The bottom line is that we are not going to be doing anything that will interfere with that traffic," Stanley said.
The turnpike authority will do the same thing, with all lanes open for travel.
Additionally, all rest areas will be open, and McCausland urged motorists to use them. "Because of the simple length of travel, someone who may be fine when they leave Loring can get tired anywhere between there and Kittery," he said.

Copyright � 2003 Portland Press Herald