TOPSHAM, Maine — A nearly 30 percent increase in crashes along a 24-mile stretch of Interstate 295 has prompted the state to take steps to reduce the speed limit between Topsham and Falmouth beginning next month.
Beginning March 27, the section of I-295 between Topsham and Falmouth will be posted at 65 mph, down from the 70 mph limit that applies along the rest of the highway between Portland and Augusta, the Maine Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.
Since the speed limit increased in 2014 from 65 mph to 70 mph, the number of crashes between Falmouth and Brunswick increased by 29 percent, according to Ted Talbot, spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation.
During the same interval, traffic volumes on the same stretch increased by 6.4 percent.
“It’s important to note that while an increase in traffic volume on I-295 has led to more crashes, speed and driver distraction are also major factors,” Joyce Taylor, chief engineer for the Department of Transportation, said in the release. “By lowering the speed limit, we hope to allow drivers more reaction time to any event that may occur on the highway.”
The increase in crashes along the stretch of I-295 also has led to longer traffic delays, which Maine State Police Lt. Col. Robert A. Williams said often lead to secondary crashes.
“By lowering the speed limit it will reduce crashes, which will lead to a reduction in both secondary crashes and longer traffic delays,” Williams said in the release.
State Sen. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, who as a House member sponsored the 2013 bill that ultimately authorized the state to increase the speed limit along I-295, said Wednesday that he’s “very encouraged” by Department of Transportation officials basing a decision about speed limits on data.
“This is the kind of decision-making that is important moving forward,” he said. “It’s not a political decision, and frankly, that was the intent of the law.”
But Chenette said without “personal responsibility” for texting while driving or other distractions, decreasing the speed limit is “not going to do a lick of good,” and that drivers used to traveling at a particular speed won’t be affected by the change unless enforcement is increased.
Message boards will begin alerting drivers in mid-March to the speed limit change, and all physical speed limit signs will be replaced by the end of March, according to the release.