New Hamsphire is testing a new strategy for collecting tolls.

Beginning this weekend, southbound cars won’t have to stop and pay a toll on Interstate 95. Tolls for northbound drivers will double. The change isn’t permanent yet. New Hampshire is taking the new system for a six-week test drive to gauge its consequences.

Maine should take a look at the results from New Hampshire and, if successful, consider a similar change.

Backups of four miles or more are common during the busy summer season at the south end of the Maine Turnpike and the toll booths in New Hampshire. The Maine Turnpike set a record in July with more than 6 million vehicles traveling on the road. On average, almost 200,000 cars used the turnpike every day during the month. Highway officials don’t expect the new record to stand for long. It could be eclipsed as soon as August numbers are collected.

There are legitimate concerns. One-way tolls could prompt drivers, especially in commercial vehicles, to exit the interstate and use local roads to avoid the heftier levies. Towns around the turnpike could suffer from the increase, and it doesn’t take a traffic engineer to know that Route 1 already faces heavy traffic loads.

The Maine Turnpike Authority considered just such a change as part of the planning for widening the highway. But the fear was that a high toll in one direction would push late-night truck traffic through sleeping communities.

Tourism is a major industry in Maine – and New Hampshire. Visitors bring almost $9 billion a year into our economy and help create about 110,000 jobs .

The state takes pride in being Vacation Land. An hour spent waiting in a hot car on a scorching August day doesn’t create the best goodwill among vacationers on their way home. The change is worth another look.


Mars visible


Real, honest-to-goodness, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities are rare, despite advertising that would make them appear common.

On Wednesday, weather permitting, we could have one. The planet Mars will come closer to Earth than it has been in almost 60,000 years. It won’t get this close again until 2287, and none of use are likely to be around then. Of course close is relative. Mars will still be almost 35 million miles away.

Mars is visible every 2 1/2 years, but because it will be so much closer than normal, sky watchers with telescopes should be able to see features on the planet’s surface. Even those without special equipment should be able to discern the bright, red planet as it crosses the sky from the southeast to the southwest.

As opportunities go, this one won’t make you rich, won’t make you sexier and won’t help you lose weight. But it’s still pretty nifty and shouldn’t be missed.
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