PORTLAND (AP) – The renumbering of the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 295 seems to have caused an unexpected jump in the state’s income from highway tolls.

Figures from consulting engineers HNTB Corp. show that as many as 60,000 additional vehicles used the Turnpike between Falmouth and Gardiner each month since January, when the 106-mile turnpike became I-95 and the shorter coastal spur became I-295.

Traffic in May on that section of the Maine Turnpike was up 7.6 percent over last year, while the rest of the toll road saw a 1 percent increase.

Tourists confused by the change seem the likely source of most of that jump. Greg Nadeau of the Maine Department of Transportation said he has seen more cars with out of state license plates on that stretch of the turnpike in recent months.

Turnpike officials say the shift relieves congestion on Interstate 295 and is good for their balance sheets. If a car leaves the turnpike to get on I-295 in the Portland area, then continues north past Augusta, its toll is reduced by at least 75 cents.

The turnpike authority has not calculated how much more toll money it is bringing in, but the annual figure would be in the hundreds of thousands if the current pattern holds.