This Might Be the Most Atrocious Off-Ramp to Take in Maine

Maine Road Construction

It's everywhere. Literally almost every road you turn onto, there's either a stupid orange barrel or a little taunting orange cone. It's endless. It's annoying. It's blasphemous. And it's just been reality for us for a while.

A simple search on the MaineDOT website shows that there are currently 288 road construction projects throughout the entire state (and that list was last updated on Monday, July 11 -- so who knows if more have been added since). That list covers 32 PAGES of projects.

But there's one project that is quite possibly the most annoying, atrocious, egregious, ridiculous project of the almost 300 currently happening in Vacationland. And if you've been caught up in it, you know exactly how anger-inducing it is.

Exit 7 on Maine's 295 South - Franklin Street in Portland

If you're not in a rush to get from Point A to Point B, then you probably don't mind being caught up in the always-present, hardly moving line of traffic once you get off the Exit 7 offramp from 295 for Franklin Street in Portland. You just patiently sit in the driver's seat, listening to tunes, people watching and waiting for your turn to finally, eventually, after what feels like easily a decade of waiting, reaching the set of lights for the intersection of Franklin Street and the offramp from 295 North.

But for the rest of us that are the perfect example of that "always-on-the-go" New England pace of life, taking 10 minutes to crawl forward 10 feet is infuriating. Because it happens like clockwork, especially since there are two sets of lights in such short succession -- by the time you get up to the first set of lights, you're unable to go straight because everyone is coming off of 295 North and blocking the intersection.

Back in mid-May, CBS 13 WGME reported that the area would be reduced to one lane for work on the Back Cove Sewer Separation Project, which was set to be completed during the week of June 20. And while there are once again multiple lanes open again, the mess of congestion (and construction barrels) remains.

According to CBS 13 WGME, road work involving a detour is currently happening on Marginal Way a little north of Franklin Street at the Diamond Street intersection, but that is so off the beaten path to the Exit 7 offramp from 295 South that it's unlikely to have an impact on the delay at the offramp.

Whether it's the construction still seemingly happening in the area or just the unlucky inconvenience of the light cycle, the Franklin Street offramp from 295 South is one of those areas to try and avoid at all costs (although you usually forget to avoid it until you're sitting in the delay on the ramp, cursing yourself for forgetting to take a different exit.)