On Friday, March 21, 2025, at approximately 6:00 am, the Bangor and Augusta Regional Communication Centers received multiple calls reporting a wrong-way driver on the Turnpike near mile marker 42 in Scarborough. Witnesses reported that the vehicle, a 2018 Ford Fusion, traveling northbound in the southbound lanes, subsequently exited the Turnpike onto Interstate 295. Additional reports indicated that the vehicle was later seen traveling through the I-295 tolls in South Portland. The wrong-way vehicle, operated by 86-year-old George Vandenburgh of Portland, ultimately collided head-on with a tractor trailer unit traveling southbound near Exit 4 on Interstate 295. The operator of the tractor trailer was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland with non-life-threatening injuries. Vandenburgh was pronounced deceased at the scene. Both the northbound and southbound lanes were closed to traffic for several hours. Both lanes have since reopened. The crash remains under investigation.
Shannon Moss