PORTLAND -- Labor Day weekend traffic on the Maine Turnpike was heavier than predicted but lower than last year.

Nearly 731,000 vehicles used the highway between Friday and Monday, according to the Maine Turnpike Authority. That figure was 11,000 more than anticipated but 2.2 percent lower than the same period last year.

More than 257,000 vehicles passed through the York toll plaza, a decline of about 2.9 percent from last year. The prediction for traffic at that point, one measure of tourism activity, called for a decline of 3 to 4 percent.

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