PORTLAND, -- Fewer vehicles are expected on the Maine Turnpike this Columbus Day weekend, continuing a summer-long trend.

Economist Charles Colgan predicts the traffic count at the York toll plaza will be down about 15 percent from last year for the four-day span from Friday through Monday.

Colgan, of the University of Southern Maine's Center for Tourism Research and Outreach, said despite cheaper gasoline prices, it appears the economic turmoil of the past month is having a negative effect on fall tourism in Maine.

Turnpike spokesman Dan Paradee said some 670,000 vehicles are expected on the entire 106-mile turnpike for the long weekend. That's down about 8 percent from 2007.