A record number of travelers traveled the Maine Turnpike over Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the state's tourism season.

During the usual travel period Friday through Monday, the turnpike counted 1,073,248 passengers, close to the projected overrun of just over 1 million vehicles, according to Maine Turnpike spokeswoman Erin Courtney.

However, if you include data from last Thursday and Tuesday, at least 1,685,598 vehicles traveled on the Maine Turnpike over the holiday weekend, significantly increasing overall Memorial Day traffic estimates.