Interstate 295 (Maine)
Interstate 295 (I-295) is a 52-mile-long (84 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of Maine from I-95 in Scarborough to I-95 in West Gardiner. The highway was designated the Richard A. Coleman Highway in 2015 by the Maine Legislature. The highway serves as a bypass of Lewiston–Auburn and serves the Portland metropolitan area. It takes a more direct route between Portland and Augusta, the state capital, than its parent I-95. It also is toll-free, unlike I-95, which carries the tolled Maine Turnpike.
Interstate 295 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard A. Coleman Highway | ||||
I-295 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route of I-95 | ||||
| Maintained by MaineDOT | ||||
| Length | 52 mi[1] (84 km) | |||
| Existed | 1960–present | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   I-95 / Maine Turnpike in Scarborough | |||
| North end | I-95 / Maine Turnpike in West Gardiner | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Maine | |||
| Counties | Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Kennebec | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
I-295 branches off from exit 44 of I-95 (Maine Turnpike) providing access to downtown Portland, Maine, and then generally follows the Atlantic coast and Kennebec River until it merges back into I-95 in West Gardiner 52 miles (84 km) to the north at exit 103.
After splitting from I-95, I-295 has a toll plaza just before its own exit 1. I-295's first exit is in South Portland, giving access to The Maine Mall (southbound) and South Portland and Scarborough (northbound). At exit 4, US Route 1 (US 1) joins I-295, and the two highways run concurrently for the next four miles (6.4 km). After crossing the Fore River, the highway passes through downtown Portland, which can be accessed via exits 4 through 8. North of the downtown area, I-295 crosses the Tukey's Bridge over the Back Cove, after which US 1 departs at exit 9. Running parallel with US 1, I-295 meets the eastern terminus of Falmouth Spur at exit 11 in the town of Falmouth, with a southbound exit and northbound entrance. After passing through Yarmouth and Freeport, exit 28 provides access to the town of Brunswick, where US 1 turns east away from I-295. Continuing north, the highway's last exit is exit 51, which gives access to Gardiner. After a toll plaza, I-295 merges back with I-95, which heads north toward Augusta. As an Interstate Highway, all of I-295 is included in the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.[2]
History
1960 to 2004
In 1960, Tukey's Bridge was completed. It was named for Lemuel Tukey, a tavern owner and toll collector for the Back Cove Bridge in the late 18th century. The Falmouth Spur of the Maine Turnpike to Yarmouth opened the next year, in 1961.
Additional urban sections opened through Portland in 1971. This was followed in 1973 by the opening of I-295 through Brunswick to Topsham, then in 1974 by the opening of the section from the Maine Turnpike in Scarborough to South Portland. The section from Topsham to Gardiner opened in 1977.
2004 extension
In 2004, to clear up confusion, I-95 was redesignated to continue along the Maine Turnpike for its entire length. I-295 was extended past the Falmouth Spur as a redesignation of I-95, to where it merges back into the turnpike in West Gardiner 42 miles (68 km) to the north.[3] The four-mile (6.4 km) long Falmouth Spur officially became I-495 but was left unsigned.[4]
At the same time, the exits were renumbered; previously they had been numbered more or less sequentially from south to north—there were skipped numbers, for example, there was no exit 23. After the changes the exits renumbered to mile-log in relation to the Scarborough junction, except for the exits in Portland and South Portland, which remained the same. Exits on I-95 in Maine were similarly renumbered based on mileage.
Speed limits
The speed limit on I-295 on the section past Tukey's Bridge to mile 51 in Gardiner was raised from 65 to 70 mph (105 to 113 km/h) on May 27, 2014. This occurred as the result of a new law passed in 2013 by the Maine Legislature allowing the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) to set speed limits on Interstate highways with the approval of the Maine State Police, instead of appealing to the Legislature.[5] The speed limit was reverted from 70 to 65 mph (113 to 105 km/h) for a length of 22 miles (35 km) from the section past Tukey's Bridge to Topsham on March 27, 2017.[6]
Naming
In 2015, the Maine Legislature unanimously voted to name the highway's entire length for Richard A. Coleman, a MaineDOT employee since 1956, who has been involved with many Maine transportation projects. He was involved in projects ranging from Maine's Interstates to the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory. Coleman declined comment on the naming, only telling the Kennebec Journal that while, the naming is humbling, he found it uncomfortable. Maine Senator Roger Katz, the sponsor of the bill, said "Very few people have heard of Dick Coleman, but as he drives around the state, he must feel a great deal of pride looking at his decades of work."[7]
Emergency routes
In 2019, MaineDOT began signing emergency routes along roads near I-295. The routes generally lead from one exit to the next exit and are meant to be used when sections of the highway must be closed due to an accident or other disruption. In such an event, electronic signs will be activated and flaggers deployed to direct drivers to use the appropriate emergency route to lead them around the closure and maintain traffic flow. Northbound routes are designated with a single letter, while southbound routes are designated with double letters. This system was first used when a section of highway was closed due to the death of a Maine State Trooper in an accident.[8]
Exit list
| County | Location[9] | mi[9] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | Scarborough | 0.00 | 0.00 |   I-95 south / Maine Turnpike south – Kittery | Exit 44 on Maine Turnpike | |
| 0.55 | 0.89 | Toll plaza | ||||
| South Portland | 1.26 | 2.03 | 1 |   To US 1 – South Portland | Northbound signage; northbound exit only, unsigned SR 703 | |
  To I-95 / Maine Turnpike / Maine Mall Road | Southbound signage; southbound exit and northbound entrance, unsigned SR 703 | |||||
| 1.99 | 3.20 | 2 |  To US 1 south (Scarborough Connector) – Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 2.16 | 3.48 | 3 |  SR 9 (Westbrook Street) – Jetport | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 3.19 | 5.13 | 4 | Casco Bay Drive – Portland Waterfront | Northbound signage; US 1 removed from Casco Bay Drive in May 2007 | ||
| US 1 south (Main Street) | Southbound signage; southern end of concurrency with US 1 | |||||
| South Portland–Portland line | 3.70 | 5.95 | Fore River | |||
| Portland | 4.46 | 7.18 | 5 |   SR 22 / US 1A (Congress Street) | Signed as Exits 5A (east) and 5B (west) southbound | |
| 5.35 | 8.61 | 6A |  SR 100 south (Forest Avenue) | US 1 removed from Forest Avenue in May 2007 | ||
| 6B |    SR 100 north (Forest Avenue) / US 302 west | |||||
| 5.89 | 9.48 | 7 | US 1A (Franklin Street) | |||
| 6.57 | 10.57 | 8 |  SR 26 south (Washington Avenue) | Southbound signage; southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern end of concurrency with SR 26 | ||
| 6.6 | 10.6 | Tukey's Bridge over Back Cove | ||||
| 6.73 | 10.83 | 8 | SR 26 north (Washington Avenue) | Northbound signage; northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of concurrency with SR 26 | ||
| 6.97 | 11.22 | 9 | US 1 south / SR 26 north (Washington Avenue) / Baxter Boulevard | Southbound signage; southbound exit and northbound entrance; US 1 removed from Baxter Boulevard in May 2007 | ||
| 7.12 | 11.46 | 9 | US 1 north – Falmouth Foreside | Northbound signage; northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of concurrency with US 1 | ||
| Falmouth | 9.45 | 15.21 | Ryan Quirion Guthrie Bridge over the Presumpscot River | |||
| 10.62 | 17.09 | 10 | To I-95 / Maine Turnpike / US 1 / SR 9 / Bucknam Road – Falmouth, Cumberland | I-95 and Cumberland only appear on northbound signage | ||
| 11.00 | 17.70 | 11 |   I-495 / Maine Turnpike west – New Hampshire, Massachusetts | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former northern terminus; access via Falmouth Spur (formerly I-95) | ||
| Yarmouth | 15.24 | 24.53 | 15 | US 1 – Yarmouth, Cumberland | Northbound entrance added August 2013 | |
| 16.35 | 26.31 | Royal River | ||||
| 17.24 | 27.75 | 17 | US 1 – Yarmouth, Freeport | Freeport only appears on northbound signage | ||
| Yarmouth–Freeport line | 17.98 | 28.94 | Cousins River | |||
| Freeport | 20.65 | 33.23 | 20 | To US 1 / Desert Road – Freeport | US 1 only appears on southbound signage | |
| 22.25 | 35.81 | 22 |   SR 125 (Mallet Drive) / SR 136 – Freeport, Durham | |||
| 23.70 | 38.14 | 24 | US 1 – Freeport | Northbound exit and entrance | ||
| Brunswick | 28.38 | 45.67 | 28 | US 1 (Coastal Route) – Brunswick, Bath | ||
| Cumberland–Sagadahoc county line | Brunswick–Topsham line | 30.02 | 48.31 | Androscoggin River | ||
| Sagadahoc | Topsham | 31.04 | 49.95 | 31A |   SR 196 east – Topsham, Brunswick | Signed as Exit 31 northbound; Brunswick and Lewiston only appear on southbound signage; access to Bates College |
| 31B | SR 196 west (Lewiston Road) – Lisbon, Lewiston | |||||
| Bowdoinham | 37.10 | 59.71 | 37 |  SR 125 / SR 138 – Bowdoinham, Bowdoin | ||
| Richmond | 43.47 | 69.96 | 43 |  SR 197 – Richmond, Litchfield | ||
| Kennebec | Gardiner | 49.29 | 79.32 | 49 |  US 201 – Gardiner | |
| Gardiner–West Gardiner line | 50.29 | 80.93 | Cobbosseecontee Stream | |||
| West Gardiner | 51.48 | 82.85 | 51 |  SR 9 / SR 126 – Litchfield, Gardiner | I-95 south / Maine Turnpike south and a Turnpike service plaza accessible from this exit | |
| 51.70 | 83.20 | Toll plaza | ||||
| 52.27 | 84.12 | – |   I-95 north / Maine Turnpike north – Augusta, Waterville | Exit 103 on Maine Turnpike | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- Starks, Edward (January 27, 2022). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (September 26, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on August 28, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- "Interstate I-95 Redesignation & Re-numbering Information". Maine Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on February 22, 2006.
- "It's Time to Clear Up the confusion: Maine Interstate Re-designation 2004" (PDF). MaineDOT. May 20, 2003. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
- Koeing, Paul (May 27, 2014). "Speed limit increasing by 5 mph on parts of I-295, I-95". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
- "Speed limit lowered to 65 MPH on stretch of I-295 starting today". March 26, 2017.
- Koeing, Paul (April 20, 2015). "Interstate 295 to be named after Augusta resident, longtime transportation worker". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
- Eesha Pendharkar (September 4, 2019). "Those emergency route signs around town? They come with specific instructions". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
- "MaineDOT Public Map Viewer". Maine Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
External links
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