State Route 23 (abbreviated SR 23) is part of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

's system of numbered state highways, running from Sidney to

Guilford Guildford is a town in Surrey, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Guildford, the Diocese of Guildford and the Parliamentary constituency of Guildford. Guildford, Guilford, or Gildford may also refer to: Places Australia * Guildfor ...

. It is located in the south-central part of the state, running from southwest to northeast, roughly parallel to

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

for its entire length.

Route description

SR 23 begins in Sidney at Belgrade Road, which carries SR 8, SR 11 and SR 27. It runs northward along the eastern side of

Messalonskee Lake Messalonskee Lake is a body of water in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine. It is bordered by the towns of Oakland, Sidney, and Belgrade. The lake is a 9-mile-long, narrow, natural creation, resulting from continental collision and glacial scou ...

into the town of

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, where it rejoins SR 11 and cuts through downtown. SR 11 splits off to join SR 137 eastward towards

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

and Waterville, while SR 23 continues northward, paralleling the

Interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

as it crosses into Fairfield. SR 23 crosses over SR 104 and SR 139 as it approaches the

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...

, where it intersects with US 201. The two routes overlap northward for just over two miles into the northwestern corner of the town before SR 23 splits off to the northwest and crosses the river into

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

. The road passes through the center of town, briefly overlapping with

US 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

and then enters Hartland where it meets SR 43, SR 151, and SR 152. SR 23 joins SR 43 and SR 152, crossing shortly thereafter into

St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...

where SR 43 departs to the east. SR 23 and SR 152 continue northward into the small town of Ripley. SR 23 splits off of SR 152 and joins SR 154 eastbound towards

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

. SR 154 abruptly ends after two miles, though, at the intersection with Water Street. SR 23 continues into Dexter and briefly overlaps SR 7 before turning due north. SR 23 enters the town of

and ends at the intersection with Water Street ( SR 6,

SR 15 Route 15, or Highway 15, can refer to: For roads named A15, see A15 roads. International * Asian Highway 15 * European route E15 * European route E015 Australia New South Wales * Hunter Expressway * New England Highway and other local Ne ...

and SR 16) east of downtown.

History

SR 23 was formed from a previous alignment of

SR 24 Route 24, or Highway 24, can refer to: International * European route E24 Australia * Lyell Highway (Tasmania) * Central Arnhem Road, NT Austria * Verbindungsspange Rothneusiedel Canada * Alberta Highway 24 * British Columbia Highway 24 * M ...

, which included most of its current routing as well as a section between Gardiner and Sidney now covered by other routes. In 1954, the northern terminus of SR 24 was truncated to its current location in Gardiner. The SR 24 designation was dropped between Gardiner and Sidney, and the northern section was renumbered to SR 23.

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist, 30em 023 Transportation in Kennebec County, Maine Transportation in Somerset County, Maine Transportation in Penobscot County, Maine Transportation in Piscataquis County, Maine