U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
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 ...
is a major north–south
state highway serving the eastern part of the state. It parallels the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
from
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
north through
Portland,
Brunswick, and
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
to
Calais, and then the
St. Croix River and the rest of the
Canada–US border via
Houlton to
Fort Kent. The portion along the ocean, known as the Coastal Route, provides a scenic alternate to
Interstate 95 (I-95).
Route description
US 1 enters Maine from
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
by bridging the
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...
at
Kittery
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, Maine, Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The ...
on the
Memorial Bridge. Following the sandy southern Maine coast, the highway bridges the
Cape Neddick River
The Cape Neddick River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 30, 2011 river in the town of York in southern Maine. It rises at the outlet of Chases Pond and flows east ...
in
Cape Neddick,
Josias River
The Josias River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river in southern Maine in the United States. The river enters the Gulf of Maine in the town of Og ...
and
Ogunquit River
The Ogunquit River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 30, 2011 tidal river in southern Maine. It flows to the Atlantic Ocean at the town of Ogunquit.
Images
Fil ...
in
Ogunquit
Ogunquit ( ) is a resort town in York County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,577.
Ogunquit is part of the Portland– South Portland– Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Ogunquit, which means "b ...
, the
Webhannet River in
Wells, and
Merriland River
The Merriland River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 30, 2011 river in southern Maine. It is a tributary of the Little River, a tidal river flowing to the Atlant ...
,
Mousam River
The Mousam River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 30, 2011 river in York County, Maine, United States. Its primary source is Mousam Lake, located between the to ...
and
Kennebunk River in
Kennebunk. After bridging the
Saco River
The Saco River (Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean ...
between
Biddeford and
Saco the highway bridges the
Nonesuch River
The Nonesuch River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 30, 2011 river in southern Maine in the United States. It rises in Saco and travels northeast, then east, the ...
in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
.
In
South Portland, US 1 merges with
I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States:
*Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Interstate 295 (Florida), a beltway around central Jacksonville
* Interstate ...
at exit 4 and continues north through
downtown Portland
Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found ...
to
Tukey's Bridge, now on I-295, before separating at exit 9. The Charles Loring Highway is part of US 1 in Portland, Maine. Like
Loring Air Force Base
Loring Air Force Base was a United States Air Force installation in northeastern Maine, near Limestone and Caribou in Aroostook County. It was one of the largest bases of the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command during its existence, and was t ...
it is named for
Charles J. Loring, Jr.
North of Portland, the highway bridges the
Presumpscot River
The Presumpscot River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 30, 2011 river located in Cumberland County, Maine. It is the main outlet of Sebago Lake. The rive ...
in
Falmouth, the
Royal River
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a c ...
in
Yarmouth, and the
Cousins River in
Freeport before following the
Androscoggin River
The Androscoggin River ( Abenaki: ''Aləssíkαntekʷ'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...
through
Brunswick and crossing the
Kennebec River on the Sagadahoc Bridge between
Bath and
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...
. The section between Brunswick (at its junction with US 201) and Bath is a four lane freeway, and the route continues as a four lane expressway through most of Bath, then crosses on a two lane viaduct before becoming four lanes again on the bridge over the Kennebec River. It then becomes a three lane road (with center turning lane) through Woolwich and then reverts to two lanes after that as it continues north towards
Wiscasset.
The highway bridges the
Sheepscot River in
Wiscasset, the
Damariscotta River in
Damariscotta, the
Medomak River in
Waldoboro, and the
Saint George River in
Thomaston before reaching
Rockland.
In Rockland there is a bypass of downtown (US 1A) which travels along Broadway and Maverick Streets, while US 1 itself has a one way pair with Main Street and Union Street in the downtown Rockland area (Main Street traffic goes north with two lanes, while Union St. traffic is southbound).
The highway follows the coast of
Penobscot Bay bridging the
Goose River in
Rockport, the
Ducktrap River in
Lincolnville, the
Little River
Little River may refer to several places:
Australia Streams New South Wales
*Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River
* Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...
in
Northport, and the
Passagassawakeag River
The Passagassawakeag River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 22, 2011 river in Waldo County, Maine in the United States. From the outlet of Lake Passagassawa ...
in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
before bridging the
Penobscot River at
Bucksport. The Atlantic coast is less frequently visible as the highway bridges the
Orland River in
Orland, the
Union River in
Ellsworth,
Sullivan Harbor, the
Narraguagus River in
Cherryfield, the
Harrington River in
Harrington, the
Pleasant River at
Columbia Falls, the
Indian River in
Addison
Addison may refer to:
Places Canada
* Addison, Ontario
United States
*Addison, Alabama
*Addison, Illinois
*Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field
* Addison, Kentucky
*Addison, Maine
*Addison, Michigan
*Addison, New York
...
, and the
Chandler River in
Jonesboro.
After bridging the
East Machias River and
Machias River
The Machias River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed 2011-06-22 river in Maine, USA. It flows through Washington County in the eastern part of the state, from Fift ...
in
Machias the highway turns inland along
Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay (french: Baie de Passamaquoddy) is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its w ...
to bridge the
Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
in
Whiting, the
Dennys River in
Dennysville and the
Pennamaquan River in
Pembroke. The highway then follows the
Saint Croix River through
Calais and turns inland at
Woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...
. The interior route bridges Grand Falls Flowage at
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
, the
Meduxnekeag River in
Houlton, the
North Branch Meduxnekeag River in
Monticello
Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...
, and the
Aroostook River in
Presque Isle before following the
Saint John River upstream from
Van Buren to
Fort Kent.
From
Madawaska to its "northern" terminus at the
Clair – Fort Kent Bridge
Clair or Claire may refer to:
*Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire
* Clair (surname)
Places
Canada
* Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska
Haut-Madawaska is an incorporated rural commu ...
in
Fort Kent, US 1 North actually travels geographically south (see ). The route's most northerly geographic point is at its intersection with the
Edmundston–Madawaska Bridge
The Edmundston–Madawaska Bridge is an international bridge which connects the cities of Edmundston, New Brunswick, in Canada and Madawaska, Maine, in the United States, across the Saint John River. The bridge consists of four steel through tru ...
in Madawaska, across the
Saint John River from
Edmundston
Edmundston is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada.
On 1 January 2023, Edmundston will expanded, annexing the village of Rivière-Verte and parts of the local service districts of the parish of Saint-Jacques and the parish of Sai ...
,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
History
US 1 south of Calais was initially part of the
Atlantic Highway, and became Route 1 when the
New England road marking system
,
,
,
,
,
The New England road marking system was a regional system of marked numbered routes in the six-state region of New England in the United States. The routes were marked by a yellow rectangular sign with black numbers and border. ...
was established in 1922. The northward continuation from Calais was later designated as part of Route 24. In the original plan, Route 24 was to run from
Brunswick to
Moosehead Lake in
Greenville. By 1925, however, Maine had transferred the Route 24 designation to a completely new alignment on the eastern edge of the state, running from
Calais to
Madawaska at a border crossing with
Edmundston
Edmundston is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada.
On 1 January 2023, Edmundston will expanded, annexing the village of Rivière-Verte and parts of the local service districts of the parish of Saint-Jacques and the parish of Sai ...
,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
.
The initial 1925 plan for the
U.S. Highway system took US 1 along the better-quality inland route (then
Route 15)
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution ...
Auto Road Atlas, 1926, accessed via th
Broer Map Library
/ref> between Bangor and Houlton, and placed 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 ...
on the coastal route. This changed in the final 1926 plan, when the inland shortcut — now generally followed by Interstate 95 - became part of US 2.
The Waldo-Hancock Bridge opened in 1931,Maine Department of Transportation
The Maine Department of Transportation, also known as MaineDOT (occasionally referred to as MDOT), is the office of state government charged with the regulation and maintenance of roads, rail, ferries, and other public transport infrastructure in ...
Waldo-Hancock Bridge
accessed October 2007 allowing US 1 to bypass Bangor; the old route became US 1A
U.S. Route 1A is the name of several highways found in the United States.
North Carolina Wake Forest–Youngsville
U.S. Route 1A (US 1A) is a alternate route of U.S. Route 1 in North Carolina, US 1 through the towns of Wake Forest, ...
.
The portion between Portland and Brunswick was rebuilt, mainly as a four-lane divided highway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
, in the 1950s, and later absorbed into 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 ...
(now I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States:
*Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Interstate 295 (Florida), a beltway around central Jacksonville
* Interstate ...
). A freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
from Brunswick east to Bath was built in the 1960s.
Major junctions
References
External links
Maine State Route Log via floodgap.com
{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=1, state=Maine, statebefore=New Hampshire
01
1 Maine
Transportation in York County, Maine
Transportation in Cumberland County, Maine
Transportation in Sagadahoc County, Maine
Transportation in Lincoln County, Maine
Transportation in Knox County, Maine
Transportation in Waldo County, Maine
Transportation in Hancock County, Maine
Transportation in Washington County, Maine
Transportation in Aroostook County, Maine