U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south highway extending from southern

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

to the northernmost part of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. In Vermont, the route extends for along the western side of the state as a mostly two-lane rural road, with the exception of an expressway section between Bennington and

East Dorset East Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019. The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban District with Wimborne and Cran ...

. US 7 is known as the Ethan Allen Highway for its entire length through the state. US 7 ends at an interchange with

Interstate 89 Interstate 89 (I-89) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States traveling from Bow, New Hampshire, to the Canadian border between Highgate Springs, Vermont, and Saint-Armand, Quebec. As with all odd-numbered ...

(I-89) in the town of

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...

, just south of the

Canadian border Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. I-89 continues to the border crossing.

Route description

US 7 crosses the

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–Vermont state line at Pownal, from where the road heads north to Bennington as a rural two-lane highway. Just north of downtown Bennington, the highway transitions into a

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

. For , US 7 is a true expressway with divided carriageways and multiple lanes. The road subsequently narrows down to an undivided

two-lane freeway A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes ris ...

; however, many stretches have passing lanes. This continues to a point just south of

, where US 7 reverts to a surface road. Most of US 7 between East Dorset and the

is an undivided, uncontrolled road varying in width from two to four lanes. Two

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 ...

sections also exist: a section south of Rutland, and a stretch with numerous traffic signals between Shelburne and South Burlington known as Shelburne Road. There is overhead signage at the junction with I-189 in South Burlington that directs northbound trucks onto I-189. While US 7 heads directly into Burlington, I-189 bypasses the city to the south and east and leads directly to I-89, which runs close to US 7 north of Winooski. Near downtown Burlington, US 7 intersects with US 2; the latter route

joins Join may refer to: * Join (law), to include additional counts or additional defendants on an indictment *In mathematics: ** Join (mathematics), a least upper bound of sets orders in lattice theory ** Join (topology), an operation combining two topo ...

US 7 for more than to

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

. From here, US 7 and I-89 run through northern Vermont to

, where US 7 ends at the northernmost exit on I-89.

History

US 7 was assigned in 1926. Interstate 89 was originally envisioned to parallel US 7 from the

border to the Canadian frontier. This plan was ultimately cancelled, and I-89 was shifted to its current alignment, turning southeast at Burlington toward Montpelier and

White River Junction White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest co ...

. Prior to the cancellation of the original I-89 routing, approximately of freeway (mostly "Super 2" with some four-lane sections) was built in the US 7 corridor between Bennington and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, plus an additional of four-lane highway between Wallingford and Rutland were completed.

Major intersections

Suffixed routes

US 7 has two suffixed routes, both of which are old alignments of US 7. * VT 7A () is an

alternate route An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state a ...

of US 7 between Bennington and

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. The route is signed as "Historic VT 7A" to distinguish it, the original routing of US 7, from the modern US 7

. *VT 7B () is an alternate route of US 7 through the towns of Wallingford and Clarendon. VT 7B was the original alignment of US 7 prior to the construction of the current US 7

through the area. The route intersects US 7 five times (including the termini) and

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * O ...

s it for in Clarendon.

US 7 Alternate

U.S. Route 7 Alternate (ALT US 7) is an

of US 7 in Burlington. The southbound-only US 7 Alternate begins at the intersection of North Willard Street and Riverside Avenue ( US 2 and US 7) and runs for a distance of in the following manner: west on Riverside Avenue, south on North and South Winooski avenues, south on St. Paul Street, and south on Shelburne Road to its end at US 7 at the rotary-style intersection with South Willard Street (US 7), Locust Street and Ledge Road. Mainline US 7 travels over Hyde Street and North and South Willard streets until the aforementioned intersection. As of July 2016, there are three "Alternate US 7" assemblies along the route. The original one is located on Saint Paul Street in Burlington, just south of the intersection with South Winooski Avenue and Howard Street, with the newer two on South Winooski Avenue, with one at the intersection with Pearl Street, and the other at Main Street.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:U.S. Route 07 in Vermont 07-0 Rutland, Vermont Burlington, Vermont Transportation in Addison County, Vermont Transportation in Bennington County, Vermont Transportation in Rutland County, Vermont Transportation in Chittenden County, Vermont Transportation in Franklin County, Vermont Two-lane freeways in the United States Vermont