In the state 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 ...

, the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) has a system of numbered highways, defined as the "''connected main highways throughout the state which primarily serve arterial or through traffic''." As of 2006, 22,236 milesFloodgap Roadgap's RoadsAroundME: Frequently Asked Questions and General Information about Maine State Highways
/ref> of roadway are included in the highway system, including

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 ...

U.S. Routes The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

s, and other urban and rural local roads.

Route types and funding

Interstate Highways

Maine has one primary Interstate highway, I-95, within its borders, as well as four related routes:

I-195 Interstate 195 (I-195) is the designation for the following Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 195 (District of Columbia), a future designation for the north–south portion of I-395 from the Sout ...

, I-295,

I-395 Interstate 395 may refer to: *Interstate 395 (Connecticut–Massachusetts), a spur from I-95 to Auburn, Massachusetts *Interstate 395 (Delaware), a proposed portion of I-95 in Delaware, when it was under construction *Interstate 395 (Florida), a spu ...

, and the

unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the c ...

I-495 Interstate 495 (I-495) is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 95, listed from south to north: * The Capital Beltway, a beltway around Washington, D.C., running through Virgini ...

. All Interstate highways in Maine are part of the National Highway System and, as such, receive some degree of federal funding. All of these highways are

freeways 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 i ...

and are built under set standards for roadway design.

U.S. Numbered Highways

Maine contains two primary U.S. numbered highways: U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 2. US 1 has a bypass and

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

route as well as several alternate alignments designated

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 US 1 through the towns of Wake Forest and Youngsville, North Caroli ...

. US 1 also has a "child" route - the intrastate

U.S. Route 201 U.S. Route 201 (US 201) is part of the nationwide system of United States Numbered Highways. It runs for entirely within the state of Maine and is a spur route of U.S. Route 1. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick at US 1 and Maine State Rou ...

, a spur route north to the Canada–US border which also has its own alternate, designated US 201A. US 2 has two alternate alignments designated US 2A as well as two child routes -

US 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Mass ...

, a southwestern spur stretching to

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, and

US 302 U.S. Route 302 (US 302) is an east–west spur of U.S. Route 2 in northern New England in the United States. It currently runs from Montpelier, Vermont, beginning at US 2, to Portland, Maine, at U.S. Route 1. It passes through the states of Verm ...

, a western loop connecting US 1 in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

to US 2 in

Montpelier, Vermont Montpelier () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population w ...

. These routes are generally maintained and funded in the same manner as state routes, with these responsibilities falling to the

MaineDOT 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 ...

State Routes

State routes are numbered and signed by the state, and by extension are also generally maintained and funded by the state, except in areas designated as "''urban compact areas''," defined by

as "''those in which the population according to the last United States census exceeds 7,500 inhabitants. Urban compact municipalities are also those in which the population according to the last United States census is less than 7,500 inhabitants but more than 2,499 inhabitants, and in which the ratio of people whose place of employment is in a given municipality to employed people residing in that same municipality according to the last United States census is 1.0 or greater.''" In this case, the section of road is the responsibility of the municipality.

State-aid highways

State-aid highways are roads chosen by the local municipality which serve as links between other state routes. Winter snow removal is the responsibility of the municipality, while other maintenance and funding is handled by the state, with the exception of urban compact areas.

Townways

Townways in Maine are classified as all highways that do not fall into one of the preceding categories. These roads are chosen, funded, and maintained by the towns, or the county in unorganized areas. The vast majority of highways in the state fall under this category. These also represent the closest thing to

county roads A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

in the state, as Maine does not have signed county roads as other states such as

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

do.

Signage practices

State Routes

Maine's route marker is a simple black-on-white design, nearly identical to route markers used in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. One- and two-digit numbered routes use or signs while three-digit numbered routes use or signs. Maine has three business state routes, indicated with a "Business" banner accompanying the route shield.

U.S. Highways

Maine uses standard shields for

, a white six-point shield on a black border. Square signs are used one- and two-digit routes and rectangular for three-digit routes. Maine also has two

U.S. Routes, indicated by banners complementing the corresponding route shields. Maine also has a U.S. Route 1 Bypass, indicated in the same way, with a bypass shield.

Interstate Highways

Maine uses standard-size Interstate shields on its Interstate Highways. Many of Maine's Interstate shields contain the state name, and others do not. I-95 shields on the Maine Turnpike are generally accompanied by Maine Turnpike shields. The Falmouth Spur, designated I-495 in 2004, is unsigned.

References

External links

RoadsAroundME
{{US state highways

Route types and funding

Interstate Highways

U.S. Numbered Highways

State Routes

State-aid highways

Townways

Signage practices

State Routes

U.S. Highways

Interstate Highways

See also

References

External links