Interstate 95 in Maine

This article is about the section of Interstate 95 in Maine. For the entire length of the highway, see Interstate 95.

Interstate 95
Maine Turnpike in Green
Route information
Maintained by Maine Department of Transportation and Maine Turnpike Authority
Length:	303.2 mi (487.95 km) Maine Turnpike: 101.43 miles (163.24 km)
Existed:	start:1947, completed:1960 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-95 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
	I-195 in Saco I-295 near Portland I-495 in Portland US 202 / SR 4 / SR 100 in Gray and Auburn I-295 near Gardiner US 202 / SR 11 / SR 17 / SR 100 in Augusta US 201 in Fairfield I-395 / SR 15 in Bangor US 2 / SR 100 in Bangor US 1 in Houlton
North end:	Route 95 / US 2 at the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Business State Routes in Maine ← SR 94 SR 95 →

In the U.S. state of Maine, Interstate 95 (I-95) is a 303-mile-long (488 km) highway running from the New Hampshire border near Kittery, to the Canadian border near Houlton. It is the only two-digit Interstate Highway in Maine. In 2004, the highway's route between Portland and Gardiner was changed so that it encompasses the entire Maine Turnpike, which runs from Kittery to Augusta.

Route description

Northbound in Kittery, Maine

I-95 enters Maine from New Hampshire on the Piscataqua River Bridge, which connects Portsmouth, New Hampshire with Kittery. At mile 2 (Spruce Creek) in Kittery, the highway becomes the Maine Turnpike. The highway runs in a general northeasterly direction, parallel with U.S. 1, at this point. I-95 bypasses the Biddeford/Saco area, with a spur route (Interstate 195) connecting to Old Orchard Beach.

At Scarborough, Interstate 95 meets Interstate 295. The highway turns north, serving the Portland International Jetport and bypassing Portland to the west. At Falmouth, the highway meets unsigned Interstate 495, also called the Falmouth Spur. Until January 2004, I-95 followed the Falmouth Spur and I-295 between Falmouth and Gardiner.

The highway continues north along the Maine Turnpike through Gray to Auburn and Lewiston, which the Turnpike bypasses to the south. The highway then runs in an easterly direction to meet Interstate 295 at Gardiner. From there, I-95 parallels the Kennebec River past Augusta and Waterville. The highway crosses the river at Fairfield and then turns northeast along the Sebasticook River past Pittsfield to Newport.

I-95 then continues east alongside U.S. Route 2 from Newport to Bangor, where Interstate 395 connects to the city of Brewer. The highway runs along the northern edge of Bangor's center, then turns northeast, following the Penobscot River past Orono and Old Town (Prior to the early 1980s, I-95 was a super two highway north of Old Town).

The highway continues north, still running near the river, towards Howland. Near Lincoln, Interstate 95 runs north through uninhabited forest land, crossing the Penobscot River at Medway. The highway goes northeast and east, passing a series of small Aroostook County farming towns before reaching Houlton, where it connects to New Brunswick Route 95 and U.S. Route 2 at the international border. North of Bangor, traffic levels drop noticeably, with AADT averaging only about 5,000 in northern Penobscot County and going down to as low as 2,000–4,000 in Houlton.

Speed limits

The Maine Turnpike had a posted speed limit of 70 mph in the early 1970s, but as Maine then had no law against traveling less than 10 mph over the posted speed, the de facto speed limit was 79 mph. In 1974, as part of a federal mandate, the speed limit was reduced to 55 mph, with a new law including a "less than 10 over" violation. In 1987, Congress allowed states to post 65 mph on rural interstate highways. Following the relaxation, Maine increased its speed limit. In May 2011, a bill was introduced to raise the speed limit from Old Town to Houlton from 65 to 75 mph. It passed, with Maine the first state east of the Mississippi River since the 1970s to establish a 75 mph speed limit.

Exit list

Note: toll rates listed in this exit list are for Class 1 vehicles paying cash. They do not reflect lower rates for drivers using E-ZPass tags or higher rates for other vehicle classes.

County	Location	Mile	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
York	Kittery	0.00	0.00		I-95 south – Portsmouth	Continuation into New Hampshire
				1	To SR 103 / Dennett Road—Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Eliot	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				2	US 1 south / SR 236 south / US 1 Byp. south / Traffic Circle – Downtown Kittery
				3	US 1 north (Coastal Route) / SR 236 north – Kittery, South Berwick	Southbound exit is via exit 2
	York			7	To SR 91 to US 1 – The Yorks, Ogunquit, The Berwicks
		7.2	11.6	Maine Turnpike York Toll Barrier—Cars $3.00
	Wells			19	SR 9 / SR 109 – Wells, Sanford	Entrance toll $1.50 (northbound only)
	Kennebunk			25	SR 35 – Kennebunk, Kennebunkport	Entrance toll $1.00
	Biddeford			32	SR 111 – Biddeford	Entrance toll $1.00
	Saco			36	I-195 east – Saco, Old Orchard Beach	Entrance toll $1.00
Cumberland	Scarborough			42	To US 1 – Scarborough	Entrance toll $1.00
	South Portland			44	I-295 north – South Portland, Downtown Portland	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; toll $1.00 both directions
				45	To I-295 / US 1 / SR 114 / Maine Mall Road, Payne Road	Entrance toll $1.00
	Portland			46	To SR 22 / SR 9 (Congress Street) – Portland International Jetport	Entrance toll $1.00
				47	To SR 25 / Rand Road, Westbrook Arterial	Entrance toll $1.00
				48	To SR 25 / US 302 / Riverside Street, Larrabee Road	Entrance toll $1.00
				52	To I-295 / US 1 – Falmouth, Freeport	Toll $1.00 both directions on I-495
				53	SR 26 / SR 100 – West Falmouth	Entrance toll $1.00
	New Gloucester			63	US 202 / SR 115 / SR 4 to SR 26 – Gray, New Gloucester	Entrance toll $1.50 (southbound only)
		67	108	New Gloucester Toll Barrier—Cars $2.25
Androscoggin	Auburn			75	US 202 / SR 4 / SR 100 – Auburn
	Lewiston			80	To SR 196 – Lewiston
				86	SR 9 – Sabattus, Lisbon
Kennebec	West Gardiner	100	161		West Gardiner Toll Barrier—Cars $1.75
	Gardiner			102	SR 9 / SR 126 to I-295 south – Gardiner, Litchfield	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				103	I-295 south to SR 9 / SR 126 – Gardiner, Brunswick	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; toll $1.00 in both directions
	Augusta			109	US 202 / SR 11 / SR 17 / SR 100 – Augusta, Winthrop	Signed as exits 109A (west) and 109B (east) southbound
				112	SR 8 / SR 11 / SR 27 – Augusta, Belgrade	Signed as exits 112A (south) and 112B (north) northbound
				113	SR 3 – Augusta, Belfast
				120	Lyons Road, Sidney
	Waterville			127	SR 11 / SR 137 – Waterville, Oakland
				130	SR 104 (Main Street) – Waterville, Winslow
Somerset	Fairfield			132	SR 139 – Fairfield, Benton
				133	US 201 – Fairfield, Skowhegan
Kennebec				138	Hinckley Road—Clinton, Burnham
Somerset	Pittsfield			150	Somerset Avenue—Pittsfield, Hartland, Burnham
				157	SR 11 / SR 100 to SR 7 / US 2 – Newport, Dexter, Skowhegan
Penobscot				159	Ridge Road—Newport, Plymouth	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	East Newport			161	SR 7 – East Newport, Plymouth
				167	SR 69 / SR 143 – Etna, Dixmont
				174	SR 69 – Carmel, Winterport
				180	Cold Brook Road—Hermon, Hampden
	Bangor			182A	I-395 / SR 15 south to US 1A / SR 9 – Bangor, Brewer	South end of SR 15 overlap
				182B	To US 2 west / SR 100 west – Hermon, Bangor
				183	US 2 / SR 100 (Hammond Street) – Bangor International Airport
				184	SR 222 (Union Street) / Ohio Street – Bangor International Airport
				185	SR 15 north (Broadway) – Brewer, Bangor	North end of SR 15 overlap
				186	Stillwater Avenue	No northbound entrance
				187	Hogan Road—Bangor, Veazie
	Orono			191	Kelly Road—Orono, Veazie
	Old Town			193	Stillwater Avenue—Stillwater, Old Town, Orono
				197	SR 43 – Old Town, Hudson
	Lagrange			199	SR 16 – Alton, Lagrange, Milo	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				217	SR 6 / SR 155 – Howland, Lagrange
	Lincoln			227	To US 2 / SR 6 / SR 116 – Lincoln, Mattawamkeag
	Medway			244	SR 157 – Medway, Millinocket, Mattawamkeag
	Benedicta			259	Casey Rd – Benedicta	Northbound exit and southbound entrance / I 95 in Aroostook county for 1/2 mile
Aroostook	Sherman			264	SR 158 to SR 11 – Sherman, Patten
	Island Falls			276	SR 159 – Island Falls, Patten
	Oakfield			286	Oakfield Road—Oakfield, Smyrna Mills
	Smyrna			291	US 2 – Smyrna
	Houlton			302	US 1 – Houlton, Presque Isle
				305	US 2 west – Houlton International Airport, Industrial Park	East end of US 2
		303.2	488.0		Route 95 east – Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing, Woodstock	Northern end of I-95; Continuation into New Brunswick, Canada
Concurrency terminus       Closed/former       HOV only       Incomplete access       Tolled/ETC       Unopened

Maine Turnpike

Maine Turnpike shield

History

The Maine Turnpike Authority was created by the Maine Legislature in 1941 to connect Kittery and Fort Kent. In 1947, the first section of highway, designated the Maine Turnpike, opened between Kittery and Portland. In 1953, the Turnpike Authority began construction on an extension to the state capital at Augusta. The original turnpike was the largest construction project in the state's history until the construction of the extension, which opened to the public on December 13, 1955 .

The Maine Turnpike was the first highway funded using revenue bonds. It remains self-financed, and does not receive funding from the state or federal government. When the first section opened in 1947, it was only the second superhighway in the United States. For these reasons, the Maine Turnpike was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1999 .

In 1956, one year after the Portland-Augusta extension opened, Congress created the Interstate Highway System. The remaining sections to be built - from Augusta to Fort Kent - would be publicly funded freeways instead of toll roads under the Maine Turnpike Authority. Today this highway, which ends at Houlton instead of Fort Kent, is signed as Interstate 95 throughout and Maine Turnpike between the New Hampshire line at Kittery and the junction with Interstate 295 near Augusta.

Tolls

The segment of Interstate 95 from Kittery to Augusta runs along the Maine Turnpike. It uses a variation of the ticket system for all of that length except for south of exit 7, as well as the northbound off-ramp and southbound on-ramp where I-95 becomes free but still considered part of the Turnpike (similar to the nearby Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston, MA being free east of exit 20 still being part of the toll road; westbound users of that toll road do pay a toll just past Logan International Airport however.) Instead of paying a variable toll based on distance like most ticket system toll roads, flat-fee tolls are paid upon entering the turnpike. There are also barrier tolls in York, New Gloucester, and West Gardiner. The turnpike joined the E-ZPass electronic toll collection network in 2005, replacing the former Maine-only system designated Transpass that was implemented in 1997.

Service areas

There are six service areas on the turnpike, three in each direction. All are open 24 hours and provide food and fuel services. They also have ATMs. Some have small gift shops. The plazas are at the following locations:

• Kennebunk plazas: Northbound and southbound at MP 25—food, fuel, gift shop. Original 1972 plazas were replaced during the winter of 2006–2007. Both service plazas open with "food court layout featuring Starbucks coffee, Burger King, Hershey’s Ice Cream, a Z-Market convenience store and a Popeye’s Chicken on the northbound side and Sbarros Pizza on the southbound side."
• Gray plaza (NB)/Cumberland plaza (SB): Northbound and Southbound at MP 58—food and fuel. Both plazas have been replaced with new service plazas with a Starbucks and a Z-Market convenience store.
• Gardiner plaza: At the I-95/I-295/ME 126 intersection,accessible by both directions of I-95 and I-295. Food court, fuel, gift shop, information.

There is a Rest Area / Tourist Welcome Center located on the turnpike Northbound at MP 3 in Kittery.

There are weigh stations located on the turnpike Northbound and Southbound in York at MP 4 (SB) and MP 6 (NB).

There are ramps to/from the northbound turnpike to the Saco Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Conference Center in Saco at MP 35 (Old MP 33 before the southern extension). The ramps are from the original exit 5 which was replaced when I-195 was opened just to the north. The hotel was built on the site of the old toll plaza. Ramps connecting the hotel to/from the southbound turnpike were removed as part of the widening project in the early 2000s, when hotel ownership opted not to pay nearly $1 million to build a new bridge.

Previous to the Gardiner rest area opening, there were rest areas located in Lewiston (Southbound at MP 83) and Litchfield (Northbound at MP 98).

External links

Template:Attached_KML/Interstate 95 in Maine

• Maine Turnpike Official Site
• Steve Anderson's BostonRoads.com: Maine Turnpike (I-95)

Interstate 95
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