Interstate 295 (Maine)

Interstate 295
Richard A. Coleman Highway
I-295 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-95
Maintained by MaineDOT
Length	52 mi[1] (84 km)
Existed	1960[citation needed]–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-95 / Maine Turnpike in Scarborough
Major intersections	US 1 in South Portland SR 26 in Portland US 1 in Portland I-495 in Falmouth US 1 in Yarmouth SR 125 / SR 136 in Freeport US 1 in Brunswick SR 196 in Topsham US 201 in Libby Hill SR 126 in West Gardiner
North end	I-95 / Maine Turnpike in West Gardiner
Location
Country	United States
State	Maine
Counties	Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Kennebec
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Maine State Highway System Interstate US State Auto trails Lettered highways
← SR 238 → US 302

Interstate 295 (I-295) is a 52-mile-long (84 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of Maine from I-95 in Scarborough to I-95 in West Gardiner. The highway was designated the Richard A. Coleman Highway in 2015 by the Maine Legislature. The highway serves as a bypass of Lewiston–Auburn and serves the Portland metropolitan area. It takes a more direct route between Portland and Augusta, the state capital, than its parent I-95. It also is toll-free, unlike I-95, which carries the tolled Maine Turnpike.

Route description

I-295 branches off from exit 44 of I-95 (Maine Turnpike) providing access to downtown Portland, Maine, and then generally follows the Atlantic coast and Kennebec River until it merges back into I-95 in West Gardiner 52 miles (84 km) to the north at exit 103.

After splitting from I-95, I-295 has a toll plaza just before its own exit 1. I-295's first exit is in South Portland, giving access to The Maine Mall (southbound) and South Portland and Scarborough (northbound). At exit 4, US Route 1 (US 1) joins I-295, and the two highways run concurrently for the next four miles (6.4 km). After crossing the Fore River, the highway passes through downtown Portland, which can be accessed via exits 4 through 8. North of the downtown area, I-295 crosses the Tukey's Bridge over the Back Cove, after which US 1 departs at exit 9. Running parallel with US 1, I-295 meets the eastern terminus of Falmouth Spur at exit 11 in the town of Falmouth, with a southbound exit and northbound entrance. After passing through Yarmouth and Freeport, exit 28 provides access to the town of Brunswick, where US 1 turns east away from I-295. Continuing north, the highway's last exit is exit 51, which gives access to Gardiner. After a toll plaza, I-295 merges back with I-95, which heads north toward Augusta. As an Interstate Highway, all of I-295 is included in the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.^[2]

History

1960 to 2004

In 1960, Tukey's Bridge was completed. It was named for Lemuel Tukey, a tavern owner and toll collector for the Back Cove Bridge in the late 18th century. The Falmouth Spur of the Maine Turnpike to Yarmouth opened the next year, in 1961.^{[citation needed]}

Additional urban sections opened through Portland in 1971. This was followed in 1973 by the opening of I-295 through Brunswick to Topsham, then in 1974 by the opening of the section from the Maine Turnpike in Scarborough to South Portland. The section from Topsham to Gardiner opened in 1977.^{[citation needed]}

2004 extension

In 2004, to clear up confusion, I-95 was redesignated to continue along the Maine Turnpike for its entire length. I-295 was extended past the Falmouth Spur as a redesignation of I-95, to where it merges back into the turnpike in West Gardiner 42 miles (68 km) to the north.^[3] The four-mile (6.4 km) long Falmouth Spur officially became I-495 but was left unsigned.^[4]

At the same time, the exits were renumbered; previously they had been numbered more or less sequentially from south to north—there were skipped numbers, for example, there was no exit 23. After the changes the exits renumbered to mile-log in relation to the Scarborough junction, except for the exits in Portland and South Portland, which remained the same. Exits on I-95 in Maine were similarly renumbered based on mileage.^{[citation needed]}

Speed limits

The speed limit on I-295 on the section past Tukey's Bridge to mile 51 in Gardiner was raised from 65 to 70 mph (105 to 113 km/h) on May 27, 2014. This occurred as the result of a new law passed in 2013 by the Maine Legislature allowing the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) to set speed limits on Interstate highways with the approval of the Maine State Police, instead of appealing to the Legislature.^[5] The speed limit was reverted from 70 to 65 mph (113 to 105 km/h) for a length of 22 miles (35 km) from the section past Tukey's Bridge to Topsham on March 27, 2017.^[6]

Naming

In 2015, the Maine Legislature unanimously voted to name the highway's entire length for Richard A. Coleman, a MaineDOT employee since 1956, who has been involved with many Maine transportation projects. He was involved in projects ranging from Maine's Interstates to the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory. Coleman declined comment on the naming, only telling the Kennebec Journal that while, the naming is humbling, he found it uncomfortable. Maine Senator Roger Katz, the sponsor of the bill, said "Very few people have heard of Dick Coleman, but as he drives around the state, he must feel a great deal of pride looking at his decades of work."^[7]

Emergency routes

In 2019, MaineDOT began signing emergency routes along roads near I-295. The routes generally lead from one exit to the next exit and are meant to be used when sections of the highway must be closed due to an accident or other disruption. In such an event, electronic signs will be activated and flaggers deployed to direct drivers to use the appropriate emergency route to lead them around the closure and maintain traffic flow. Northbound routes are designated with a single letter, while southbound routes are designated with double letters. This system was first used when a section of highway was closed due to the death of a Maine State Trooper in an accident.^[8]

Exit list

County	Location[9]	mi[9]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Cumberland	Scarborough	0.00	0.00		I-95 south / Maine Turnpike south – Kittery	Exit 44 on Maine Turnpike
		0.55	0.89	Toll plaza
	South Portland	1.26	2.03	1	To US 1 – South Portland	Northbound signage; northbound exit only, unsigned SR 703
					To I-95 / Maine Turnpike / Maine Mall Road	Southbound signage; southbound exit and northbound entrance, unsigned SR 703
		1.99	3.20	2	To US 1 south (Scarborough Connector) – Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		2.16	3.48	3	SR 9 (Westbrook Street) – Jetport	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		3.19	5.13	4	Casco Bay Drive – Portland Waterfront	Northbound signage; US 1 removed from Casco Bay Drive in May 2007
					US 1 south (Main Street)	Southbound signage; southern end of concurrency with US 1
	South Portland–Portland line	3.70	5.95	Fore River
	Portland	4.46	7.18	5	SR 22 / US 1A (Congress Street)	Signed as Exits 5A (east) and 5B (west) southbound
		5.35	8.61	6A	SR 100 south (Forest Avenue)	US 1 removed from Forest Avenue in May 2007
				6B	SR 100 north (Forest Avenue) / US 302 west
		5.89	9.48	7	US 1A (Franklin Street)
		6.57	10.57	8	SR 26 south (Washington Avenue)	Southbound signage; southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern end of concurrency with SR 26
		6.6	10.6	Tukey's Bridge over Back Cove
		6.73	10.83	8	SR 26 north (Washington Avenue)	Northbound signage; northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of concurrency with SR 26
		6.97	11.22	9	US 1 south / SR 26 north (Washington Avenue) / Baxter Boulevard	Southbound signage; southbound exit and northbound entrance; US 1 removed from Baxter Boulevard in May 2007
		7.12	11.46	9	US 1 north – Falmouth Foreside	Northbound signage; northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of concurrency with US 1
	Falmouth	9.45	15.21	Ryan Quirion Guthrie Bridge over the Presumpscot River
		10.62	17.09	10	To I-95 / Maine Turnpike / US 1 / SR 9 / Bucknam Road – Falmouth, Cumberland	I-95 and Cumberland only appear on northbound signage
		11.00	17.70	11	I-495 / Maine Turnpike west – New Hampshire, Massachusetts	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former northern terminus; access via Falmouth Spur (formerly I-95)
	Yarmouth	15.24	24.53	15	US 1 – Yarmouth, Cumberland	Northbound entrance added August 2013
		16.35	26.31	Royal River
		17.24	27.75	17	US 1 – Yarmouth, Freeport	Freeport only appears on northbound signage
	Yarmouth–Freeport line	17.98	28.94	Cousins River
	Freeport	20.65	33.23	20	To US 1 / Desert Road – Freeport	US 1 only appears on southbound signage
		22.25	35.81	22	SR 125 (Mallet Drive) / SR 136 – Freeport, Durham
		23.70	38.14	24	US 1 – Freeport	Northbound exit and entrance
	Brunswick	28.38	45.67	28	US 1 (Coastal Route) – Brunswick, Bath
Cumberland–Sagadahoc county line	Brunswick–Topsham line	30.02	48.31	Androscoggin River
Sagadahoc	Topsham	31.04	49.95	31A	SR 196 east – Topsham, Brunswick	Signed as Exit 31 northbound; Brunswick and Lewiston only appear on southbound signage; access to Bates College
				31B	SR 196 west (Lewiston Road) – Lisbon, Lewiston
	Bowdoinham	37.10	59.71	37	SR 125 / SR 138 – Bowdoinham, Bowdoin
	Richmond	43.47	69.96	43	SR 197 – Richmond, Litchfield
Kennebec	Gardiner	49.29	79.32	49	US 201 – Gardiner
	Gardiner–West Gardiner line	50.29	80.93	Cobbosseecontee Stream
	West Gardiner	51.48	82.85	51	SR 9 / SR 126 – Litchfield, Gardiner	I-95 south / Maine Turnpike south and a Turnpike service plaza accessible from this exit
		51.70	83.20	Toll plaza
		52.27	84.12	–	I-95 north / Maine Turnpike north – Augusta, Waterville	Exit 103 on Maine Turnpike
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access        Tolled

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 295 (Maine).

• I-295 on Kurumi.com
• Steve Anderson's BostonRoads.com: Interstate 295 (Maine)

This page was last edited on 6 September 2023, at 09:23