 Interstate 295 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard A. Coleman Highway | ||||
 I-295 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route ofI-95 | ||||
| Maintained byMaineDOT | ||||
| Length | 52 mi[1] (84 km) | |||
| Existed | 1960[citation needed]–present | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   I-95 /Maine Turnpike inScarborough | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end | I-95 /Maine Turnpike inWest Gardiner | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Maine | |||
| Counties | Cumberland,Sagadahoc,Kennebec | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Interstate 295 (I-295) is a 52-mile-long (84 km)auxiliary Interstate Highway in theUS state ofMaine fromI-95 inScarborough to I-95 inWest Gardiner. The highway was designated theRichard A. Coleman Highway in 2015 by theMaine Legislature. The highway serves as a bypass ofLewiston–Auburn and serves thePortland metropolitan area. It takes a more direct route between Portland andAugusta, the state capital, than its parent I-95. It also is toll-free, unlike I-95, which carries the tolled Maine Turnpike.
I-295 branches off from exit 44 ofI-95 (Maine Turnpike) providing access to downtownPortland, Maine, and then generally follows the Atlantic coast andKennebec River until it merges back into I-95 inWest Gardiner 52 miles (84 km) to the north at exit 103.
After splitting from I-95, I-295 has atoll plaza just before its own exit 1. I-295's first exit is inSouth Portland, giving access toThe 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 theFore River, the highway passes through downtown Portland, which can be accessed via exits 4 through 8. North of the downtown area, I-295 crosses theTukey's Bridge over theBack Cove, after which US 1 departs at exit 9. Running parallel with US 1, I-295 meets the eastern terminus ofFalmouth Spur at exit 11 in the town ofFalmouth, with a southbound exit and northbound entrance. After passing throughYarmouth andFreeport, exit 28 provides access to the town ofBrunswick, 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 towardAugusta. As an Interstate Highway, all of I-295 is included in theNational Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.[2]
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 toTopsham, 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]
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 lesssequentially from south to north—there were skipped numbers, for example, there was no exit 23. After the changes the exits renumbered tomile-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]
The speed limit on I-295 on the section pastTukey's Bridge to mile 51 inGardiner 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 theMaine Legislature allowing theMaine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) to set speed limits on Interstate highways with the approval of theMaine 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 toTopsham on March 27, 2017.[6]
In 2015, theMaine Legislature unanimously voted to name the highway's entire length for Richard A. Coleman, aMaineDOT employee since 1956, who has been involved with many Maine transportation projects. He was involved in projects ranging from Maine's Interstates to thePenobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory. Coleman declined comment on the naming, only telling theKennebec Journal that while the naming is humbling, he found it uncomfortable. Maine SenatorRoger 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]
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 aMaine State Trooper in an accident.[8]
| County | Location[9] | mi[9] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | Scarborough | 0.00 | 0.00 |   I-95 south /Maine Turnpike south –Kittery | Southern terminus; exit 44 on I-95 / Turnpike | |
| 0.55 | 0.89 | Toll plaza | ||||
| South Portland | 1.26 | 2.03 | 1 |   ToUS 1 (SR 9) –South Portland | Northbound exit only; access viaSR 703 | |
    ToI-95 north /Maine Turnpike north /Maine Mall Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access viaSR 703; last southbound exit before toll | |||||
| 1.99 | 3.20 | 2 |  ToUS 1 south (SR 9 west) –Scarborough,Old Orchard Beach | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access viaSR 701 | ||
| 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 exit and southbound entrance | ||
| US 1 south (Main Street) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern end of US 1 concurrency | |||||
| South Portland–Portland line | 3.70 | 5.95 | Fore River | |||
| Portland | 4.46 | 7.18 | 5 |   US 1A /SR 22 (Congress Street) | Signed as exits 5A (east) and 5B (west) southbound | |
| 5.35 | 8.61 | 6 |    US 302 west /SR 100 (Forest Avenue) | Signed as exits 6A (south) and 6B (north/west); eastern terminus of US 302 | ||
| 5.89 | 9.48 | 7 | US 1A (Franklin Street) | |||
| 6.57 | 10.57 | 8 |  SR 26 south (Washington Avenue) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern end of SR 26 concurrency | ||
| 6.6 | 10.6 | Tukey's Bridge overBack Cove | ||||
| 6.73 | 10.83 | 8 |  SR 26 north (Washington Avenue) | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of SR 26 concurrency | ||
| 6.97 | 11.22 | 9 | US 1 south /SR 26 north (Washington Avenue) /Baxter Boulevard | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 7.12 | 11.46 | US 1 north –Falmouth Foreside | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of US 1 concurrency | |||
| Falmouth | 9.45 | 15.21 | Ryan Quirion Guthrie Bridge over thePresumpscot River | |||
| 10.62 | 17.09 | 10 | Bucknam Road toI-95 /Maine Turnpike /US 1 /SR 9 –Falmouth,Cumberland | I-95/Cumberland not signed southbound | ||
| 11.00 | 17.70 | 11 | ToI-95 /Maine Turnpike –New Hampshire,Massachusetts | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access viaFalmouth Spur | ||
| 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 not signed southbound | ||
| Yarmouth–Freeport line | 17.98 | 28.94 | Cousins River | |||
| Freeport | 20.65 | 33.23 | 20 | US 1 / Desert Road –Freeport | US 1 not signed northbound | |
| 22.25 | 35.81 | 22 |   SR 125 /SR 136 (Mallet Drive) –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 | 31 |  SR 196 (Lewiston Road) –Topsham,Brunswick,Lisbon,Lewiston | Signed as exits 31A (east) and 31B (west) southbound; Brunswick/Lewiston not signed northbound; access toBates College |
| 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 | Last northbound exit before toll | |
| 51.70 | 83.20 | Toll plaza | ||||
| 52.27 | 84.12 | – | I-95 north /Maine Turnpike north –Augusta,Waterville | Northern terminus; exit 103 on I-95 / Turnpike | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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