Interstate 295 (Maine)

Interstate 295
Richard A. Coleman Highway
Route information
Maintained by MaineDOT
Length:	53.11 mi[1] (85.47 km)
Existed:	1960 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I‑95 / Maine Turnpike in Scarborough
North end:	I‑95 / Maine Turnpike in West Gardiner
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Maine State Highway System Interstate U.S. State ← SR 238 US 302 →

Northbound in Portland, Maine

Interstate 295 (I-295) is a 53.11-mile (85.47 km)-long auxiliary route in the U.S. 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.

Route description

Interstate 295 branches off from exit 44 of Interstate 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.

I-295's first exit is in South Portland, giving access to the Maine Mall (southbound) and U.S. 1 in South Portland and Scarborough (northbound); its last exit is Exit 51 (formerly Exit 28), which gives access to Gardiner. The route starts at Exit 44 (formerly Exit 6A) of I-95, and it has toll plazas just before its own Exit 1, and between Exit 51 and its northern terminus at I-95.

In 2015, the Maine Legislature unanimously voted to name the highway's entire length for Richard A. Coleman, a Maine Department of Transportation 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 Sen. 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." ^[2]

History

1960 to 2004

From its inception in 1960 to 2004, I-295 was an 11.02-mile (17.73 km) long route branching off the Maine Turnpike/I-95 to pass through downtown Portland. Four miles north of Portland the through freeway became I-95 at the junction with the Falmouth Spur, a connector carrying I-95 westward to the Maine Turnpike (I-95 and I-495(Former) at its Exit 9.

2004 extension

In 2004, to clear up confusion, I-95 was re-designated 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. The 4-mile (6.4 km) long Falmouth Spur officially became I-495 but was left unsigned.^[3]

At the same time, the exits were re-numbered; 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 re-numbered to mile-log in relation to the Scarborough junction, except for the exits in Portland and South Portland, which remained the same. Exits on Maine's I-95 were similarly re-numbered based on mileage.

Speed limits

The speed limit on Interstate 295 on the section past Tukey's Bridge to mile 51 in Gardiner was raised from 65 mph to 70 mph 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 to unilaterally set speed limits on Interstate highways with the approval of the Maine State Police, instead of appealing to the Legislature. ^[4]

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Cumberland	Scarborough	0.00	0.00			I‑95 south	Southbound I-295 drivers wishing to take I-95 north must take exit 1; I-295 south mainline merges with I-95 south, north exit 44; southern terminus
	South Portland	1.3	2.1	-	1	To US 1 / I‑95 – Maine Turnpike, Maine Mall Road	Northbound exit to Broadway and US 1: southbound exit to Maine Mall Road and I-95; northbound entrance from I-95 and Maine Mall Road
		2.0	3.2	-	2	To US 1 / SR 9 (Scarborough Connector)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		2.2	3.5	-	3	SR 9 (Westbrook Street)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		3.2	5.1	-	4	US 1 south (Main Street) / Veterans Memorial Bridge	Southern end of US 1 concurrency; northbound exit to Veterans Memorial Bridge; southbound exit to US 1 (Main Street); US 1 removed from Veterans Memorial Bridge in May 2007
	Portland	4.3	6.9	-	5	US 1A north (Fore River Parkway) / SR 22 (Congress Street)	Signed as exits 5A (east) and 5B (west) southbound
				-	6	US 302 (Forest Avenue) / SR 100	Signed as exits 6A (south) and 6B (north); US 1 removed from Forest Avenue in May 2007
				-	7	US 1A south (Franklin Street)
				-	8	SR 26 (Washington Avenue)	SR 26 concurency for about ^1⁄4 mile (0.40 km)
				-	9	US 1 north (Veranda Street) / Baxter Boulevard	Northern end of US 1 concurrency; US 1 removed from Baxter Boulevard in May 2007
	Falmouth				10	Bucknam Road	To I-95 (Maine Turnpike), US 1, and SR 9
				15	11	I‑95 (Maine Turnpike) – New Hampshire, Massachusetts	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former terminus of I-295; formerly I-95; unsigned I-495
	Yarmouth			16	15	US 1	Northbound entrance added August 2013
				17	17	US 1
	Freeport			19	20	Desert Road
				22	22	SR 125 (Mallet Drive) / SR 136
				21	24	US 1	Northbound exit and entrance
	Brunswick			22	28	To US 1
Sagadahoc	Topsham			24	31	SR 196 (Lewiston Road)	Signed as exits 31A (east) and 31B (west) southbound
	Bowdoinham			25	37	SR 125 / SR 138
	Richmond			26	43	SR 197
Kennebec	Gardiner			27	49	US 201
	West Gardiner			28	51	SR 9 / SR 126	Access from northbound I-295 to southbound I-95
		53.11	85.47	29		I‑95 north	I-295 northbound mainline merges with I-95 northbound, south exit 103; northern terminus; the toll is $1.00 for most vehicles to continue on to I-95
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. Floodgap Roadgap's RoadsAroundME
2. Koeing, Paul (April 20, 2015). "Interstate 295 to be named after Augusta resident, longtime transportation worker". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
3. "It's Time to Clear Up the confusion: Maine Interstate Re-designation 2004" (PDF). MaineDOT. May 20, 2003. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
4. Koeing, Paul (May 27, 2014). "Speed limit increasing by 5 mph on parts of I-295, I-95". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved May 27, 2014.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

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