Entering Maine in 1976, courtesy Michael Summa. Maine's traditional font still graces the MILE and EXIT numbers (that was an experiment shared by Rhode Island, among other states, but RI has eliminated the last traces of the dual system along I-295 (click and you'll still see them). Michael Summa says this font is LeHay. All I know is, you can't order it for your highway signs anymore.


The Piscataqua River Bridge, I-95's crossing from New Hampshire, seen from US 1.


This sign suggest the Coastal Route is an alternative to I-95, the Maine Turnpike and the implied Inland Route. Believe me, not only is the Coastal Route much longer and slower, but it manages to be even less scenic despite the fact that it hugs the ocean. Courtesy Doug Kerr.

Notice that Maine puts state names into Interstate shields as we head SB:


I-95 used to run along a small part of the Maine Turnpike (most of it was I-495). Now the entire Turnpike is I-95 in a fit of thoughtfulness by MaineDOT. Notice the old tollbooth overhead; it exists in both directions over the middle lane.


There used to be two Exit 2's on I-95, this one for By-Pass 1 and one on the ME Turnpike. But now the Turnpike uses mileage-based and not sequential numbering, so there is no more Exit 2. There still is duplication of other numbers, though.


A typical Maine Turnpike shield, except I don't think most of them have travel condition information phone numbers in their lower halves. Courtesy HNTB Corp.


SB near Augusta up to the Maine Turnpike. Until the 2000's, I-95 followed the free alternative down to Portland and I-495 was on the Turnpike. Maine decided that it was missing out on revenue by having through traffic following their favorite route on the free road and so made the switch. I-295 was the big winner, gaining the mileage all the way up from Portland. I-495 was the big loser, becoming the unsigned connection from I-95 to 295 that used to be the I-95 mainline on the north side of Portland. This was probably done so that people would not try to follow the old route. Almost every Interstate shield in the state has the state name, which is good. US shields with black backgrounds on highway signs are bad.


More northerly SB photos near Bangor. On the BGS, it looks like a regular-size ME 15 shield belongs on top instead of these two afterthoughts. You then see CT 15 on I-95, but for as many miles as they're parallel, you never see those routes together in Connecticut itself.


Mt. Katahdin, meaning "The Greatest Mountain" and aptly so, for it's the highest in the state. It's also the end of the Appalachian Trail. So since this is a SB photo, I'm north of the Appalachians. No one lives up here, so for administrative purposes, counties are divided into Ranges (the R) and then Towns (the T). One imagines the towns would have interesting slogans to attract tourism. "Welcome to scenic T2-R8, home of R2-D2?"


At the northernmost tourist information center east of the Great Lakes (technically on US 1), Maine celebrates a joke at its own expense. There are several Interstates in Maine, but all of them are branches of I-95. Because I-92 and I-98 have never gotten started, it's likely to remain that way. So celebrate I-95 with MaineDOT.


Leaving the information center.


Starting the way I began, in 1976 with Michael Summa's photos. One is approaching the border, the other is heading back into the U.S. The Maine Turnpike didn't appear to use button copy, but MaineDOT sure did. Notice that I-95 is still only two lanes - this is one of the lowest-volume Interstate sections in the United States, so it was a low priority to dualize the carriageway.

Follow I-95 into New Hampshire
Exit 1 to ME 103
Exit 2 to By-Pass US 1
Exit 2 or 22 to US 1
Exit 103 to I-295
Exit 133 to US 201
The Maine Turnpike on Steve Anderson's bostonroads.com
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