Interstate 495 (Maine)

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Interstate 495
Unsigned auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System

Length:

3.7 mi^[1] (6 km)

Formed:

November 5, 2002 by AASHTO^[2]
January 2004 on signage^[3]

West end:

I-95 in Portland, ME

East end:

I-295/US 1 in Falmouth, ME

State Routes in Maine

Interstate 495 (abbreviated I-495) is the unsigned designation for the Falmouth Spur, a short freeway connecting Interstate 95 with Interstate 295 and U.S. Route 1 north of Portland, Maine, United States. As part of the Maine Turnpike, the main line of which carries Interstate 95, I-495 is a toll road. The spur has only two interchanges - one at each end - and a toll booth in the middle. It is signed only for its destinations - I-95, I-295 and US 1^[4] - to minimize driver confusion.^[5]

Prior to January 2004, Interstate 495 was an 50.47-mile^[6] (81.22 km) section of the Maine Turnpike, running from the west end of the Falmouth Spur (which carried Interstate 95) north to the present junction with Interstate 295 at Gardiner (south of Augusta). This was re-signed as I-95 in order to designate the whole Turnpike as I-95 and thus reduce confusion.^[7] Most of the former I-95 between Portland and Augusta became an extension of Interstate 295, while the short Falmouth Spur was given the unsigned Interstate 495 designation.

Destinations on signs (control cities) are the same as when it was part of I-95 - Falmouth and Freeport for eastbound traffic from I-95, and Lewiston and Kittery (one for each direction of the Turnpike) for westbound traffic from US 1. Signs on I-295 southbound point traffic for New Hampshire, Massachusetts and "points south" along I-495.^[4]

MUTCD-compliant mile markers proceed easterly from the western end with the letters FS (for Falmouth Spur) horizontally on a line below the word MILE and range from 0 to 3.

1 History
2 Exit list
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

The Falmouth Spur was built as part of the second phase - Portland to Augusta - of the Maine Turnpike, opened December 13, 1955,^[8] as well to allieviate traffic on Falmouth Road, the town's east to west connector, connecting Route 9 (Middle Road) and Routes 26 and 100 (Gray Road). The spur connected interchange 8, a trumpet interchange with the mainline Turnpike, with interchange 9, another trumpet at U.S. Route 1 in Falmouth. (The west end later became exit 9 - exit 8 was moved south to the new Westbrook interchange - and the east end became exit 15 on I-95.) The toll booth was just west of US 1, right where the Spur now crosses over Interstate 295.^[9]^[10] The part of US 1 that it connected to had been built ca. 1948 as a realignment (old US 1 is Route 88), and the Spur connected the Turnpike, which headed inland at Portland, with US 1, a major route to and beyond Brunswick via the shore.^[11]

When the Interstate Highway System was designed in the 1940s and 1950s, the main route along the east coast, numbered Interstate 95 in 1957, was assigned to the route via Brunswick to Augusta. Thus the Falmouth Spur became I-95, and the Turnpike was unnumbered between the Spur and Gardiner. Ca. 1960, the piece of I-95 (now I-295) north of the Spur was completed, and a partial interchange was added at its crossing with the Spur.^[11] The toll booth was moved west at that time.

The Turnpike stayed unnumbered between Falmouth and Gardiner until around 1988, when it was added to the Interstate System as I-495.^[12] This allowed it to have a speed limit higher than the National Maximum Speed Limit of 55 miles per hour, as per the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987.

In 2002, the Maine Department of Transportation submitted a proposal to the American Association of State Highway Officials to relocate I-95 along I-495 and extend I-295 along I-95 to Gardiner, leaving the Falmouth Spur unnumbered. This was approved by AASHTO on November 5, 2002, with one change - the Falmouth Spur was assigned the Interstate 495 designation.^[2] The Maine DOT and Maine Turnpike Authority decided not to sign or publicize I-495 to minimize confusion;^[5] maps of the changes distributed to the public included the remark "existing I-95 becomes a ramp" or just "Falmouth Spur" pointing to the Spur. Signs were changed from January 5 to January 10, 2004^[3]^[7] A prominent sign was posted near the New Hampshire state line informing travelers of the change, and that the information center had new maps.^[4]

[edit] Exit list

The exit list of this U.S. road-related article needs to be cleaned up to conform to the exit list guide. After the exit list has been cleaned up, you may remove this message. For help, see How to Edit a Page, Category:Wikipedia help and the exit list guide.

Municipality	Destinations	Notes
Portland	Interstate 95; Maine Turnpike Auburn; Lewiston; Portland; Kittery	westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Falmouth	Falmouth barrier toll	60 cents both directions
	Interstate 295 north - Freeport; Brunswick	eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	U.S. Route 1 to Interstate 295 south - Falmouth	eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former exits 15A (US 1 south) and 15B (US 1 north)

[edit] See also

	edit Auxiliary routes of Interstate 95
	Current and Future (F)	Former
	Florida - Maine - Maryland - Massachusetts/Rhode Island - New Jersey - Virginia
	Delaware/New Jersey - District of Columbia/Maryland - Florida - Massachusetts/Rhode Island - Maine - New York - North Carolina - Virginia
	Connecticut/Massachusetts - District of Columbia/Virginia - Florida - Maryland - Maine
	Delaware - District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia - Maine - Massachusetts - New York	New Jersey - Pennsylvania
	Florida - Maryland	Virginia
	District of Columbia - Maryland - New York	Massachusetts - New Jersey - Pennsylvania
	Florida (F) - Maryland	Virginia
	Maryland - New York	Delaware - New Jersey/Pennsylvania - Rhode Island/Massachusetts - Virginia