U.S. Route 2

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U.S. Route 2

Length:

2579 mi^[1] (4150 km)
west: 2119 mi (3410 km) - east: 460 mi (740 km)

Formed:

1926^[1]

West end:

SR 529 in Everett, WA

Major
junctions:

I-5 in Everett, WA

I-90 in Spokane, WA

I-15 near Shelby, MT

I-29 in Grand Forks, ND

US 71 in Bemidji, MN

I-35 in Duluth, MN

I-75 near St. Ignace, MI

US 11 in Rouses Point, NY

I-89 in South Burlington, VT

I-91 in St. Johnsbury, VT

East end:

I-95 near Houlton, ME

United States Numbered Highways
U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 2 is an east-west U.S. Route. As its number indicates, it is the northernmost east-west U.S. Route. US 2 is the designation of two very distinct routes along the northern edges of the country -- but while some routes were truncated because of encroaching Interstate highways, US 2 has been split since it was commissioned in the original 1926 highway plan. However, formerly a route was marked through Canada connecting the two segments of US 2; see the article section on Canada.

1 Eastern segment
2 Western segment
3 Canada
4 Related US routes
5 References

[edit] Eastern segment

The eastern segment of US 2 traverses the northern New England states.^[2]

[edit] Termini

As of April 2006, the highway's eastern terminus is in Houlton, Maine at its interchange with Interstate 95 near the Canadian border. Interstate 95 then takes traffic to the Canada border, and the route continues as New Brunswick Highway 95. Five miles (eight kilometers) into Canada, this route intersects with Trans-Canada Highway (New Brunswick Highway 2). Its western terminus is in Rouses Point, New York, at US 11, again about one mile from the Canadian border. US 11 continues from there to the border; US 2 does not.

[edit] Historic information

Before being designated as US 2, most of the current alignment was called New England Interstate Route 15 (from Danville, Vermont eastward to Maine). The portion of the old Route 15 that did not become part of US 2 was designated as Vermont Route 15.

Other sections of US 2 in Vermont that were not part of New England Route 15 were parts of other former New England Interstate routes: Route 18 between Montpelier and Danville; Route 14 between Burlington and Montpelier; and Route 30 between Alburgh and Burlington.

[edit] Alternate routes

US 2A (marked on some maps as Alternate US 2) has an eastern terminus in Houlton, Maine, just two miles (3 km) from the start of the main line route. It rejoins US 2 in Macwahoc. While the main line of US 2 runs parallel to Interstate 95 for a while before heading south, Alternate US 2 veers to the south and east to serve an isolated area of the state. There is also another US 2A connecting Old Town and Orono, Maine, primarily serving the University of Maine campus.

[edit] States traversed

The highway passes through the following states:


Miles	Km	State
273	439	Maine
35	58	New Hampshire
151	241	Vermont
1	2	New York

460	740	Total

[edit] Cities

Notable cities along the route include:

[edit] Western segment

The western segment of US 2 extends from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan across the northern tier of the lower 48 states.

[edit] Termini

As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in St. Ignace, Michigan at an intersection with Interstate 75.

Its western terminus is in Everett, Washington at its intersection with Maple Street (State Route 529), where it runs along California Street westbound and Hewitt Avenue eastbound.^[3].^[4] The roadway then ascends to a short freeway, and has an interchange with Interstate 5 0.13 miles east of this terminus.

[edit] Historic information

US Route 2 was built in 1957 and coincided with the construction of other present-day segments of I-75 (Fenton-Clio Expressway and Detroit-Toledo Expressway). It never had an official name.

The original termini of this expressway were Castle Rock (near St. Ignace) and M-123 (near Moran). As I-75 closed its discontiguous gaps along with the construction of the Mackinac Bridge, this segment of freeway became part of I-75 and the national freeway system. US 2 ran concurrent with I-75 until 1984 when US 2 was truncated to the south end to avoid duplication of signage.

When the US-2 freeway and the Mackinac Bridge had a gap present, the end of the highway feeding to/from the Mackinac Bridge had a simple trumpet junction at US-2. When that freeway gap was filled in, the ramp from the trumpet that headed from US 2 westbound to southbound converted to a ramp for (present-day I-75) northbound to reduce concrete/asphalt obliteration.

In 1971, US 2 was realigned on a new eight mile expressway bypassing Escanaba, Michigan. MDOT documents show that it was originally intended to be a full freeway, but the grade separations were never built.

On westbound US-2 just west of I-75, a sign warns motorists that the route is not a freeway and should not be traveled on as if it was such.

[edit] States traversed

The highway passes through the following states:

[edit] Cities

Notable cities along the route include:

[edit] Notable Intersections

Interstate 5 in Everett, WA
U.S. Route 97 near Cashmere, WA
Interstate 90, U.S. Route 395, U.S. Route 195 in Spokane, WA
U.S. Route 95 in Sandpoint, ID
U.S. Route 93 in Kalispell, MT
U.S. Route 89 in Browning, MT
Interstate 29 in Grand Forks, ND
Interstate 35 (near its Northern terminus) in Duluth, MN
U.S. Route 51 (Northern terminus) in Hurley, WI
Stevens Pass (near western terminus) in the Cascade Range, Washington State

[edit] Legal Definition

The Minnesota section of U.S. 2 is defined as Routes 8 and 203 in Minnesota Statutes §§ 161.114(2) and 161.115(134). [1],[2] The Washington section of U.S. 2 is defined at Washington Revised Code § 47.17.005.[3]

[edit] Notes

At the crossing between Wisconsin and Minnesota, the highway crosses the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge, about 8,300 feet (2,500 m) in length—roughly 11,800 feet (3,600 m) in length when the above land approaches are included.

The portion of U.S. 2 from Cass Lake, Minnesota to Bemidji, Minnesota is officially designated the Paul Bunyan Expressway.

In Rugby, North Dakota, the highway passes the location designated in 1931 as the geographical center of North America. The monument marking the geographic center had to be relocated in 1971 when Route 2 was converted from 2 lanes to 4 lanes.^[5]

The Adventure Cycling Association's Northern Tier bicycle touring route follows or parallels US-2 for over 600 miles (965 km) , most notably a 550 mi (885km) stretch between Columbia Falls, Montana and Williston, North Dakota

[edit] Canada

Currently, the east end of the west segment is on I-75 at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (south of the Canadian border), and the west end of the east segment is at the border. Until the 1960s at the latest, a route marked as TO US 2 was minimally signed along the Trans-Canada Highway and other roads through Ontario and Quebec, linking the two segments. The connection used roughly followed Highway 17 in Ontario and Autoroute 40 and Autoroute 15 in Quebec.^[6]

[edit] Related US routes

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b US Highways From US 1 to US 830 Robert V. Droz.
^ Endpoints of US highways: Eastern Segment
^ State Highway Log, Washington State Department of Transportation, 2005 B
^ Endpoints of US highways: Western Segment
^ Rugby Area Chamber of Commerce, Geographical Center of North America
^ Ron Wilbanks (2003-05-02). "The exact route of former TO-US 2 in Quebec". misc.transport.road. (Google Groups).

		edit Main U.S. Routes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
40	41	42	43	44	45	46		48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
80	81	82	83	84	85		87		89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
101		163						400				412				425
Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

Browse numbered routes
< US 830	WA	SR 3 >
< SH 1	ID	SH 3 >
< MT 1	MT	MT 3 >
< ND-1	ND	ND-3 >
< MN 1	MN	MN 3 >
< I-894	WI	US 8 >
< M-1	MI	M-3 >
< NY 1B	NY	NY 2 >
< VT F-5	VT	VT 2A >
< NH 1B	NH	US 3 >
< US 1A	ME	US 2A >
< Route 14	N.E.	Route 16 >