The new exit numbers will correspond to mile markers.
By Scott Taylor
Staff Writer

State transportation officials are set to push aside historical highway designations for labels that make more sense.

The corridor that runs from Kittery, through Auburn and Lewiston, and on up to Houlton will be renamed Interstate 95 for the entire stretch. The spur that breaks off between Scarborough and Gardiner, running through Portland and Brunswick, will become Interstate 295.

The name I-495 goes away for good, said Turnpike Authority spokesman Dan Paradis.

“We’re just doing it for simplicity’s sake,” Paradis said.

It’s part of an effort by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority to make travel through the state by car less complex, he said.

I-95 and I-295 split in Scarborough. I-95 splits again in Falmouth and veers east to meet up again with I-295 in Yarmouth. The stretch from Falmouth to Gardiner through Lewiston-Auburn is called I-495.

“There is a logical explanation for it being the way that is, but it’s hard to figure out,” Paradis said. “It doesn’t make any sense from a driver’s point of view. Think about it. You travel up on I-95 from Kittery, but you have to exit the turnpike in Falmouth to stay on I-95.”

The old names were held over from when the original turnpike to Portland was built in 1947, Paradis said.

“Then, the interstate highway I-95 was extended up to Brunswick and Gardiner, and the turnpike was extended through Lewiston,” Paradis said. “But since the name I-95 was already taken, they needed another name for the extension. It became 495.”

Paradis said crews will begin changing signs on Jan. 5 and plan to be finished by Jan. 15.

“There will be a week in there when we’ll be in limbo, with both kinds of signs in some places,” Paradis said. “That could make it a little interesting.”

Simplification efforts continue on May 15, when crews begin renumbering highway exits. The new exits will be named based on their mileage from Kittery, not the number of exits. Under the new plan, Auburn’s exit 12 becomes exit 75. Lewiston’s exit 13 becomes exit 80.

“That’s always been a source of confusion,” Paradis said. “It really is a trend to do it this way. Pennsylvania is going through the same thing right now, and there are 37 other states that are set up in a similar way.”

The Turnpike Authority hopes to have all of the exits renumbered before Memorial Day – just in time for the first phalanx of summer tourists.

staylor@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link