Misplaced Pages

#410589

108-684: Interstate 95 ( I-95 ) is an Interstate Highway on the east coast of the United States , connecting Florida to Maine . Within the state of New Hampshire , it serves the Seacoast Region and is a toll road named the Blue Star Turnpike or New Hampshire Turnpike . The 16-mile (26 km) turnpike is maintained by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) Bureau of Turnpikes and has

216-556: A New Deal project. A modern turnpike through the Seacoast Region was proposed in the early 1940s as part of a New England regional network that would connect with the Maine Turnpike , which had been announced in 1941 and opened in 1947. Several seacoast towns voiced their opposition, due to fears that traffic would bypass New Hampshire's beaches, and instead favored widening US 1. The state legislature established

324-535: A concurrency or overlap. For example, I‑75 and I‑85 share the same roadway in Atlanta ; this 7.4-mile (11.9 km) section, called the Downtown Connector , is labeled both I‑75 and I‑85. Concurrencies between Interstate and US Highway numbers are also allowed in accordance with AASHTO policy, as long as the length of the concurrency is reasonable. In rare instances, two highway designations sharing

432-447: A $ 400,000 surplus (equivalent to $ 4.02 million in 2023) that was returned to the state government by the turnpike authority. Business owners in seacoast towns along US 1 reported major losses in sales following the turnpike's opening as 60 percent of traffic bypassed various towns. Traffic on US 1 later recovered to its original volume by the end of 1951. The Blue Star Turnpike was one of several toll roads grandfathered into

540-651: A 28-year-old brevet lieutenant colonel, accompanied the trip "through darkest America with truck and tank," as he later described it. Some roads in the West were a "succession of dust, ruts, pits, and holes." As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act). This new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $ 75 million allocated annually. Moreover, this new legislation for

648-476: A change in the numbering system as a result of a new policy adopted in 1973. Previously, letter-suffixed numbers were used for long spurs off primary routes; for example, western I‑84 was I‑80N, as it went north from I‑80 . The new policy stated, "No new divided numbers (such as I-35W and I-35E , etc.) shall be adopted." The new policy also recommended that existing divided numbers be eliminated as quickly as possible; however, an I-35W and I-35E still exist in

756-486: A former business associate, Charles Morse, who was an associate with the engineering firm that designed portions of the tollway for an inflated price. Morse was fired from his position later that month by Frank Merrill , the new state highway commissioner and former U.S. Army general . Amid the investigations, the state legislature approved an additional $ 280,000 in contingency funds (equivalent to $ 2.84 million in 2023) that would also be used to expand an interchange on

864-779: A maximum of 98,000 vehicles near the Spaulding Turnpike. The corridor is also served by several private intercity bus operators and public transit systems, including the Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation . During the summer months, the highway peaks at 125,000 daily vehicles and becomes routinely congested as weekend vacationers from the Greater Boston area travel to destinations in New Hampshire and Maine. The earliest roads traversing New Hampshire's Seacoast were constructed in

972-595: A national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 . In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established, creating the first national road numbering system for cross-country travel. The roads were state-funded and maintained, and there were few national standards for road design. United States Numbered Highways ranged from two-lane country roads to multi-lane freeways. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed

1080-465: A new interchange at Market Street in an area marked for urban renewal . On June 24, 1970, four construction workers on the bridge fell to their deaths when a platform gave way on the Maine approach. Traffic volumes on the turnpike grew to an average of over 12,700 vehicles per day by 1962, prompting state officials to propose an expansion. Plans for the new Piscataqua River Bridge had already included

1188-589: A numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes which branch off of longer ones are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself is funded by a combination of a federal fuel tax and transfers from the Treasury's general fund. Though federal legislation initially banned

SECTION 10

#1732776240411

1296-554: A pair of state-run liquor stores operated by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission . The northbound Hampton outlet is considered the state's flagship store , with annual sales of $ 33.5 million, and largely serves out-of-state customers. The turnpike passes through the town of Hampton, where it crosses under NH 27 and reaches its sole toll plaza at exit 2. The exit includes an interchange with NH 101 , which provides connections from

1404-491: A proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in the enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 . Unlike the earlier United States Numbered Highway System, the interstates were designed to be all freeways, with nationally unified standards for construction and signage. While some older freeways were adopted into the system, most of the routes were completely new. In dense urban areas,

1512-555: A provisional interchange near Hampton to connect with a future expressway serving Exeter (now NH 101). An additional spur route connecting the south end of the highway to US 1 in Salisbury, Massachusetts, was constructed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Works . The Blue Star Turnpike was dedicated on June 24, 1950, by Governor Adams and local officials in a ceremony attended by 5,000 people. It

1620-559: A report called Toll Roads and Free Roads , "the first formal description of what became the Interstate Highway System" and, in 1944, the similarly themed Interregional Highways . The Interstate Highway System gained a champion in President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was influenced by his experiences as a young Army officer crossing the country in the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy that drove in part on

1728-548: A single toll plaza near Hampton . The Blue Star Turnpike begins near the Massachusetts state line in the town of Seabrook and travels north through Hampton and its neighboring municipalities. It then continues around Portsmouth and crosses the Piscataqua River Bridge at the Maine state line, where it becomes the Maine Turnpike . New Hampshire's portion of I-95 is the shortest of any state that

1836-409: A single digit prefixed to the two-digit number of its parent Interstate Highway. Spur routes deviate from their parent and do not return; these are given an odd first digit. Circumferential and radial loop routes return to the parent, and are given an even first digit. Unlike primary Interstates, three-digit Interstates are signed as either east–west or north–south, depending on the general orientation of

1944-801: A speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) because it is a parkway that consists of only one lane per side of the highway. On the other hand, Interstates 15, 80, 84, and 215 in Utah have speed limits as high as 70 mph (115 km/h) within the Wasatch Front , Cedar City , and St. George areas, and I-25 in New Mexico within the Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas along with I-20 in Texas along Odessa and Midland and I-29 in North Dakota along

2052-460: A speed limit of 80 mph (130 km/h). Other Interstates in Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming also have the same high speed limits. In some areas, speed limits on Interstates can be significantly lower in areas where they traverse significantly hazardous areas. The maximum speed limit on I-90 is 50 mph (80 km/h) in downtown Cleveland because of two sharp curves with

2160-474: A suggested limit of 35 mph (55 km/h) in a heavily congested area; I-70 through Wheeling, West Virginia , has a maximum speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) through the Wheeling Tunnel and most of downtown Wheeling; and I-68 has a maximum speed limit of 40 mph (65 km/h) through Cumberland, Maryland , because of multiple hazards including sharp curves and narrow lanes through

2268-523: A temporary injunction requested by the New Hampshire Gas and Electric Company to allow for the relocation of utility poles in the highway's right-of-way. State highway engineer Daniel Dickenson resigned from his position in August 1949, following an investigation ordered by governor Sherman Adams into the awarding of a design contract for the turnpike project. Dickenson received payments from

SECTION 20

#1732776240411

2376-622: A wider approach, while the south end at the Massachusetts state line was rebuilt as an eight-lane highway in 1968. A 1969 report to the state legislature recommended the addition of four lanes to the existing turnpike and reconstruction of the Hampton toll plaza at a cost of $ 3 million (equivalent to $ 19.1 million in 2023). The widening of the New Hampshire Turnpike to eight lanes began in early 1973 and required

2484-543: Is also commonly believed the Interstate Highway System was built for the sole purpose of evacuating cities in the event of nuclear warfare . While military motivations were present, the primary motivations were civilian. The numbering scheme for the Interstate Highway System was developed in 1957 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The association's present numbering policy dates back to August 10, 1973. Within

2592-660: Is at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle , intersecting with Interstate 95 and the US 1 Bypass . The northern terminus is at the Maine state line near Wentworth Location , where it continues as Maine State Route 16 . There are three auxiliary routes of NH 16, two loops labeled 16A and one labeled 16B. For the section of NH 16 between Portsmouth and Milton , see the Spaulding Turnpike article. From Milton , NH 16 continues north, roughly paralleling

2700-489: Is entirely located within Rockingham County and is generally eight lanes wide. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation , which maintains the highway through its Bureau of Turnpikes , measures traffic volumes at various points that are expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic . Traffic volumes on I-95 within the state in 2015 ranged from a minimum of 63,000 vehicles southwest of Portsmouth to

2808-473: Is known as Black Mountain Road, Moody Farm Road, and Carter Notch Road. The entire route has also been known as Five Mile Circuit Road, in reference to its length. In addition to its present designation, NH 16B has been assigned to several old alignments of NH 16, but those other routes are no longer officially designated as such. In Ossipee , NH 16B was once the designation for an old alignment of NH 16 through

2916-550: Is not signed as such anywhere along the route. This is a rare instance of a hidden route in New Hampshire and is interesting in that a duplicate state numbering has been given precedence over a unique federal one. The northern segment of NH 16A is a loop road in Jackson that is 1.029 miles (1.656 km) long. This road leaves NH 16, travels east to meet both the southern and northern termini of NH 16B (separated by just 500 feet (150 m)) and returns to NH 16, passing through

3024-613: Is now the northern stretch of NH 108. In Rochester, NH 16 used the present alignment of NH 125 through downtown and north into Milton where it met the current alignment north of the Turnpike. After NH 16 was rerouted, the section between downtown Dover and NH 125 in Rochester became a northward extension of NH 108. From downtown Rochester the alignment to Milton is now part of NH 125. Between the Rochester/Milton town line and

3132-539: Is to have the highway route extend from Tamaulipas , Mexico to Ontario , Canada. The planned I-11 will then bridge the Interstate gap between Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada , and thus form part of the CANAMEX Corridor (along with I-19 , and portions of I-10 and I-15 ) between Sonora , Mexico and Alberta , Canada. Political opposition from residents canceled many freeway projects around

3240-474: The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas, and an I-35W and I-35E that run through Minneapolis and Saint Paul , Minnesota, still exist. Additionally, due to Congressional requirements, three sections of I-69 in southern Texas will be divided into I-69W , I-69E , and I-69C (for Central). AASHTO policy allows dual numbering to provide continuity between major control points. This is referred to as

3348-552: The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law. Under the act, the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost of construction of Interstate Highways. Each Interstate Highway was required to be a freeway with at least four lanes and no at-grade crossings. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways , informally known as the Yellow Book , mapped out what became

Interstate 95 in New Hampshire - Misplaced Pages Continue

3456-630: The Grand Forks area have higher speed limits of 75 mph (120 km/h). As one of the components of the National Highway System , Interstate Highways improve the mobility of military troops to and from airports, seaports, rail terminals, and other military bases. Interstate Highways also connect to other roads that are a part of the Strategic Highway Network , a system of roads identified as critical to

3564-676: The Interstate Highway System and designated as part of I-95 in 1957. The designation also included the Maine Turnpike to the north as well as a new freeway bypassing US 1 in northeastern Massachusetts that opened in September 1954 and connected Boston to the Blue Star Turnpike near Seabrook. The northern end at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle had an indirect connection to the Maine Turnpike, but

3672-802: The Interstate Highway System , or the Eisenhower Interstate System , is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States . The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii , Alaska , and Puerto Rico . In the 20th century, the United States Congress began funding roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , and started an effort to construct

3780-529: The Lincoln Highway , the first road across America. He recalled that, "The old convoy had started me thinking about good two-lane highways... the wisdom of broader ribbons across our land." Eisenhower also gained an appreciation of the Reichsautobahn system, the first "national" implementation of modern Germany's Autobahn network, as a necessary component of a national defense system while he

3888-534: The Piscataqua River Bridge began in February 1968 and cost $ 50 million (equivalent to $ 276 million in 2023). It opened on November 1, 1972, completing the missing 5-mile (8.0 km) link between the sections of I-95 in New Hampshire and Maine. The project also included an expanded interchange with the Spaulding Turnpike, allowing traffic to bypass the Portsmouth Traffic Circle, and

3996-486: The Portsmouth Circle . The freeway travels through the residential neighborhoods of western Portsmouth and intersects Market Street before crossing over the Piscataqua River Bridge into Maine , where it becomes the Maine Turnpike . The New Hampshire section of the highway is 16 miles (26 km) long, the shortest of any state on I-95, which traverses the entire U.S. East Coast from Florida to Maine. It

4104-487: The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant , at exit 1. The freeway continues as a toll road , named the Blue Star Turnpike and commonly known as the New Hampshire Turnpike, and parallels U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the inland areas of southeastern New Hampshire's Seacoast Region . In Hampton Falls , I-95 crosses over NH 84 and NH 88 without connecting interchanges; it then serves

4212-506: The US Department of Defense . The system has also been used to facilitate evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An option for maximizing traffic throughput on a highway is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side of a divider so that all lanes become outbound lanes. This procedure, known as contraflow lane reversal , has been employed several times for hurricane evacuations. After public outcry regarding

4320-470: The US Highways , which increase from east to west and north to south). This numbering system usually holds true even if the local direction of the route does not match the compass directions. Numbers divisible by five are intended to be major arteries among the primary routes, carrying traffic long distances. Primary north–south Interstates increase in number from I-5 between Canada and Mexico along

4428-553: The West Coast to I‑95 between Canada and Miami, Florida along the East Coast . Major west–east arterial Interstates increase in number from I-10 between Santa Monica, California , and Jacksonville, Florida , to I-90 between Seattle, Washington , and Boston, Massachusetts , with two exceptions. There are no I-50 and I-60, as routes with those numbers would likely pass through states that currently have US Highways with

Interstate 95 in New Hampshire - Misplaced Pages Continue

4536-527: The 17th century to connect Hampton to the Massachusetts Colony . They were later upgraded in the 18th century for stagecoach service and replaced by a toll road named "The Turnpike" that operated from 1810 to 1826. The toll road was purchased by the towns of Hampton and Hampton Falls in 1826 and renamed "Lafayette Road" for the Marquis de Lafayette in 1830. These roads were later acquired by

4644-486: The 1930s for a bypass that would connect with a new bridge over the Piscataqua River near Portsmouth. The US 1 Bypass was opened in 1940 as a divided highway with grade separation and traveled around Portsmouth, connecting to Maine via a new lift bridge . The highway and bridge cost $ 3 million to construct (equivalent to $ 51.1 million in 2023) and were partially funded by the federal government as

4752-576: The Congress Hotel in Chicago. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50,000-mile (80,000 km) system, consisting of five east–west routes and 10 north–south routes. The system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $ 25,000 per mile ($ 16,000/km), providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. In 1919, the US Army sent an expedition across

4860-528: The Hampton Side Toll Plaza, for traffic traveling to and from NH 101 with four lanes in each direction—two reserved for E-ZPass use and two with cash booths. As of 2020, two-axle vehicles using the turnpike are charged $ 2 in cash fare or $ 1.40 with an E-ZPass at the main Hampton toll plaza. Two-axle vehicles using the side toll plaza connected to NH 101 are charged $ 0.75 in cash or $ 0.53 with an E-ZPass. Traffic using other sections of

4968-515: The Interstate Highway System. Assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson , who was still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953. Some sections of highways that became part of the Interstate Highway System actually began construction earlier. Three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that

5076-493: The Interstate Highway program. The Interstates of Alaska and Puerto Rico are numbered sequentially in order of funding without regard to the rules on odd and even numbers. They also carry the prefixes A and PR , respectively. However, these highways are signed according to their local designations, not their Interstate Highway numbers. Furthermore, these routes were neither planned according to nor constructed to

5184-499: The Interstate passes through; the highway is the main thoroughfare between urban areas in Massachusetts and points in Maine. Construction of the turnpike was approved in 1947 and began a year later in an effort to bypass congestion on U.S. Route 1 (US 1), the main seacoast highway. It opened to traffic on June 24, 1950, and was later designated as part of I-95 in 1957. The northernmost section in Portsmouth, connecting to

5292-506: The Maine Turnpike, was left incomplete until the Piscataqua River Bridge opened in 1972. I-95 crosses into New Hampshire in the town of Seabrook , north of Salisbury, Massachusetts . The crossing includes a pair of welcome centers for the respective states and a southbound ramp serving a connector to Massachusetts Route 286 . The highway then intersects New Hampshire Route 107 (NH 107), which serves Seabrook and

5400-557: The Maine border. After crossing the border the road becomes Maine State Route 16 and heads east toward Rangeley . From 1922 until 1926, most of the original surface alignment of NH 16 from Portsmouth to the intersection with NH 26 in Errol was known as New England Interstate Route 16 , the "East Side Road". In 1926, the New England road marking system was superseded by the system of United States Numbered Highways , and many of

5508-671: The Maine border. In Wakefield , the road takes a turn to the northwest heading towards Ossipee . NH 16 turns back to a northerly heading near Tamworth , then makes a turn eastward in Albany to reach Conway . NH 16 turns north again in Conway, entering the region known as the Mount Washington Valley, and begins a concurrency with US 302 at the south end of the village of North Conway . North of North Conway, in Bartlett ,

SECTION 50

#1732776240411

5616-623: The Memorial Day weekend test period using the open road tolling lanes. The Blue Star Turnpike is the shortest of three toll roads maintained by the NHDOT Bureau of Turnpikes. The Hampton toll plaza at exit 2 is the sole toll collection point on the turnpike and is the largest facility of its kind in New Hampshire. Its main plaza has six booths and two open road lanes in each direction for vehicles with E-ZPass transponders. The interchange also includes an auxiliary toll plaza, named

5724-817: The New England Routes, including NH 16, became state highways with the same number. NH 16 formerly served as a non-tolled alternative to the Spaulding Turnpike between Dover and Rochester . In the early 1990s, NHDOT rerouted NH 16 onto the turnpike as a concurrency for the full length of the turnpike. The old alignment is now made up of several different roads. After crossing the Little Bay Bridge northbound from Newington to Dover, historic NH 16 traveled along Dover Point Road into downtown Dover to an intersection with NH 108 , where that route used to terminate. NH 16 continued along Central Avenue north through Somersworth and into Rochester on what

5832-548: The New Hampshire Turnpike Authority in 1947 to oversee construction of a 15-mile (24 km) turnpike with four lanes and a limited number of exits. It would be funded with a $ 7.5 million (equivalent to $ 80.4 million in 2023) bond issue that would be retired by 1977. The state government formally approved the construction of the turnpike in February 1948, setting up a tollway commission to purchase and condemn land for right-of-way . Among

5940-529: The Piscataqua River, the Maine–New Hampshire Interstate Bridge, was also a movable lift bridge that caused delays for motorists, especially during busy holiday weekends. A high-level, six-lane bridge over the Piscataqua River, connecting with extensions of I-95 through Portsmouth and Kittery, was proposed in the early 1960s to complete the missing link in the freeway. A competing plan to twin the existing Maine–New Hampshire Interstate Bridge

6048-506: The US to determine the difficulties that military vehicles would have on a cross-country trip. Leaving from the Ellipse near the White House on July 7, the Motor Transport Corps convoy needed 62 days to drive 3,200 miles (5,100 km) on the Lincoln Highway to the Presidio of San Francisco along the Golden Gate . The convoy suffered many setbacks and problems on the route, such as poor-quality bridges, broken crankshafts, and engines clogged with desert sand. Dwight Eisenhower , then

6156-631: The United States, including: In addition to cancellations, removals of freeways are planned: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has defined a set of standards that all new Interstates must meet unless a waiver from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is obtained. One almost absolute standard is the controlled access nature of the roads. With few exceptions , traffic lights (and cross traffic in general) are limited to toll booths and ramp meters (metered flow control for lane merging during rush hour ). Being freeways , Interstate Highways usually have

6264-434: The Wentworth Golf Club. The local name for this route is Village Road. New Hampshire Route 16B is a 5.381-mile-long (8.660 km) long state highway located entirely in Jackson . Although the road is signed north–south, NH 16B is a nearly-complete loop, beginning and ending at intersections with NH 16A roughly 500 feet (150 m) apart. Heading counterclockwise on NH 16B (signed "north") from NH 16A, NH 16B

6372-414: The acquisition of 271 properties and the rebuilding of several bridges. During construction, several major holiday backups—some as long as 14 miles (23 km)—plagued the turnpike. The Hampton toll plaza was relocated north and expanded in February 1977, coinciding with the completion of the widening project. Toll collection was temporarily suspended from 1979 until 1981 to encourage motorists to switch from

6480-413: The act was signed, and paving started September 26, 1956. The state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Pennsylvania Turnpike could also be considered one of the first Interstate Highways, and is nicknamed "Grandfather of the Interstate System". On October 1, 1940, 162 miles (261 km) of

6588-404: The affected landowners was then-Governor Charles M. Dale , who opted to donate part of his North Hampton farm instead of accepting a payment from the state government. A $ 5.25 million (equivalent to $ 53.2 million in 2023) bid from a Connecticut -based construction firm was accepted in October 1948 and construction on the turnpike began the following month. Early construction was slowed by

SECTION 60

#1732776240411

6696-427: The base of the Mount Washington Auto Road . Route 16 meets US 2 in Gorham , sharing a short concurrency along Gorham's Main Street. Leaving US 2, Route 16 continues north along the Androscoggin River to the city of Berlin , then follows the river north through the towns of Milan and Dummer , and the township of Cambridge , into the town of Errol . From Errol NH 16 continues northeast to Wentworth Location and

6804-399: The cancellation of the Somerset Freeway . This situation was remedied when the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project started in 2010 and partially opened on September 22, 2018, which was already enough to fill the gap. However, I-70 remains discontinuous in Pennsylvania , because of the lack of a direct interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at

6912-406: The choice of routing destroyed many well-established neighborhoods, often intentionally as part of a program of " urban renewal ". In the two decades following the 1956 Highway Act, the construction of the freeways displaced one million people, and as a result of the many freeway revolts during this era, several planned Interstates were abandoned or re-routed to avoid urban cores. Construction of

7020-538: The city. In some locations, low speed limits are the result of lawsuits and resident demands; after holding up the completion of I-35E in St. Paul, Minnesota , for nearly 30 years in the courts, residents along the stretch of the freeway from the southern city limit to downtown successfully lobbied for a 45 mph (70 km/h) speed limit in addition to a prohibition on any vehicle weighing more than 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) gross vehicle weight . I-93 in Franconia Notch State Park in northern New Hampshire has

7128-401: The collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads , either because they were grandfathered into the system or because subsequent legislation has allowed for tolling of Interstates in some cases. As of 2022 , about one quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which has a total length of 48,890 miles (78,680 km). In 2022 and 2023,

7236-565: The congested NH 101. The New Hampshire Liquor Commission opened its southbound Hampton store on the turnpike in 1981, which was followed by the northbound outlet in 1992. Another expansion of the Hampton toll plaza was completed in May 1991 and was followed by the addition of a reversible lane at the toll plaza in July 1995. Further expansions were completed in 1997 and 2002. The turnpike has been used for several tolling experiments by NHDOT, including automatic tolling from 1995 to 1996 and one-way tolling from 2003 to 2004. The Hampton toll plaza

7344-431: The construction and improvement of highways. The nation's revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In December 1918, E. J. Mehren, a civil engineer and the editor of Engineering News-Record , presented his "A Suggested National Highway Policy and Plan" during a gathering of the State Highway Officials and Highway Industries Association at

7452-407: The contiguous United States, primary Interstates—also called main line Interstates or two-digit Interstates—are assigned numbers less than 100. While numerous exceptions do exist, there is a general scheme for numbering Interstates. Primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, while shorter routes (such as spurs, loops, and short connecting roads) are assigned three-digit numbers where

7560-567: The discontinuity, but they have been blocked by local opposition, fearing a loss of business. The Interstate Highway System has been expanded numerous times. The expansions have both created new designations and extended existing designations. For example, I-49 , added to the system in the 1980s as a freeway in Louisiana , was designated as an expansion corridor, and FHWA approved the expanded route north from Lafayette, Louisiana , to Kansas City, Missouri . The freeway exists today as separate completed segments, with segments under construction or in

7668-448: The dissemination of public information. As a result, the 2005 evacuation of New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina ran much more smoothly. According to urban legend , early regulations required that one out of every five miles of the Interstate Highway System must be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. There is no evidence of this rule being included in any Interstate legislation. It

7776-496: The eastern end of the concurrency near Breezewood . Traveling in either direction, I-70 traffic must exit the freeway and use a short stretch of US 30 (which includes a number of roadside services) to rejoin I-70. The interchange was not originally built because of a legacy federal funding rule, since relaxed, which restricted the use of federal funds to improve roads financed with tolls. Solutions have been proposed to eliminate

7884-450: The economy. Not just as a public works measure, but for future growth. Clay's committee proposed a 10-year, $ 100 billion program ($ 1.13 trillion in 2023), which would build 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of divided highways linking all American cities with a population of greater than 50,000. Eisenhower initially preferred a system consisting of toll roads , but Clay convinced Eisenhower that toll roads were not feasible outside of

7992-408: The existing US 1 Bypass. Major work on the toll road's main elements, including 14 overpasses, three bridges, and an 800-foot (240 m) traffic circle in Portsmouth, was mostly completed by December 1949. The turnpike would comprise four lanes on a macadam asphalt surface with granite curbs, 11-foot (3.4 m) shoulders, and a 24-foot (7.3 m) grass median. The project also included

8100-492: The existing, largely non-freeway, United States Numbered Highways system. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald , chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. In 1939, Bureau of Public Roads Division of Information chief Herbert S. Fairbank wrote

8208-426: The federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. With few exceptions , all Interstates must meet specific standards , such as having controlled access, physical barriers or median strips between lanes of oncoming traffic, breakdown lanes , avoiding at-grade intersections , no traffic lights , and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use

8316-515: The first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2, 1956. The first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44 . On August 13, 1956, work began on US 40 (now I-70) in St. Charles County. Kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before

8424-614: The first time sought to target these funds to the construction of a national road grid of interconnected "primary highways", setting up cooperation among the various state highway planning boards. The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. In 1922, General John J. Pershing , former head of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during

8532-556: The highest speed limits in a given area. Speed limits are determined by individual states. From 1975 to 1986, the maximum speed limit on any highway in the United States was 55 miles per hour (90 km/h), in accordance with federal law. Typically, lower limits are established in Northeastern and coastal states, while higher speed limits are established in inland states west of the Mississippi River . For example,

8640-553: The highly populated coastal regions. In February 1955, Eisenhower forwarded Clay's proposal to Congress. The bill quickly won approval in the Senate, but House Democrats objected to the use of public bonds as the means to finance construction. Eisenhower and the House Democrats agreed to instead finance the system through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself would be funded by a gasoline tax. In June 1956, Eisenhower signed

8748-617: The highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle . The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes, a reference to turnpikes . Milestones in the construction of the Interstate Highway System include: The initial cost estimate for the system was $ 25 billion over 12 years; it ended up costing $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 425 billion in 2006 or $ 618 billion in 2023 ) and took 35 years. The system

8856-402: The inefficiency of evacuating from southern Louisiana prior to Hurricane Georges ' landfall in September 1998, government officials looked towards contraflow to improve evacuation times. In Savannah, Georgia , and Charleston, South Carolina , in 1999, lanes of I-16 and I-26 were used in a contraflow configuration in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd with mixed results. In 2004, contraflow

8964-431: The last two digits match the parent route (thus, I-294 is a loop that connects at both ends to I-94 , while I-787 is a short spur route attached to I-87 ). In the numbering scheme for the primary routes, east–west highways are assigned even numbers and north–south highways are assigned odd numbers. Odd route numbers increase from west to east, and even-numbered routes increase from south to north (to avoid confusion with

9072-454: The mainline. Some auxiliary highways do not follow these guidelines, however. The Interstate Highway System also extends to Alaska , Hawaii , and Puerto Rico , even though they have no direct land connections to any other states or territories. However, their residents still pay federal fuel and tire taxes. The Interstates in Hawaii, all located on the most populous island of Oahu , carry

9180-753: The maximum speed limit is 75 mph (120 km/h) in northern Maine, varies between 50 and 70 mph (80 and 115 km/h) from southern Maine to New Jersey, and is 50 mph (80 km/h) in New York City and the District of Columbia. Currently, rural speed limits elsewhere generally range from 65 to 80 miles per hour (105 to 130 km/h). Several portions of various highways such as I-10 and I-20 in rural western Texas, I-80 in Nevada between Fernley and Winnemucca (except around Lovelock) and portions of I-15 , I-70 , I-80 , and I-84 in Utah have

9288-547: The northern terminus of the Spaulding Turnpike, NH 125 carries the White Mountain Highway moniker. The Conway Bypass is a proposed re-routing of NH 16 around Conway and North Conway . While preliminary work has been done, the bypass is still in planning stages. New Hampshire Route 16A is a designation held by two separate state highways in New Hampshire . Although not directly connected,

9396-404: The number of fatalities on the Interstate Highway System amounted to more than 5,000 people annually, with nearly 5,600 fatalities in 2022. The United States government's efforts to construct a national network of highways began on an ad hoc basis with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , which provided $ 75 million over a five-year period for matching funds to the states for

9504-442: The official Interstate Highway standards . On one- or two-digit Interstates, the mile marker numbering almost always begins at the southern or western state line. If an Interstate originates within a state, the numbering begins from the location where the road begins in the south or west. As with all guidelines for Interstate routes, however, numerous exceptions exist. New Hampshire Route 16 The southern terminus of NH 16

9612-561: The original Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, despite deviations from the original 1956 plan and several stretches that did not fully conform with federal standards . The construction of the Interstate Highway System cost approximately $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 618 billion in 2023). The system has continued to expand and grow as additional federal funding has provided for new routes to be added, and many future Interstate Highways are currently either being planned or under construction. Though heavily funded by

9720-656: The planning phase between them. In 1966, the FHWA designated the entire Interstate Highway System as part of the larger Pan-American Highway System, and at least two proposed Interstate expansions were initiated to help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Long-term plans for I-69 , which currently exists in several separate completed segments (the largest of which are in Indiana and Texas ),

9828-411: The prefix H . There are three one-digit routes in the state ( H-1 , H-2 , and H-3 ) and one auxiliary route ( H-201 ). These Interstates connect several military and naval bases together, as well as the important communities spread across Oahu, and especially within the urban core of Honolulu . Both Alaska and Puerto Rico also have public highways that receive 90 percent of their funding from

9936-474: The route, without regard to the route number. For instance, I-190 in Massachusetts is labeled north–south, while I-195 in New Jersey is labeled east–west. Some looped Interstate routes use inner–outer directions instead of compass directions, when the use of compass directions would create ambiguity. Due to the large number of these routes, auxiliary route numbers may be repeated in different states along

10044-419: The same numbers, which is generally disallowed under highway administration guidelines. Several two-digit numbers are shared between unconnected road segments at opposite ends of the country for various reasons. Some such highways are incomplete Interstates (such as I-69 and I-74 ) and some just happen to share route designations (such as I-76 , I-84 , I‑86 , I-87 , and I-88 ). Some of these were due to

10152-503: The same roadway are signed as traveling in opposite directions; one such wrong-way concurrency is found between Wytheville and Fort Chiswell , Virginia, where I‑81 north and I‑77 south are equivalent (with that section of road traveling almost due east), as are I‑81 south and I‑77 north. Auxiliary Interstate Highways are circumferential, radial, or spur highways that principally serve urban areas . These types of Interstate Highways are given three-digit route numbers, which consist of

10260-428: The southern NH 16A loop departs and rejoins NH 16 / US 302 before the road makes a westward hook. In Glen , NH 16 turns north from US 302 and heads toward Jackson , where the northern NH 16A loop is located, as well as NH 16B , which is a loop that begins and ends at NH 16A. Continuing north, NH 16 passes through Pinkham Notch , to the east of Mount Washington , New Hampshire 's highest peak, and intersecting with

10368-542: The state government to form a modern highway system for automobiles and were incorporated into a single highway, which was assigned the designation of NH 1 in 1909. NH 1 was succeeded by US 1 in 1926, which was established as part of a national numbered highway system . The highway was paved from 1929 to 1931 and later upgraded with traffic signals to handle increased use. Heavy congestion on US 1, particularly tourists from Massachusetts traveling to destinations in New Hampshire and Maine, led to proposals in

10476-454: The turnpike that exclude exit 2 are not required to pay a toll. In fiscal year 2019, a total of 41.6 million transactions were made at the Blue Star Turnpike's toll plazas, generating $ 67.6 million in revenue. Exit numbers are sequential. The entire route is in Rockingham County . Interstate Highway [REDACTED] The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways , commonly known as

10584-481: The turnpike to Exeter and Manchester . I-95 then continues northeast through the towns of North Hampton and Greenland and crosses over several highways before reaching its next interchange. The turnpike enters the city of Portsmouth and intersects NH 33 near the city's international airport . After passing Portsmouth Regional Hospital , I-95 intersects the Spaulding Turnpike ( US 4 / NH 16 ) and U.S. Route 1 Bypass (US 1 Byp.) via ramps to

10692-503: The two routes are linked by their parent route, New Hampshire Route 16. The southern segment of NH 16A is a loop road, known locally as the Intervale Resort Loop , entirely in the town of Bartlett . It splits off from U.S. Route 302 and NH 16, runs parallel to the highway for 2.484 miles (3.998 km), then rejoins US 302 and NH 16. Officially, this section of NH 16A is also designated U.S. Route 302 Business , but

10800-610: The village of Center Ossipee that has been bypassed by the present NH 16 southwest of Ossipee Lake . The route, 2.52 miles (4.06 km) in length, is still called "Route 16B" on street blade signs. Two other roads have also held the NH 16B designation. One is a local road called Old Rochester Road in Somersworth and Old Dover Road in Rochester , paralleling the Spaulding Turnpike in those two towns from NH 108 to NH 125. There

10908-495: The war, complied by submitting a detailed network of 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of interconnected primary highways—the so-called Pershing Map . A boom in road construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s, with such projects as the New York parkway system constructed as part of a new national highway system. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such an interconnected national system to supplement

11016-551: Was employed ahead of Hurricane Charley in the Tampa, Florida area and on the Gulf Coast before the landfall of Hurricane Ivan ; however, evacuation times there were no better than previous evacuation operations. Engineers began to apply lessons learned from the analysis of prior contraflow operations, including limiting exits, removing troopers (to keep traffic flowing instead of having drivers stop for directions), and improving

11124-495: Was expanded again in June 2010 with the opening of open road tolling lanes that could read E-ZPass transponders. It was the first facility in New England to support open road tolling. The existing tollbooths at the plaza were demolished to make way for the lanes and relocated tollbooths. The project cost $ 17.8 million to construct (equivalent to $ 24.3 million in 2023) and implement and resulted in 50 percent of users during

11232-561: Was immediately opened to traffic for a day of toll-free use and carried 12,416 vehicles on its first day. The initial toll was 10 to 15 cents for automobiles (equivalent to $ 1.27 to $ 1.90 in 2023) and 20 to 50 cents for trucks (equivalent to $ 2.53 to $ 6.33 in 2023), and the speed limit was set at 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). The turnpike had no services and was monitored by state police and highway workers, offering free vehicle towing and tire changes. It cost $ 7.4 million to construct (equivalent to $ 74.3 million in 2023), resulting in

11340-611: Was modified to include ramps to the new Spaulding Turnpike when it opened in August 1957. The Hampton interchange was expanded in 1963 to connect with the Exeter–Hampton Expressway (now part of NH 101). The US 1 Bypass, which bridged the disconnected sections of I-95 between the north end of the turnpike and the south end of the Maine Turnpike in Kittery, was an expressway with partial grade separation that did not meet Interstate Highway standards . Its crossing over

11448-422: Was proclaimed complete in 1992, but two of the original Interstates— I-95 and I-70 —were not continuous: both of these discontinuities were due to local opposition, which blocked efforts to build the necessary connections to fully complete the system. I-95 was made a continuous freeway in 2018, and thus I-70 remains the only original Interstate with a discontinuity. I-95 was discontinuous in New Jersey because of

11556-494: Was serving as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II . In 1954, Eisenhower appointed General Lucius D. Clay to head a committee charged with proposing an interstate highway system plan. Summing up motivations for the construction of such a system, Clay stated, It was evident we needed better highways. We needed them for safety, to accommodate more automobiles. We needed them for defense purposes, if that should ever be necessary. And we needed them for

11664-432: Was submitted by the Maine government, but was determined to be more costly due to land required for its approaches, which were already occupied by buildings. Following a four-year debate, the New Hampshire state legislature approved designs for the high-level bridge in early 1965 despite some opposition from Portsmouth residents. A concurrent bill had been passed by Maine in 1963 but rejected by New Hampshire. Construction of

#410589