New Hampshire Route 101

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NH Route 101
Length:	95.2 mi[citation needed] (153.2 km)
West end:	NH 9/10/12 in Keene
Major junctions:	US 202 in Peterborough US 3 in Manchester I-93/I-293 in Manchester I-95 in Hampton US 1 in Hampton
East end:	NH 1A in Hampton Beach
Major cities:	Keene, Bedford, Manchester, Epping, Exeter, Stratham, Hampton
New Hampshire Routes < NH 97 NH 101A > < NH 49 NH 63 >

New Hampshire Route 101 is a state-maintained highway in southern New Hampshire connecting Keene with a terminus in Hampton Beach. It is the major east-west highway in the southern portion of the state. The western terminus of NH 101 is in Keene at the junction with New Hampshire Route 9, New Hampshire Route 10 and New Hampshire Route 12. The eastern terminus is in Hampton Beach at the junction with Ocean Boulevard (New Hampshire Route 1). The total length of NH 101 is approximately 95 miles (153 km), however, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation has installed mileposts on the freeway section east of Interstate 93 that begin at mile 100.

NH 101 travels through the following municipalities (west to east): Keene, Marlborough, Dublin, Peterborough, Temple, Wilton, Milford, Amherst, Bedford, Manchester, Auburn, Candia, Raymond, Epping, Brentwood, Exeter, Stratham, and Hampton.

Between Exeter and Hampton, NH 101 is known as the Exeter-Hampton Expressway.

Contents 1 Route description 2 Major intersections 2.1 Keene to Manchester 2.2 Manchester to Hampton Beach 2.2.1 Routes traversed without an exit 3 History

[edit] Route description

NH 101 is a two-lane surface road from its western terminus in Keene terminus to the western terminus of New Hampshire Route 101A in Milford. From there, NH 101 splits off to the south and becomes a two-lane limited-access highway that bypasses Milford and Amherst, becoming a two-lane surface road just north of Amherst. At the eastern terminus of New Hampshire Route 114 in Bedford, it becomes a four-lane limited-access highway. NH 101 expands to six lanes upon merging with Interstate 293 in Manchester, and eight lanes upon merging with Interstate 93. East of I-93, NH 101 narrows to four lanes. The route remains a four-lane expressway until exit 12 (Interstate 95) in Hampton, where NH 101 becomes a two-lane freeway at exit 13. At an interchange with U.S. Route 1, it becomes a two-lane surface road to its terminus in Hampton Beach.

[edit] Major intersections

[edit] Keene to Manchester

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)	Notes
Cheshire	Keene	0.0	NH 10/NH 12 NH 9	Eastern terminus of NH 9. Western terminus of NH 10/12/101 triplex.
			NH 10	Eastern terminus of triplex. NH 12/NH 101 duplex continues.
			NH 12	Eastern terminus of duplex.
	Marlborough		NH 124	Western terminus of NH 124.
	Marlborough		NH 124	Western terminus of NH 124.
	Dublin		NH 137
Hillsborough	Peterborough		US 202	Western terminus of duplex.
			US 202 NH 123	Eastern terminus of US 202/NH 101 duplex. Western terminus of NH 101/123 duplex.
			NH 123	Eastern terminus of duplex.
	Temple		NH 45	Northern terminus of NH 45.
	Wilton		NH 31	Western terminus of duplex.
			NH 31	Eastern terminus of duplex.
	Milford		NH 101A	Western terminus of NH 101A.
			NH 13	Interchange.
			NH 101A	Interchange.
	Amherst		NH 122	Interchange. Eastbound: exit only. Westbound: entrance only.
			NH 122	Access to NH 122 via Amherst Street.
	Manchester		NH 114	Eastern terminus of NH 114. Western terminus of NH 101 expressway.

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency termini	Decommissioned	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] Manchester to Hampton Beach

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Hillsborough	Manchester			US 3 (Daniel Webster Hwy.)
				Everett Turnpike/I-293	Everett Tpk. south - toll road.
		Western terminus of I-293/ NH 101 duplex.
			2	NH 3A (Brown Ave.)
			1	NH 28 (South Willow St.) - Mall of New Hampshire
		Eastern terminus of I-293/ NH 101 duplex.
				I-93/I-293 - Concord, Boston	Southern terminus of I-293. Eastbound NH 101 merges with I-93 north. Westbound NH 101 exits onto I-293.
		Southern terminus of I-93/ NH 101 duplex.
			6	Hanover St./Candia Rd.	To NH 28A.
		Northern terminus of I-93/ NH 101 duplex.
				I-93 - Concord, Boston
		101.15	1	NH 28 BYP (Londonderry Tpk.)
Rockingham	Auburn		2	Hooksett Rd.
	Candia	106.15	3	NH 43	Trumpet interchange.
	Raymond		4	Old Manchester Rd.
		114.00	5	NH 102/NH 107/to NH 156
	Epping		6	Depot Rd./Beede Hill Rd.
			7	NH 125
	Brentwood		8	North Rd.
	Exeter		9	NH 27 (Epping Rd.)
			10	NH 85 (Newfields Rd.)
			11	NH 108 (Portsmouth Ave.)
			12	NH 111 (Exeter Rd.)
	Hampton			I-95	Trumpet interchange.
			13	NH 27 (Exeter Rd.)
				US 1 (Lafayette Rd.)
	Hampton Beach	Western terminus of at-grade intersections 0.5 miles west of NH 1A.
				NH 1A (Ocean Blvd.)

[edit] Routes traversed without an exit

• NH 28A adjacent to the I-93/I-293 interchange

[edit] History

Most of the eastern section of NH 101 was a two-lane freeway until the mid-1990s. This highly traveled road had numerous accidents, prominently advertised on large signs at the start of the two-lane freeway segment between exits 5 and 6 in Raymond, reading "XX Highway Deaths next XX miles." Locally, this road was known as the "Highway of Death" for the unusually high number of accidents and the sign advertising.^{[citation needed]} In the mid-1990s, the two-lane freeway segment was dualized over much of the swampland it traversed in Rockingham County, creating a full divided controlled access freeway between Manchester and I-95. The old "Highway of Death" nickname and the signs have disappeared from use.

In 1991, an overpass was constructed over North Road in Brentwood near the Rockingham County Jail Farm for the future routing of NH 101. However, the NH 101 expressway was not built in this area until 2000, giving the bridge the nickname "the overpass to nowhere".

Prior to 1994, NH 101 between New Hampshire Route 108 in Stratham, just east of the Exeter town line, to New Hampshire Route 1A in Hampton Beach was designated New Hampshire Route 51. During this time, NH 101 exited the expressway at NH 108 (exit 11) and formed a duplex with NH 108 north to the community of Stratham. After traversing a traffic circle, NH 101 split from NH 108 and followed the current alignment of New Hampshire Route 33 into downtown Portsmouth, where NH 101 terminated at U.S. Route 1.

On NH 51, there were two traffic lights located on the limited access 2 lane highway: the "east end lights" at the terminus of New Hampshire Route 88 southeast of exit 11 and the "west end lights" west of the Newfields (then-New Hampshire Route 85) exit with what is now New Hampshire Route 27. While NH 88 was rerouted on a new stretch of road to intersect with NH 108 just south of the NH 101/108 SPUI interchange at exit 11, the Newfields exit was upgraded to a full diamond interchange. NH 27 west of Stratham was formerly NH 101 prior to the completion of the four-lane bypass.

In the fall of 1994, the eastern terminus of NH 101 was shifted eight miles south from Portsmouth to its current terminus in Hampton Beach, replacing NH 51 along the Super-2 between Exeter and Hampton Beach. Old NH 101 between Stratham and downtown Portsmouth became NH 33 and the NH 51 designation was eliminated.