Maine State Route 101

State Route 101 is a short state highway in extreme southern Maine. It follows a southeast-northwest trajectory, signed as south–north. Route 101 begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 1 in Kittery, and runs northwest to the New Hampshire state line, where it continues as Gulf Road, an unnumbered local road in Dover towards New Hampshire Route 4.

Route description

Route 101 begins in the south at an intersection with US-1 in Kittery, just northeast of its intersection with State Route 236, where US-1 Bypass meets its northern end. Near this intersection is the Exits 2 and 3 interchanges from the Maine Turnpike. The route heads northwest, intersecting local roads as it passes east of the town of Eliot. Route 101 enters the southern tip of South Berwick and intersects with Route 236. Route 101 continues a short distance northwest before crossing the Piscataqua River into Dover, New Hampshire. Upon crossing into New Hampshire, Route 101 ends and the road continues as unnumbered Gulf Road. Motorists following this road west will soon come across signage leading to New Hampshire Route 4 towards downtown Dover. No advance signage exists in the reverse direction, with Gulf Road simply transitioning to Route 101 upon crossing into Maine.

History

The Route 101 number existed as early as 1925, when New England Interstate Routes were still in place. Former Route 101 ran between Augusta and Rockland, from NEI 20 (now U.S. Route 201) to NEI 1 (now U.S. Route 1). When the New England road system was removed, Route 101 was redesignated as State Route 17 and the number remained out of use until 1940.^[2]

The current Route 101 was first designated in 1940, with the initial stretch following the modern alignment from Kittery to South Berwick, where it ended at State Route 103, near the current intersection with Route 236. The short extension to the state line was added in 1957, and the route has stood since.^[3]

Junction list

References