New Hampshire Route 101

New Hampshire Route 101
Route information
Maintained by NHDOT
Length: 94.95 mi[1] (152.81 km)
Major junctions
West end: NH 9/10/12 in Keene
  US 202 in Peterborough
US 3 in Manchester
I-93/I-293 in Manchester
NH 125 in Epping
I-95 in Hampton
US 1 in Hampton
East end: NH 1A in Hampton Beach
Highway system

New Hampshire Routes

← NH 97 NH 101A →
← NH 49 NH 63 →

New Hampshire Route 101 is a state-maintained highway in southern New Hampshire extending from Keene to 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 Routes 9, 10 and 12. The eastern terminus is in Hampton Beach at the junction with Ocean Boulevard (NH 1A). 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

Route description

NH 101 is a two-lane surface road from its western terminus in Keene 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, NH 101 becomes a four-lane limited-access highway. It 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.

History

Most of the eastern section of NH 101 was originally going to be part of the cancelled New England east–west Highway from Albany, New York to Portsmouth. Because of the cancellation, NH 101 remained 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, which read, "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.[1] 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.

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 at its construction named the Exeter-Hampton Expressway, which was marked with seemingly unique round shields featuring the highway's name and was later designated New Hampshire Route 51 during the 1980s until 1994.

During this time, NH 101 exited the expressway at NH 108 (exit 11) and formed a concurrency 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 (13 km) 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.

Major intersections

Keene to Manchester

County Location Mile Destinations Notes
Cheshire
 Keene 0.00 NH 10/NH 12
NH 9		 Western terminus of NH 10/12/101 concurrency.
0.46 NH 10 Eastern terminus of concurrency.
NH 12/NH 101 concurrency continues.
1.23 NH 12 Eastern terminus of concurrency.
Marlborough 5.35 NH 124 Western terminus of NH 124.
Dublin 15.60 NH 137
Hillsborough
 Peterborough 20.06 US 202 Western terminus of concurrency.
20.26 US 202
NH 123		 Eastern terminus of US 202/NH 101 concurrency.
Western terminus of NH 101/123 concurrency.
21.12 NH 123 Eastern terminus of concurrency.
Temple 25.77 NH 45 Northern terminus of NH 45.
Wilton 30.70 NH 31 Western terminus of concurrency.
32.69 NH 31 Eastern terminus of concurrency.
Milford 34.76 NH 101A Western terminus of NH 101A.
38.33 NH 13 Interchange.
39.98 NH 101A Interchange.
Amherst 41.46 NH 122 Interchange.
Eastbound: exit only. Westbound: entrance only.
42.97
NH 122		 Access to NH 122 via Amherst Street.
Bedford 52.45 NH 114 Eastern terminus of NH 114.
Western terminus of NH 101 expressway.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Manchester to Hampton Beach

County Location Mile # Destinations Notes
Hillsborough Bedford 52.45 Straight: NH 114 North
Right: Boynton Street
Left: NH 101 West		 At-grade intersection; Western end of limited access segment.
53.88 US 3 (Daniel Webster Hwy.)
Western terminus of I-293/ NH 101 concurrency.
54.10 Everett Turnpike/I-293 (North) Everett Tpk. south - toll road.
Manchester 55.19 2 NH 3A (Brown Ave.)
56.26 1 NH 28 (South Willow St.) - Mall of New Hampshire
57.73 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.
Eastern terminus of I-293/ NH 101 concurrency
Southern terminus of I-93/ NH 101 concurrency.
58.91 6 Hanover St./Candia Rd. To NH 28A.
59.30 I-93 - Concord, Boston
Northern terminus of I-93/ NH 101 concurrency.
60.98 1 NH 28 BYP (Londonderry Tpk.)
Rockingham Auburn 62.94 2 Hooksett Rd.
Candia 65.83 3 NH 43 Trumpet interchange.
Raymond 72.21 4 Old Manchester Rd.
73.78 5
NH 102/NH 107/to NH 156
Epping 76.27 6 Depot Rd./Beede Hill Rd.
78.47 7 NH 125
Brentwood 80.69 8 North Rd.
Exeter 83.72 9 NH 27 (Epping Rd.)
85.22 10 NH 85 (Newfields Rd.)
Stratham 86.46 11 NH 108 (Portsmouth Ave.)
Exeter 88.75 12 NH 111 (Exeter Rd.)
Hampton 90.74 I-95 Trumpet interchange.
91.05 13 NH 27 (Exeter Rd.)
93.03 US 1 (Lafayette Rd.)
Western terminus of at-grade intersections 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of NH 1A.
94.95 NH 1A (Ocean Blvd.)

Suffixed routes

New Hampshire Route 101A

New Hampshire Route 101A
Location: Milford-Nashua
Length: 13.82 mi[2] (22.24 km)

New Hampshire Route 101A (abbreviated NH 101A) is a 13.82-mile (22.24 km) long east–west highway in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, connecting Milford and Nashua. It also runs through Merrimack and Amherst, and very briefly touches Hollis.

The western terminus of NH 101A is in western Milford at the intersection with NH 101. The eastern terminus is in the center of Nashua, when it meets New Hampshire Route 111 at the Merrimack River. Most of it is two lanes in each direction, sometimes with a central turning lane.

Route 101A is quite busy by southern New Hampshire standards, with traffic ranging from 26,000 vehicles per weekday in Nashua to 9,000 in western Milford. [2]

The road carries a number of names. In Milford it is Elm Street and then Nashua Street; in Amherst and Merrimack it is the Milford Road or, more commonly, just 101A; in Nashua it is Amherst Street, then Canal Street and finally Bridge Street.

New Hampshire Route 101B

New Hampshire Route 101B was a designation once held by two separate state highways in New Hampshire. Although the two segments did not directly connect, they were linked at the time by their parent route, New Hampshire Route 101.

Western segment

Main article: New Hampshire Route 27

New Hampshire Route 101B
Location: Hooksett-Candia

The western segment of NH 101B was a roughly 8.5-mile-long (13.7 km) east–west road in the Manchester area. The western terminus of the route was at U.S. Route 3 and New Hampshire Route 28 in Hooksett, the current western terminus of New Hampshire Route 27. The eastern terminus was at NH 101 near Candia.

All of the western segment of NH 101B was renumbered NH 27 at an unknown time.[2]

Eastern segment

New Hampshire Route 101B
Location: Portsmouth

The eastern segment of NH 101B was a short east–west road in downtown Portsmouth. The western terminus was at the intersection of Islington Street and Middle Road, where NH 101, which followed the present alignment of New Hampshire Route 33 into Portsmouth, departed the routing of NH 33 and followed Islington Street to U.S. Route 1. NH 101B continued east on Middle Road and South Street, following the modern alignment of NH 33 to the present eastern terminus of NH 33 at US 1. At US 1, NH 101B continued east on South Street, running along the local street to its eastern terminus at New Hampshire Route 1B.

Prior to 1971, NH 101B from Islington Street east to US 1 became NH 101 while Islington Street and the portion of NH101B east of US 1 reverted to city maintenance. This section of NH 101 was renumbered to NH 33 in 1994.[2]

New Hampshire Route 101C

Main article: New Hampshire Route 27

New Hampshire Route 101C
Location: Hampton Beach

New Hampshire Route 101C ran from NH 108 east along what is now NH 27 to NH 1A in Hampton Beach.

New Hampshire Route 101D

Main article: New Hampshire Route 111

New Hampshire Route 101D
Location: Hampton-Hampton Beach

The portion of NH 111 between New Hampshire Route 27 in Hampton and NH 1A in Hampton Beach was once designated New Hampshire Route 101D.[2]

New Hampshire Route 101E

New Hampshire Route 101E
Location: Hampton
Length: 2.35 mi[2] (3.78 km)

New Hampshire Route 101E is a short stretch of urban road 2.35 miles (3.78 km) in length in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. This road connects Lafayette Road (U.S. Route 1) with Ocean Boulevard (New Hampshire Route 1A). NH 101E is locally named Winnacunnet Road. Oddly, this highway has never connected with NH 101, its "parent", or any of its spurs. The entire route is maintained by the town of Hampton.

NH 101E is very poorly signed. There exists one sign on southbound U.S. Route 1 using an old state-highway logo (without the Old Man of the Mountain), and green guide signs at the eastern terminus at NH 1A, but along the road itself, there is no signage to indicate the route's number. It is not known as "Route 101E" to local residents; they refer to it as "Winnacunnet Road."

References

  1. ^ New Hampshire Department of Transportation Route Log (registration required)
  2. ^ a b c d e New Hampshire Routes 101-125