U.S. Route 7 in Vermont

U.S. Route 7 is a mostly rural two-lane road running along the western side of the state, with a few, short expressway sections. It is known as the Ethan Allen Highway for much of its 176-mile (283 km) path through the state. US 7 ends at I-89 in the northern part of the town of Highgate, just south of the Canadian border. I-89 continues to the border crossing.

1 Route description
2 History
3 Suffixed routes
4 US 7 Alternate
5 US 7 Truck
6 Major intersections
7 References
8 External links

Route description

US 7 remains a rural 2-lane highway from the Massachusetts line to Bennington, Vermont, where a freeway is being built to the north and east of Bennington. Once complete, U.S. 7 will utilize this new bypass while the existing 2-lane road into town will become part of Vermont Route 7A. North of town, the highway then again returns to expressway status. For 3 miles (4.8 km) it is a true expressway with divided carriageways and multiple lanes. Route 7 then narrows down to an undivided two-lane freeway. There are, however, many stretches with passing lanes. Just north of Manchester, Vermont the expressway ends and the road is either two lane or 4 lane undivided, uncontrolled road all the way to the Canadian border (except between Shelburne and Burlington, known as Shelburne Road, which is a 4 lane divided highway, and also for a 10-mile (16 km) section south of Rutland). US 7 and US 2 are concurrent from Burlington to Colchester. In 2007, an average of 10,000 vehicles daily drove north through the junction at the south end of the overlap while 12,000 drove south through the intersection.

History

Suffixed routes

US 7 has two suffixed routes, both of which are old alignments of US 7.

VT 7A (27.820 miles or 44.772 kilometres) is an alternate route of US 7 between Bennington and Dorset.^[2] The route is signed as "Historic VT 7A" to distinguish it, the original routing of US 7, from the modern US 7 limited-access highway.
VT 7B (6.786 miles or 10.921 kilometres) is an alternate route of US 7 through the towns of Wallingford and Clarendon.^[2] VT 7B was the original alignment of US 7 prior to the construction of the current US 7 divided highway through the area. The route intersects US 7 five times (including the termini) and overlaps it for 0.8 miles (1.29 km) in Clarendon.^[2]

US 7 Alternate

U.S. Route 7 Alternate
Location:	Burlington

U.S. Route 7 Alternate is an alternate route of U.S. Route 7 in Burlington, Vermont. The southbound-only US 7 Alternate begins at the intersection of Hyde Street and Riverside Avenue (US 2/US 7) and runs for a distance of 2.107 miles (3.391 km)^[2] in the following manner: west on Riverside Avenue, south on North and South Winooski Avenues, south on St. Paul Street, south on Shelburne Street and then terminates at US 7 at the rotary-style intersection of South Willard Street (US 7), Locust Street and Ledge Road. Mainline US 7 travels southbound over Hyde Street and North and South Willard Streets until the intersection above. Note that there is a new (as of October 2011) "ALT 7" left lane pavement marking for northbound traffic on Shelburne Street just before the rotary intersection with US 7 (right lane).

The lone "Alternate US 7" assembly on the route is located on St. Paul Street in Burlington, just south of the intersection with South Winooski Avenue and Howard Street.

US 7 Truck

There is overhead signage at the junction with Interstate 189 in South Burlington showing "US 7 NORTH TRUCK ROUTE VIA I-189". Unfortunately, there is no further official signage other than this. Note that US 7 roughly parallels Interstate 89 from the Interstate 189 junction north to where it ends at I-89 in Highgate.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile^[2]	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Bennington	Pownal	0.000		US 7	Massachusetts state line
	Pownal	1.863		VT 346	Eastern terminus of VT 346
	CDP of Bennington	10.957		VT 9
	Bennington	12.140		VT 7A	Southern terminus of VT 7A
		South end of freeway section
		13.153	1	VT 279 to VT 67A – North Bennington
		14.393	2	VT 7A – North Bennington
	Sunderland	24.224	3	VT 313 to VT 7A – Arlington, East Arlington	Eastern terminus of VT 313
	Town of Manchester	34.501	4	VT 11 / VT 30 – Manchester
	North end of freeway section
	Dorset	38.897		VT 7A	Northern terminus of VT 7A
Rutland	Wallingford	56.165		VT 140
	Wallingford	57.054		VT 7B	Southern terminus of VT 7B
	Clarendon	58.581		VT 7B south	Southern terminus of concurrency
		59.297		VT 7B north	Northern terminus of concurrency
		61.169		VT 103	Western terminus of VT 103
		62.591		VT 7B
		63.393		VT 7B	Northern terminus of VT 7B
	Town of Rutland	63.844		US 4 west	Southern terminus of concurrency
	City of Rutland	65.944		BR US 4	Eastern terminus of BR US 4
	City of Rutland	66.081		US 4 east	Northern terminus of concurrency
	Pittsford	73.057		VT 3	Northern terminus of VT 3
	Brandon	81.656		VT 73 east	Eastern terminus of concurrency
	Brandon	82.072		VT 73 west	Western terminus of concurrency
Addison	Salisbury	91.315		VT 53	Northern terminus of VT 53
	Middlebury	94.157		VT 116	Southern terminus of VT 116
		94.431		VT 125 east	Southern terminus of concurrency
		98.285		VT 30 / VT 125 west	Northern terminus of VT 30; northern terminus of US 7/VT 125 concurrency
	New Haven	106.034		VT 17 east	Western terminus of concurrency
	New Haven	106.148		VT 17 west	Eastern terminus of concurrency
	Ferrisburgh	111.511		VT 22A	Northern terminus of VT 22A
Chittenden	Charlotte	120.723		VT F-5	Eastern terminus of VT F-5
	South Burlington – Burlington line	130.429		I-189	Western terminus of I-189
	Burlington	131.627		ALT US 7 (Shelburne Street)	Southern terminus of ALT US 7
		132.550		US 2 east	Southern terminus of concurrency
		133.490		ALT US 7 (Hyde St/North Winooski Avenue)	Northern terminus of ALT US 7
	Winooski	134.783		VT 15	Western terminus of VT 15
	Colchester	135.763		I-89	Exit 16 (I-89)
		137.579		VT 127	Northern terminus of VT 127
		139.220		VT 2A	Northern terminus of VT 2A
		142.110		US 2 west	Northern terminus of concurrency
Franklin	Georgia	151.485		VT 104A	Northern terminus of VT 104A
	Georgia	151.648		I-89	Exit 18 (I-89)
	City of St. Albans	160.332		VT 36 east	Southern terminus of overlap
		160.360		VT 36 west	Northern terminus of overlap
		160.911		VT 38	Eastern terminus of VT 38
		161.322		VT 105	Western terminus of VT 105
	Town of St. Albans	162.473		VT 207	Southern terminus of VT 207
	Village of Swanton	168.910		VT 78 east	Southern terminus of concurrency
	Village of Swanton	168.992		VT 78 west	Northern terminus of concurrency
	Highgate	176.287		I-89	Exit 22 (I-89)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus • Closed • Unopened

References

^ United States Department of Agriculture. United States System of Highways [map]. (1926-11-11)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "2006 (Route Log) AADTs - State Highways" (PDF). Vermont Agency of Transportation. June 2007. pp. 19–24. http://www.aot.state.vt.us/Planning/Documents/TrafResearch/Publications/2006%20Route%20Log%20AADTs%20State%20Highways-Final.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-21.

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:U.S._Route_7_in_Vermont U.S. Route 7 in Vermont] at Wikimedia Commons

U.S. Route 7
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