U.S. Route 2 in Vermont

U.S. Route 2
Theodore Roosevelt Highway
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and VTrans
Length: 151.604 mi[3] (243.98 km)
US 2 continues west into New York for 0.88 miles (1.42 km)[1]
Existed: 1926[2] – present
Major junctions
West end: US 11 in Rouses Point, NY
  US 7 in Burlington
VT 12 in Montpelier
I-91 / US 5 in St. Johnsbury
East end: US 2 at Lancaster, NH
Highway system

United States Numbered Highways
List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced

State highways in Vermont

← VT F-5 VT 3 →
← NY 1X New York NY 2 →

U.S. Route 2 (US 2) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that is split into two segments. Its eastern segment runs from Rouses Point, New York, to Houlton, Maine. In Vermont, US 2 extends 151.604 miles (243.983 km) from the New York state line in Alburgh to the New Hampshire state line in Guildhall. West of Vermont, US 2 continues into New York for another 0.88 miles (1.42 km) to an intersection with U.S. Route 11 in Rouses Point. US 2 passes through the through the cities of Burlington and Montpelier as it traverses the state. The Burlington to Montpelier route was first laid out as a toll road in the early 19th century. It was later incorporated into the transcontinental auto trail known as the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway in 1919 before being designated as part of U.S. Route 2 in 1926.

Although the portion of the road from Alburgh to Burlington follows a north-south alignment, U.S. 2 is signed east (heading south during this portion) and west (heading north), making it the longest east-west signed route in the state.

Contents

Route description

The eastern segment of U.S. Route 2 begins in New York at an intersection with U.S. Route 11 just one mile (1.6 km) south of the Canadian border in Rouses Point. From there, it crosses Lake Champlain into Grand Isle County, Vermont, traversing the length of the county and crossing Lake Champlain over several bridges until it reaches the mainland in Milton and Chittenden County. From there it travels south to Burlington, where it begins to closely parallel Interstate 89 and the Winooski River all the way to Montpelier and Washington County. In Montpelier, the main route bypasses the downtown area using Memorial Drive, while a business loop using State Street serves downtown. After leaving Montpelier, the road turns north-eastward, crossing into Caledonia County and passing through Saint Johnsbury. It then passes into rural Essex County, and eventually crosses the Connecticut River from Guildhall, Vermont into Lancaster, New Hampshire.

History

An improved road between the main settlements of Burlington and Montpelier was first established from old footpaths in 1805, when the 36-mile (58 km) Winooski Turnpike was chartered by the state of Vermont. The old turnpike road utilized the relatively flat banks of the Winooski River to connect the two major towns and opened to traffic several years after the company was chartered. The road ceased operating as a toll road several decades later in 1852, when the road became publicly-owned.[4] The route of the old Winooski Turnpike between Burlington and Montpelier was later incorporated into the old Theodore Roosevelt International Highway. This cross-country auto trail, named in honor of recently-deceased ex-president and naturalist Theodore Roosevelt, was organized in February 1919 to connect Portland, Maine with Portland, Oregon.[5] Within Vermont, the auto trail used what is now US 2 from Vermont Route 129 south of Alburgh center to Vermont Route 18 east of St. Johnsbury center.[6]

Before being designated as US 2, the current alignment was part of several inter-state routes of the 1922 New England road marking system. From Danville eastward to the state line, the US 2 alignment was part of Route 15; it was part of Route 18 between Montpelier and Danville; it used Route 14 between Burlington and Montpelier; and it used Route 30 between Alburgh and Burlington.[7] When the plans for the U.S. Highway System were first drawn up in 1925, US 2 began in Alburgh and was routed along the Roosevelt Highway from Alburgh to Montpelier. Both US 2 and the Roosevelt Highway connected Montpelier to St. Johnsbury; however, the Roosevelt Highway used a direct path along former Route 18 while US 2 was initially assigned to then-Route 25 (modern US 302) to Wells River, where it overlapped proposed US 5 north to St. Johnsbury. From St. Johnsbury, the Roosevelt Highway turned southeast towards Portland along modern Vermont Route 18 while US 2 continued east along former Route 15 to Bangor.[8] No changes were made to US 2 in the final system plan approved on November 11, 1926.[2] US 2 was relocated onto its modern alignment along the original Roosevelt Highway route between Montpelier and St. Johnsbury in the mid-1930s. The original alignment of US 2 became part of the newly-designated US 302.[9][10]

Initially, Rouses Point, New York, and Alburgh, Vermont, were connected by way of a ferry across the Richelieu River. The ferry ran from the center of Rouses Point to Vermont's Windmill Point, where it connected to VT F-1, an east–west route linking Windmill Point to Alburgh.[11] When US 2 was assigned, it was overlaid on the pre-existing VT F-1, following the route and the ferry to the New York state line, where US 2 initially ended.[12] In 1937, a new tolled swing bridge across the Richelieu River opened, carrying an extended US 2 between U.S. Route 11 in Rouses Point and Alburgh. The swing bridge was replaced with a toll-free permanent bridge on September 22, 1987.[13]

Suffixed routes

US 2 has two suffixed routes in the state of Vermont.

Major intersections of VT 2A

The entire route is in Chittenden County.

Location Mile[3] Destinations Notes
St. George 0.000 VT 116
Williston 4.911 I-89 Exit 12 (I-89)
5.703 US 2
Essex Junction 8.591 VT 15
VT 117		 Western terminus of VT 117
Essex 10.624 VT 289 Exit 7 (VT 289); western terminus of VT 289
Colchester 13.626
To US 2 / US 7 (VT 127)		 South US 2 & 7
13.853 US 2 / US 7 North US 2 & 7
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed •      Unopened

Major intersections

The short continuation of US 2 into New York is included below.

County Location Mile[3][1] Destinations Notes
Clinton
 Rouses Point 0.00 US 11
Town of Champlain 0.88
0.000		 New York – Vermont state line
Grand Isle Alburgh
3.152 VT 225
6.234 VT 78
11.633 VT 129
Grand Isle 25.609 VT 314
South Hero 28.504 VT 314
Chittenden
 Colchester 39.921 I-89 Exit 17 (I-89)
40.011 US 7 north North end of US 2 / US 7 overlap
42.901 VT 2A
43.095 VT 127
Winooski 47.338 VT 15
Burlington 48.631
ALT US 7
49.571 US 7 south South end of US 2 / US 7 overlap
South Burlington 50.685 I-89 Exit 14 (I-89)
51.406 VT 116
Williston 54.736 VT 2A
Richmond 60.160 VT 117
60.221 I-89 Exit 11 (I-89)
Washington
 Waterbury 75.039 VT 100 north West end of US 2 / VT 100 overlap
Moretown 76.354 VT 100 south East end of US 2 / VT 100 overlap
Middlesex 80.798 VT 100B
Montpelier 86.735
BR US 2
86.914 Montpelier State Highway (Memorial Drive) To exit 8 (I-89)
87.336
BR US 2 / VT 12
89.060 US 302
East Montpelier 93.753 VT 14 south West end of US 2 / VT 14 overlap
93.960 VT 14 north East end of US 2 / VT 14 overlap
Plainfield 96.803 VT 214
Marshfield 104.185 VT 215
105.322 VT 232
Caledonia
 Danville 113.526 VT 15
119.191 VT 2B
St. Johnsbury 122.932
I-91 / TRUCK US 2		 Exit 21 (I-91)
123.541 VT 2B
124.530 US 5 south South end of US 2 / US 5 overlap
124.644 US 5 north North end of US 2 / US 5 overlap
127.592
TRUCK US 2 / VT 18
Essex
 Guildhall 151.502 VT 102
151.604 US 2 New Hampshire state line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed •      Unopened

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "2008 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. June 16, 2009. p. 80. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_Traffic_Data_Report_2008.pdf. Retrieved January 18, 2010. 
  2. ^ a b United States Department of Agriculture (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways (Map). 
  3. ^ a b c d e "2006 (Route Log) AADTs – State Highways" (PDF). Vermont Agency of Transportation. June 2007. http://www.aot.state.vt.us/Planning/Documents/TrafResearch/Publications/2006%20Route%20Log%20AADTs%20State%20Highways-Final.pdf. Retrieved May 16, 2009. 
  4. ^ Wood, F.J. (1919). The Turnpikes of New England. Boston: Marshall Jones Company. http://books.google.com/books?id=1pzNa0Ucb1UC. Retrieved July 20, 2010. 
  5. ^ Skidmore, Max J. (2006). Moose Crossing: Portland to Portland on the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway. Hamilton Books. ISBN 0761835105. 
  6. ^ Automobile Club of America (1924). United States Touring Map (Map). http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?cat=North%20America%20and%20United%20States&item=/US1924d2.sid&wid=500&hei=400&props=item(Name,Description),cat(Name,Description)&style=simple/view-dhtml.xsl. Retrieved July 20, 2010. 
  7. ^ Automobile Blue Book (Vol. 1), 1926 and 1927 eds., (Automobile Blue Book, Inc., Boston)
  8. ^ Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways, October 30, 1925, Approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, November 18, 1925
  9. ^ Texas Oil Company (1933). Texaco Road Map – New England (Map). Cartography by Rand McNally and Company. 
  10. ^ Thibodeau, William A. (1938). The ALA Green Book (1938–39 ed.). Automobile Legal Association. 
  11. ^ Standard Oil Company of New York (1930). Road Map of New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. 
  12. ^ Weingroff, Richard (January 9, 2009). "U.S. 2: Houlton, Maine, to Everett, Washington". Highway History. Federal Highway Administration. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us2.cfm. Retrieved January 18, 2010. 
  13. ^ Faber, Harold (September 21, 1987). "New York and Vermont Get New Toll-Free Bridge". The New York Times: p. B2. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/21/nyregion/new-york-and-vermont-get-new-toll-free-bridge.html?scp=9&sq=champlain%20bridge&st=cse. Retrieved January 18, 2010. 
U.S. Route 2
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New Hampshire