U.S. Route 302

U.S. Route 302
William Scott Memorial Highway [1] Roosevelt Trail[2]
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 2
Length:	171 mi (275 km)
Existed:	1935[3] – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 2 in Montpelier, VT
	I‑91 in Newbury, VT I‑93 in Littleton, NH I‑93 in Bethlehem, NH US 3 in Carroll, NH NH 16 in Bartlett, NH NH 16 in Conway, NH SR 35 / SR 115 in North Windham, ME US 202 / SR 4 in Windham, ME
East end:	I‑295 / US 1 / SR 100 in Portland, ME
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced

U.S. Route 302 (US 302) is an east–west spur of U.S. Route 2 in northern New England in the United States. It currently runs 171 miles (275 km) from Montpelier, Vermont, at US 2, to Portland, Maine, at U.S. Route 1. It passes through the states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Route description

U.S. Route 302 in Berlin, Vermont, approximately two miles from the western terminus

Vermont

US 302 enters Vermont after crossing the Connecticut River at the village of Wells River. The highway crosses US 5 in the center of the village. The next major intersection for US 302 is its intersection with Interstate 91 in Newbury, about 2.7 miles (4.3 km) from the US 5 intersection. US 302 then winds through the rural towns of Ryegate, Groton, Topsham, and Orange, before entering East Barre. In East Barre, its intersection with Vermont Route 110 takes the form of a roundabout. After traveling down out of the hills surrounding the city of Barre, US 302 makes up Washington Street and Main Street of Barre. It runs along the Jail Branch River and the Stevens Branch of the Winooski River in Barre, then through Berlin, finally terminating at its US 2 intersection in southeast Montpelier.

New Hampshire

U.S. Route 302 enters New Hampshire following the Saco River through Crawford Notch in the White Mountains. The highway follows the Ammonoosuc River out of the mountains and bridges the Connecticut River into Wells River, Vermont.

Maine

US 302 is known as the Roosevelt Trail through southern Maine because it was the beginning of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway to Portland, Oregon.^[2][6] The highway leaves Portland, Maine, bridging the Presumpscot River into Westbrook at Riverton. The Roosevelt Trail then bridges the Pleasant River at milepost 13.4 in Windham, the Crooked River in Casco near a boyhood home of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Long Lake near milepost 31 in Naples, Moose Pond near milepost 46 in Bridgton, and the Saco River near milepost 56 in Fryeburg. The highway follows the Saco River from Fryeburg into the White Mountains and enters New Hampshire near milepost 58.^[7] It is a two-lane highway for almost all of its length, but there are multi-lane sections within the Portland area, as well as short four-lane sections in and around North Windham (especially the commercial areas). Some of the hilly sections also feature a third passing lane.

History

Longfellow Square marks the eastern end of U.S. Route 302.

The southern end of US 302 follows city streets from Longfellow Square in the 17th century colonial seaport of Portland, Maine. The highway follows a 19th-century stagecoach road from Portland through Windham to Bridgton. The portion from Windham to Bridgton was built about 1785. Stagecoach service began in 1803, and the route became a post road for the United States Postal Service in 1814. Transportation over this route was augmented by the Cumberland and Oxford Canal from 1832 to 1932, and by the Bridgton and Saco River Railroad from 1883 to 1941.^[8] The highway through Crawford Notch follows the Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike built in 1803 and parallels the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division built in 1877. The highway eliminated railway passenger travel over the route from Portland by 1958, and railroad freight service through Crawford Notch was discontinued in 1983.^[9]

From 1922 until 1935, much of what is now US 302 was a part of the New England Interstate road system, designated as New England Interstate Route 18 (NE-18) from Portland, Maine, northwest to Littleton, New Hampshire, roughly 112 miles (180 km). From Littleton west to Montpelier in Vermont, US 302 and NE-18 took different paths. NE-18 took a more northerly route, along present-day New Hampshire Route 18 and Vermont Route 18 to St. Johnsbury, Vermont (closely paralleling I-93), then along present-day US 2 up to Montpelier.

Current US 302 runs along a more southerly route using other former sections of New England Interstate Routes. From Littleton, it went along former NE-10 to Woodsville, New Hampshire, then along former NE-25 to Montpelier.

The entire Maine segment of US 302 was formally designated State Route 18, a route that was established in 1926 until being deleted in 1935 by US 302.

Major intersections

Vermont

County	Location[4]	mi[4]	km	Destinations	Notes
Washington	Montpelier	0.000	0.000	US 2 – East Montpelier, St. Johnsbury, Montpelier	Rotary; western terminus of US 302.
	Berlin	1.059	1.704	Berlin State Highway to I‑89 / VT 62 – Berlin Corners
	City of Barre	4.376	7.042	VT 14 north VT 62 west to I‑89	Western end of concurrency with VT 14; eastern terminus of VT 62.
		4.833	7.778	VT 14 south to I‑89 south	Eastern end of concurrency with VT 14.
	Town of Barre	8.639	13.903	VT 110 south – Washington, Chelsea, Granite Quarries	Northern terminus of VT 110 at rotary.
Orange	Orange	16.041	25.815	VT 25 south – West Topsham, Bradford	Northern terminus of VT 25.
Caledonia	Groton	23.928	38.508	VT 232 north – Rickers Mills	Southern terminus of VT 232.
Orange	Town of Newbury	32.472– 32.681	52.259– 52.595	I‑91 – Bradford, White River Junction, Barnet, St. Johnsbury	Exit 17 on I-91.
		35.334	56.865	US 5 north – St. Johnsbury	Western terminus of concurrency with US 5.
		35.463	57.072	US 5 south – Newbury, Bradford	Eastern terminus of concurrency with US 5.
		35.746	57.528	US 302 east – Woodsville	Continuation into New Hampshire at the Connecticut River
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

New Hampshire

I-93 in Littleton

I-93 in Bethlehem

US 3 in Carroll

Maine

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Oxford	Fryeburg	0.0	0.0	US 302 west / NH 113 west
		1.1	1.8	SR 113 north – East Conway NH, Stow	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 113.
		1.4	2.3	SR 5 south / SR 113 south – Brownfield	Southern terminus of concurrencies with SR 5 and SR 113.
		1.8	2.9	SR 5 north – Lovell	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 5.
Cumberland	Bridgton	14.9	24.0	SR 93 north – Sweden, Lovell	Southern terminus of SR 93.
		16.8	27.0	SR 117 north – Norway	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 117.
		18.4	29.6	SR 117 south to SR 107 south – South Bridgton, Denmark	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 117.
	Naples	24.9	40.1	SR 11 south / SR 114 south – Sebago Lake	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 11. Northern terminus of SR 114.
		25.4	40.9	SR 35 north – Harrison, Waterford	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 35.
		26.3	42.3	SR 11 north – Mechanic Falls, Auburn, Lewiston	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 11.
	Casco	27.0– 31.5	43.5– 50.7	No major intersections.
	Raymond	34.0	54.7	SR 121 north – Raymond Village, Casco	Southern terminus of SR 121.
		34.4	55.4	SR 85 north	Southern terminus of SR 85.
	Windham	38.8	62.4	SR 35 south – Standish SR 115 east – Gray	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 35. Western terminus of SR 115.
		41.7	67.1	US 202 / SR 4 – Gray	Rotary.
	Westbrook	45.9– 49.7	73.9– 80.0	No major intersections.
	Portland	50.3	81.0	I‑95 (Maine Turnpike)	No access between US 302 and I-95 (Maine Turnpike)
		51.6	83.0	SR 100 north – Falmouth, Gray	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 100.
		52.9	85.1	SR 9 east	Eastern terminus of wrong-way concurrency with SR 9.
		53.0	85.3	SR 9 west	Western terminus of wrong-way concurrency with SR 9.
		53.9	86.7	I‑295 / US 1 – South Portland, Falmouth SR 77 south	Eastern terminus of US 302. Southern terminus of SR 100 and concurrency with SR 100. Northern terminus of SR 77. Exit 6A and 6B on I-295 / US 1.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus

See also

Bannered routes

• U.S. Route 302 Business (Bartlett, New Hampshire), a loop connecting US 302 to Lower Bartlett. It is locally known as the Intervale Resort Loop and is signed only as New Hampshire Route 16A.

Related state highways

• New Hampshire Route 18
• Vermont Route 18

References

U.S. Routes related to US 2 US 102 (defunct) US 202 US 302 Bannered

Browse numbered routes
← VT 289	VT	VT 313 →
← I‑293	NH	I‑393 →
← I‑295	ME	I‑395 →
← Route 17	N.E.	Route 19 →
← SR 17	ME	SR 22 →