In the meantime, I am approximately midway through my updates to Delaware Highways that include trips to the Diamond State dating back to December of 2005. Most of the work involves replacing photos or adding new photos to the guides. However projects involving the widening of Interstate 95 are underway and the U.S. 301 toll road proposal is on the horizon too. Also the other week I created a page and added coverage on the Blue Ball construction project north of Wilmington. A partial interchange now joins U.S. 202, a relocated Delaware 141, and Delaware 261 at the former site of a signalized intersection. The new configuration is so confusing, I decided to craft a map to illustrate it. Additional updates will focus on the Dover and Milford area as well as an update to the SR 1 Turnpike guides.

The Burlington, VT focus page I created two weeks ago will be accompanied with recent and 2005 photos soon too. So that leaves this question, what areas should next be updated or new areas added?

Decided on Interstate 89 south to check out the Barre Connectors first, both of which appear as freeways on maps sometimes, but really are expressway-like roads with no private driveways. Vermont 62 spurs east from Exit 7 into northern Barre, complete with a connector leading to U.S. 302. The connector splits with Vermont 62 via a partial interchange north of the signalized intersection with Fisher and Airport Roads. The road otherwise ends at a traffic light with the U.S. 302 junction at Vermont 14.

Vermont 14 follows Maple Avenue through Barre to junction U.S. 302 (Main Street) and the Barre Connector (Vermont 62). Sign bridges are posted in all four directions leading into the intersection. Vermont 14 south joins U.S. 302 east briefly before turning southwest to South Barre. Vermont 62 begins and ascends westward toward Edward J. Knapp State Airport and junction Interstate 89.

Further south, Vermont 63 spurs east from the Exit 6 trumpet interchange to Vermont 14 at South Barre. This connector carries less traffic and has only two at-grade intersections. Both connectors see end shields on the southbound Interstate 89 on-ramps.

Vermont 63 travels a less busy route between Vermont 14 (South Barre Road) and Interstate 89 (Exit 6). Unlike Vermont 62 to the north, Vermont 63 sees no traffic signals (just a set of flashers at Miller Road). This shield assembly and Interstate 89 trailblazer lies west of that intersection.

Continuing southward, we took Interstate 91 to Brattleboro where we encountered a construction induced traffic jam prompting us to depart the freeway for parallel U.S. 5. While along the route, we discovered an original 18×24″ Interstate 91 Vermont trailblazer along northbound. Also the day we were there saw a parade or some sort in downtown, prompting yet another detour for Vermont 9 west to Bennington.

As mentioned before, Interstate 91 provides a scenic and rustic ride through Vermont’s Connecticut River Valley between Massachusetts and St. Johnsberry. Several high-level bridges pass above tributaries leading into the Connecticut, such as this span over the Williams River. Photo looks west from the parallel U.S. 5 Williams River bridge.

U.S. 5 and Vermont 9 merge at a roundabout east of the Exit 3 trumpet interchange with Interstate 91. Vermont 9 enters the Brattleboro area as New Hampshire 9 from Keene. A large steel arch bridge spans the Connecticut River along Multi-state Route 9. Parallel to the bridge is a smaller abandoned steel arch bridge.

Vermont 9 carried us westward across the mountains into the southwest Vermont town of Bennington. The state highway travels a narrow and slow moving corridor through town, intersect U.S. 7 in the process. U.S. 7 travels a freeway that dumps traffic right into downtown. A bypass for one or both of the routes is needed too.

A recent addition to the U.S. 7 freeway is the Vermont 279 super-two expressway leading southwest to New York state. The completion of Vermont 279 orphaned the trumpet interchange with the North East Road connector, leaving abandoned ramps at the U.S. 7 freeway’s south end. Instead a new trumpet interchange joins the east end with Vermont 279 nearby. Vermont 279 otherwise provides a north bypass route of Vermont 9 between New York 7 and U.S. 7. New York 7 joins southern Vermont with Albany’s Capital District.

U.S. 7 southbound at the Exit 1 trumpet interchange with Vermont 279. Vermont 279 spurs westward, meeting Vermont 67A via a folded-diamond interchange nearby. Historic Vermont 7A also travels nearby on a parallel alignment to U.S. 7. Access to that route is provided directly at U.S. 7 across from Kocher Drive or from U.S. 7 Exit 2. The shield includes the banner “Historic”.

Our next stop was Albany and a tour of the area freeways. Albany is represents several opportunities for road exploration with many partially built freeways and cancelled projects. First on our list of things to investigate was the South Mall Arterial, a freeway joining the Dunn Memorial Bridge with the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza. A portion of the freeway actually passes underneath the capital complex through a set of tunnels. This freeway otherwise links with Interstate 787 and the town of Rensselaer east of the Hudson River. Planned extensions were never built on both ends. Westward, the South Mall Arterial was to join the unconstructed Mid-Crosstown Arterial (U.S. 9) freeway from the north; eastward, the Dunn Memorial Bridge was to join the unconstructed South Mall Expressway southeast to Interstate 90.

Traveling northbound on the South Mall Arterial from the massive “Circle stack” interchange with Interstate 787. U.S. 20 travels the freeway initially before departing via the Pearl Street off-ramp onto New York 32. The freeway otherwise continues on its own to the capital complex.

One heck of a drop off the south end of the Dunn Memorial Bridge! These stubs were built prematurely as the South Mall Expressway never reached fruition.

We poked around for an increasingly rare Interstate 787 New York shield and found two entries underneath the “circle stack” interchange complex. With that accomplished, we ventured northward and explored what was built of the Mid-Crosstown Arterial, a short freeway carrying U.S. 9 north and south from Interstate 90. That section was all that was constructed of a planned north-south freeway between the New York Thruway (Interstate 87) and Interstate 90. A four-level symmetrical stack joins the Mid-Crosstown Arterial with Interstate 90 at Exit 6.

Driving south on U.S. 9, the Mid-Crosstown Arterial near the Northern Boulevard overpass. A concrete stub exists ahead for the unconstructed southward extension to the equally unbuilt North Mall Expressway (Mall Arterial). U.S. 9 continues south along Johnson Boulevard and Clinton Avenue, surface streets through Albany’s working class neighborhoods.

Traveling west along Interstate 90, next on our agenda was New York 85, the Crosstown Arterial. New York 85 represents a full freeway leading south from Interstate 90 Exit 2 to Blessing Road south of the Interstate 87 underpass. Like the Mid-Crosstown Arterial and South Mall Expressway, the current Crosstown Aerial represents only part of what was originally envisioned. The north end of the route ties into Interstate 90 at a trumpet interchange. A planned extension would have continued the route northward to the unconstructed Interstate 687, had Interstate 687 been built. With that project scrapped, so was the New York 85 connection.

Entering the trumpet interchange with Interstate 90 along New York 85 (Crosstown Arterial) northbound. An end shield resides at the eastbound off-ramp.

Southward, road work is underway to extend the four-lane section of New York 85 across the New York Thruway onto a new bypass of the Slingerlands community. A $15.3 million project, work entails the upgrading or building of new roadway along a 1.5-mile long corridor from New York 85 west at Blessing Road to the Cherry Avenue Extension (New York 140). That is the first of two projects expected to be completed during summer 2008. A second project will extend the new four-lane New York 85 west to an existing four-lane New York 85 to the west. That project is unfunded at this time. Design elements of the initial project involves the construction of roundabouts at Blessing Road, Maher Road, and New York 140.

Speaking of Interstate 687, that route represents an unbuilt connector between Interstate 90 Exit 5A and Interstate 87 (Adirondack Northway) Exit 4. A trumpet interchange was built at the planned south end before funding dried up on the remainder of the route. Albany Shaker Road (Albany County 151) roughly parallels the Interstate 687 route today.

Another exploration stop took us to the south end of the Adirondack Northway, the unnumbered freeway spur leading south from the congested Interstate 87 & 90 directional cloverleaf interchange. The route provides ramps to Crossgates Road and a partially used interchange with U.S. 20 (Western Avenue). All I can find on the planned continuation of this freeway is a reference to the South Albany Expressway in the New York 910F (Fuller Road) article. It mentions a planned freeway paralleling Interstate 87 south from the Northway to the south end of Interstate 787.

What a great place to go roadding, Albany! See Chris Jordan’s Capital Highways for more on the Albany area roads and bridges. Much of the historical information cited here was derived from his web site.

Driving south, Interstate 87 took us to Kingston where stopped to drive Interstate 587 again and explore a few other local roads such as the U.S. 209 freeway. The work present in 2005 along Interstate 587 is done, and now construction barrels are no more along the short route. Otherwise U.S. 209 follows a freeway northeast from its junction with New York 28 west of I-587. The connection between New York 28 and Interstate 87/587 is not a full freeway however, as a traffic light with a shopping center resides between the two junctions.

Further south, construction is underway at the toll plaza adjacent to the Interstate 87 and New York 17/Future Interstate 86 interchange (Exit 16). It appears that a toll plaza expansion to accommodate open road tolling may be underway, but no project information is available online. A nearby project involves the reconstruction and upgrading of New York 17 into full freeway standards between Hancock and the Sullivan County line. Completion of that is planned for 2010.

A few other notes from the rest of the drive: Several of the older button copy signs along Interstate 78 leading west toward Pennsylvania have been replaced. Most of Pennsylvania 309′s non-freeway portions are targeted enforcement zones. It appears that PennDOT is finally upgrading the Fort Washington Expressway (Pennsylvania 309) to modern standards. For years on-ramps to the freeway greeted motorists with stop signs at the end of the ramps! Additionally the interchange between Pennsylvania 309 and Interstate 276 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) is receiving much needed upgrades!

Sources:

1. “NYSDOT Awards Contract For Slingerlands Bypass Construction.” NYSDOT Press Release, February 21, 2007.
2. Capital Highways – The highways and bridges of New York’s Capital Region

As always with this trip, we took convoluted routes to see more of the area. Departing Interstate 89 south via Exit 16 (U.S. 2 & 7), we traveled through Winooski, an old mill town situated along the north banks of the Winooski River. Redevelopment of the downtown area is phenomenal when compared to previous visits in 2000 and 2005. Old industrial buildings were razed or renovated at the junction of U.S. 2 & 7 and Vermont 15 (Allen Street) and the intersection itself was replaced with a new roundabout. I was happy to see that McKee’s Irish Pub is still around too!

Crossing the 1926-built Winooski River Bridge between Burlington and Winooski on U.S. 2 west & 7 north. The bridge dumps traffic directly into the new roundabout with Vermont 15 (Allen Street). Pedestal signals are positioned within the roundabout for crosswalks, but otherwise the junction is unsignalized.

Following U.S. 2 east through Burlington, we headed along busy Williston Road to a local map store where we picked up a new Chittenden County map. After a discussion with Bob about Interstate 289 and Vermont mapping in general, we doubled back west to next visited the campus of the University of Vermont (UVM). UVM, spreading along the hills north of U.S. 2 (Main Street), is also undergoing renovation this summer. There we made our way to the University library where we discovered a gold mine of highway related information, including copies of the 1965 Greater Burlington Urban Area Highway Plan and the Outline History of Vermont State Highways – National Highway Week, Sept. 19-25, 1965. Because of this research, we discovered the background on the unopened highway west of Interstate 189 [Southern Connector/Champlain Parkway], the history of the Burlington Belt Line, and early proposals for Vermont’s Interstate system. For instance, Vermont preferred an Interstate running along U.S. 4 from New York to White River Junction, perhaps the earliest rendering of Interstate 92. New York State refused to build the connection and the idea died. Secondly, Vermont preferred a north-south freeway running along the U.S. 7 corridor from Burlington south to Massachusetts. Massachusetts refused a connection at U.S. 7 and instead insisted upon a freeway running along U.S. 5, which later became Interstate 91.

Rather than going into detail here on Burlington’s highway history, see the new Burlington, Vermont focus page where we cover the Belt Line, the Southern Connector/Champlain Parkway, and other unconstructed road projects.

Some hand painted signs remain in use within the city of Burlington, such as this U.S. 2 shield assembly at Vermont 116′s north end. It is more common to find hand painted signs within the town limits of rural communities throughout the state. VTrans maintains the roads and their signs outside such limits. This is why signs that display “State Highway Ends” and “Begins” signs are posted along Vermont U.S. and State Highways. They indicate the maintenance swap between the state and local municipalities.

Next on our agenda was a stop in downtown and the Church Street Mall, a three block section of roadway converted into a pedestrian street mall. The Church Street Mall bustled with visitors and locals alike, as it has in all of my Vermont trips since 1995. One can find a wide array of eateries, shops, book stores, etc. The scene at night is no different with several bars and restaurants from which to choose as well! After walking around the mall, picking up some lunch, and visiting the marina area, we opted for Vermont 127 north into north Burlington.

Vermont 127 follows Main Street west to Battery Street north and then the one-way street couplet of Park Street (south) and Champlain Street (north) before departing the central Burlington area for a swampy area known as The Intervale. The routing along Main Street is unsigned and signs along Battery and Park Street are almost nonexistent. Originally. the routing of Vermont 127 took the highway northwest along North Avenue to Plattsburgh Avenue. When the two-lane expressway opened between Manhattan Drive and Plattsburgh Avenue, Vermont 127 shifted to the east onto the controlled access route. This leaves North Avenue with no designation, but the route still remains busy as it serves North Beach and a number of residential areas between the Winooski River and Lake Champlain.

An older style Vermont 127 shield posted along Park Street at Battery Park. This is the final southbound shield even though the state highway turns east onto Main Street several blocks ahead. Further north, speed bumps reside along Park Street southbound between Manhattan Drive and North Avenue. What other state highway has speed bumps along its mainline?

When Vermont 127 shifted to the expressway alignment through The Intervale, a connector roadway was built to join North Avenue with the new route via a trumpet interchange. A second connector route was to be built to the north, tying North Avenue with Vermont 127 by a diamond interchange as well. That connection was never built and instead Vermont 127 meets its old alignment (Plattsburgh Avenue) at a signalized intersection. Pictured here is North Avenue southbound at the Vermont 127 connector.

One final swing through downtown took us along St. Paul Street, which is signed once as U.S. 7 Alternate. It turns out that the City of Burlington posted that sign in an effort to remove motorists from Pine Street and other local streets that are bound for U.S. 7 and the south suburbs. This effort is token, but is all that will be done presently as the unconstructed Southern Connector/Champlain Parkway continues to labor with slow moving Environmental Impact Statements.

U.S. 2 travels north-south through the Lake Champlain Islands, passing through small towns such as South Hero, Grand Isle, and North Hero. The roadway carries only two lanes with the exception of a brief four-lane section just northwest of the Sandbar at South Hero. A pair of state highways stem from U.S. 2 in the islands. Vermont 314 loops west to the Plattsburgh, New York bound ferry launch. This route was originally designated Vermont F3 but renumbered to Vermont 314 to coincide with New York 314. Further north, Vermont 129 spurs west to Alburg and Isle La Motte.

Passing through the town of South Hero along U.S. 2 west (north). South Hero and other locales within the Lake Champlain islands survive off of a mixture of agricultural and tourist based economies. Many summertime-only eateries and gift shops exist along U.S. 2 through Grand Isle County.

U.S. 2 links the Lake Champlain Islands with Rouses Point and Champlain, New York via U.S. 11 south (west). The highway ends just west of the state line and provides the only fixed bridge across Lake Champlain for 100 miles leading south of the Canadian border. Vermont 225 also provides a connection northward from U.S. 2 to Quebec 225. Eastward, Vermont 78 continues the U.S. 2 east-west trajectory from Rouses Point to Swanton across Missisquoi Bay.

Peering eastward at the new Vermont 78 Missisquoi Bay Bridge from East Alburgh. A project recently completed (May 30, 2007) replaced the original 1938-Missisquoi Bay Bridge of Vermont 78 with this new fixed high-level bridge. The bridge ended prematurely in 2005 as environmental concerns halted construction due to the nearby habitat of an endangered tortoise. Fortunately work was able to resume and complete the needed span. Vermont 78 in conjunction with U.S. 2 provides a primary truck and through route between Interstates 87 and 89. See the VTrans page for more on the bridge.

Traveling south along the east shore of Lake Champlain from Swanton is Vermont 36, and older and seemingly forgotten state route between Vermont 78 and U.S. 7 in St. Albans. Once outside of both Swanton and St. Albans, the state highway is sparsely signed or signed with very old signs.

A 16″ or so square shield for Vermont 36 south resides on the backside of a northbound regulatory sign. We found three instances of these shields on the north-south stretch parallel to the lake shore. A final shield was also square but shocked with large series C font and no border or “VERMONT”.

The original U.S. 7 embossed cutout in St. Albans is long gone, but some sign relics still remain such as this sign bridge along U.S. 7 northbound at the west end of the Interstate Access road.

St. Albans otherwise is growing with the influx of new residents associated with a series of company relocations from the Montreal area south into upstate Vermont. Suburban sprawl has appeared in the form of new subdivisions along Vermont 104 (Fairfax Road).

Shifting back south to Burlington again, we decided to revisit the dead portion of Interstate 189, a section of pavement we walked back in 2000. The pavement is pretty much still in tact, although more graffiti and a skate ramp were added in the intervening years. We parked the car at the west end and walked in 93 degree heat to the interchange with U.S. 7.

Looking east at the partial-cloverleaf interchange of Interstate 189 and U.S. 7. Three of the six ramps originally built for the junction remain unused.

Later on during our trip we visited the library at the University of Vermont and discovered a bevy of information on the unconstructed Burlington Belt Line freeway. As it turns out, the abandoned segment of Interstate 189 is not an original element but rather a construction project from 1980 that never opened. Dubbed the Champlain Parkway, Interstate 189 was rescinded from a planned west end at the Burlington Belt Line and redesigned to turned northward along Pine Street. That project also never reached fruition with the exception of the abandoned four-lane parkway due to the findings of toxic chemicals leftover from a former coal gasification in the planned right-of-way. This superfund site continues to be a problem and is why the Champlain Parkway was never completed and why a revised at-grade parkway now planned for the route cannot be built as of yet. We will update web pages and go into a deeper discussion about unconstructed Interstate 189, the Champlain Parkway, and the Burlington Belt Line at a later date…

The Burlington Belt Line was to continue south of Interstate 189 along U.S. 7 toward Shelbourne. Traffic projects in the 1960s already warranted discussion of limited access highways and other corridor improvements, yet nothing was done to alleviate the growing congestion along the highway. Today’s commuter and tourist based traffic slows along busy U.S. 7 at the Interstate 189 interchange with no plans for improvement (by the city of Burlington at least).

Another element of the Burlington Belt Line was the building of the Vermont 127 expressway leading through Burlington’s North Shore. The state highway exists as two-lane controlled access parkway from Park Street north to Heinburg Drive and as a two-lane almost residential route from there northeast to junction U.S. 2 & 7 at Colchester. Future plans may see more use in the expressway portion of roadway if the Chittenden County Circumferential Highway is every fully built…

Vermont 127′s northern terminus and end shield posted in Colchester. Suburban sprawl is arising in Colchester too, as new development is now underway at the southwest corner of U.S. 2 & 7 and Vermont 127.

VTrans took a page out of DelDOT’s play book and undertook carbon copy signing along Interstate 89 southbound at the Exit 14 full-cloverleaf interchange with U.S. 2. A new sign bridge was installed to go with new signs. Signs unfortunately continue to omit the exit tabs in addition to displaying simply “Thru Traffic” on the pull-through panel.

New signs along Interstate 89 southbound at the U.S. 2 westbound on-ramp to the University of Vermont and downtown Burlington. In addition to the addition of exit tabs, the left-hand panel should reference “Interstate 89 South – Montpelier”, rather than the ambiguous through traffic reference.

Since my first Vermont trip in 1995, traffic on U.S. 2 always overwhelmed the east-west highway through Burlington and South Burlington. The same situation exists today, with increasing traffic as one heads east. With no viable alternative and continued increasing traffic thanks to Vermont’s summer tourism industry, U.S. 2 (Williston Road) is a road best to be avoided during peak hours.

Eastbound U.S. 2 (Williston Road) at the north end of Vermont 116 (Hinesburg Road). U.S. 2 generally carries between two and four lanes with no shoulders on the eastern drive from central Burlington to Burlington International Airport. Industrial traffic increases as the federal highway leaves the airport vicinity, though full shoulders are included at this point.

Vermont 116 (Hinesburg Road) southbound at Kennedy Drive. Crews are replacing span-wire traffic signal assemblies with mast arms, an increasing trend in states that historically have always used span-wire assemblies. Kennedy Drive, an east-west road between Interstate 189 and Burlington International Airport, was resurfaced this Summer.

Clearview font has also debuted in Vermont on a select number of state highway shields among other signs. This particular sign exists along Vermont 15 (Main Street) northbound after the five-way intersection with Vermont 2A and 117 in downtown Essex Junction.

The congested five-way intersection in downtown Essex Junction is one of the reasons why the short Vermont 289 super-two freeway was built. Opened in October 1993 at a cost of $34.4 million, the short freeway connects Vermont 117 (River Road) with Vermont 2A (Colchester Road) to the north and east of central Essex Junction. A 900-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement was released last month on the Chittenden County Circumferential Highway. What might have been numbered Interstate 289, may yet be constructed as a full freeway between Interstate 89 at South Burlington and Interstate 89 at Colchester. Local leaders have recently expressed support for the building of the new highway, due to increasing congestion associated with suburban expansion and increased tourist traffic.

Looking east from the Essex Way overpass at the Vermont 289 expressway in Essex Junction. With the highway ending prematurely in both directions, the full potential of Vermont 289 as a congestion-alleving route has yet to be realized.

With the publication of the Chittenden County Circumferential Highway DEIS, officials now turn their attention to public comments, which may be submitted until November 8, 2007. The final EIS is slated for publication sometime in 2008. My thoughts on the future of Vermont 289:

Having been a returning visitor to Northwest Vermont during the last 12 years, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in traffic and traffic congestion throughout the Burlington area. With the city of Burlington planning no area improvements, something must be done to alleviate traffic along Interstate 89 and U.S. 2. The Chittenden County Circumferential Highway will help aid through traffic needs in addition to local commuters by providing alternatives to the five-way intersection in downtown Essex Junction, providing an alternate way to Essex Junction from Interstate 89 in lieu of U.S. 2, Vermont 2A, and Vermont 117, and alleviating traffic on Interstate 89 in Burlington by distributing some of it along Vermont 289 as a bypass route. This is a win-win situation for the area traffic concerns, especially given the increased suburban expansion that will move onward irregardless of new roads. Now is the time to secure the land and build the new road before development moves in ahead of it.

MassHighway uses large diagrammatical signs regularly along its freeways for interchange elements such as loop ramps and in this instance, a collector/distributor roadway. This particular sign resides along Interstate 95 northbound ahead of the trumpet interchange with U.S. 3 (Exits 32A/B). The c/d roadway serves not only interests to the U.S. 3 freeway north, but also to the nearby folded-diamond interchange with Middlesex Turnpike. Note that U.S. 3 south joins Interstate 95 north to make the jump from its freeway onto its original alignment on Cambridge Street (Exit 33).

Interstate 93 north carried us back to the Loop Connector (Massachusetts 213) east to Interstate 495 north. Interstate 495′s northernmost extent includes just four lanes and the lightest amount of traffic that we saw. Though that is an understatement, it was a welcome concept given the overall Massachusetts’ and Southern New England traffic woes.

I neglected to go to the east end of New Hampshire 101 and Atlantic Coast in 2005, so we decided to make that a stop this year. New Hampshire 101 appears as a freeway with an interchange with U.S. 1 on some maps. This is gravely incorrect, as the highway narrows to two lanes across tidal marshes west of Hampton Beach before partitioning into a one-way one-lane street couplet in the town itself. State maintenance ends near the couplet partition no less.

U.S. 1 (Ocean Boulevard) northbound at the westbound beginning of New Hampshire 101 (Church Street) in Hampton Beach. Church Street carries one lane of N.H. 101 west to the confluence with Highland Avenue (N.H. 101 east). From there New Hampshire 101 crosses marshland to a signalized intersection with Landing Road. After that at-grade intersection, the New Hampshire 101 freeway begins as a super-two expressway.

Hampton Beach was shrouded in some late morning low cloudiness this day, but was bustling with tourists and beach goers none the less. Densely built beach cottages line U.S. 1 southbound and the adjoining narrow street grid. U.S. 1 otherwise constitutes a divided highway with parallel parking slots in its median through here. Sand on the adjacent beach is more orange than anything else. Overall, we thought it was a quaint place, that worthy of a return visit…

New Hampshire 101 took us west to Manchester. The freeway is much less traveled then its Massachusetts counterparts and offers a direct link between the coast and mountains with Interstates 93 and 89. The corridor historically is that of Interstate 92, though the freeway itself was not fully completed until the early 2000s.

In Manchester, finding a stand-alone Interstate shield or reassurance marker of any kind can be quite a task. That is, as mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, overlapped routes are signed in a green box. This makes it next to impossible to find a single Interstate 293 shield as the Manchester loop shares pavement with the F.E. Everett Turnpike, New Hampshire 101, and New Hampshire 3A along its routing. Otherwise construction is still present at the Granite Street diamond interchange and Interstate 293 north to Amoskeag Street. Crews are essentially modernizing the highway through there.

Classic button copy overheads on U.S. 3 (Hooksett Road) southbound at its split with New Hampshire 28. New Hampshire 28 follows the one-way street couplet of Beech Street (south) and Maple Street (north) between U.S. 3 and Willow Street. U.S. 3 meanwhile turns west on Webster Street to Elm Street south and the Manchester central business district.

We poked around downtown Manchester from Bridge Street east and U.S. 3 north. For a small city, there appears to be many entertainment spots, including a full scale arena. Though other parts of Manchester remind me of Scranton…

Leaving Manchester, Interstate 93 briefly becomes the F.E. Everett Turnpike on the drive to junction Interstate 89 and Concord. Concord, the state capital, is similar to Montpelier with a dense downtown and its overall layout.

Looking west at the New Hampshire State Capital Complex from U.S. 3-202 & New Hampshire 9 (Main Street).

Construction involving the repaving of Interstate 89 hampered us and all other northbound drivers over the course of the first three miles leaving Interstate 93. I was once told that DOT’s in northern New England repave their freeways every two to three years. As we would later discover on Interstate 89 between White River Junction and Barre, repaving was underway in Vermont as well.

Interstate 89 parallels U.S. 202 west from Concord before veering northwest to Lebanon. A bulk of the traffic departs via U.S. 202 en route to Henniker and Keene, leaving Interstate 89 to the mountains. Pictured here is the Interstate 89 north & New Hampshire 10 west approach to eastern Lebanon.

Interstate 91 northeast of Interstate 89 is one of the more beautiful freeways in the northeast. The difference between it and Interstate 89 northwest of Montpelier is that there is less traffic, which anymore is becoming an increasing problem in Vermont with the influx of vacationers. Jay Hogan, formerly of New England Turnpikes, wrote earlier this year that VTrans was undertaking a sign replacement project along Interstate 91 leading north from White River Junction. The results of that project were clear in the form of a complete sign overhaul along the route between Interstate 89 and one exit south of Interstate 93. Crews were in the process of replacing signs at St. Johnsbury of both Interstates 91 and 93 that week no less. Further north, original signs are still in use, some of which have lost all of their green and now appear gray…

One of the many hills along Interstate 91 between White River Junction and St. Johnsbury. Breathtaking vistas into the parallel Connecticut River Valley are afforded to the east periodically. This view looks at the freeway south of Exit 17.

Original guide sign along Interstate 91 northbound proclaiming the highest elevation along the entire route (1,856 feet).

Our final stop before heading west across the Green Mountains to Lake Champlain took us to Newport and Derby Line, Vermont. Interstate 91 defaults into the Canadian Port of Entry, ahead of Quebec Autoroute 55. A connector street stems west along the Canadian border to U.S. 5 at its northern end, which is another Port of Entry. The next town south along U.S. 5 is Newport.

Vermont 191, which appears as a freeway on some maps, provides access to Interstate 91 from Newport. Like the “Interstate Access Road” in St. Albans, Vermont 191 is a controlled access surface road connecting the parent freeway with the nearby town. Vermont 191 ends at a stop light with junction U.S. 5 & Vermont 105 and sees a few at-grade intersections along the way. Thus it is not a freeway, nor even an expressway.

U.S. 5 north & Vermont 105 east (Causeway) at junction Vermont 191. Vermont 191 spurs east to Western Avenue, Crawford Farm Road, Citizens Road, and the Exit 27 partial-cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 91. The traffic light between the two highways is permanently set to flash caution for U.S. 5 & Vermont 105.