New England road marking system
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2008-04-25T18:42:41Z
Polaron
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reword for accuracy
{{redirect|New England Interstates|the modern freeways|Interstate Highway System}}
[[Image:1922 New England routes.jpg|right|frame|1922 list]]
The '''New England road marking system''' was an [[wiktionary:interstate|interstate]] system of marked [[numbered route]]s in [[New England]]. The routes were marked by a yellow rectangular shield with black numbers and border. Many shields were painted on [[telephone pole]]s. The routes were approved by the [[highway department]]s of the six New England states<!--and New York? the highway commissioner from New York is quoted--> in April [[1922]].<ref name="nyt April 16">Motor Sign Uniformity, [[New York Times]], [[April 16]], [[1922]]</ref>
Prior to the New England road marking system, through routes were mainly marked with colored bands on telephone poles. These were assigned by direction (red for east-west, blue for north-south and yellow for intermediate or diagonal routes). The [[Massachusetts Highway Commission]] convinced the rest of southern New England and New York to use this system in 1915 (New Hampshire and Vermont already had their own schemes, and Maine also opted out), and it was the main system until 1922.<ref>[http://chronos-historical.org/highway US-5: A Highway to History]</ref>
The New England road marking system, while limited to New England, was designed for expansion to the whole country. One- and two-digit numbers were assigned to major interstate routes, with three-digit routes for [[state route]]s (marked in a rectangle, with the state abbreviation below the number<!--the article says below, but other stuff indicates above?-->). In general, odd numbers ran east-west and even numbers ran north-south. The main exception was [[Route 1 (New England)|Route 1]], which was to run along the [[Atlantic coast]] from [[Florida]] to [[Calais, Maine]]. A few of the major [[auto trail]]s were not to be assigned numbers, instead being marked with letters - for instance, L for the [[Lincoln Highway]] and R for the [[Roosevelt International Highway]].<ref name="nyt April 16"/>
In 1926, several of the routes were supplanted by the national [[United States Numbered Highways]]. Except for [[Route 1 (New England)|Route 1]], which became [[U.S. Route 1]], the old numbers were not used, since the U.S. Highway system uses odd numbers for north-south routes and even numbers for east-west routes. While some of the routes that did not become U.S. Routes were disbanded in the 1930s, many of these other routes still have their numbers today, although the unified signage is no longer used.
==List of routes==
{|class=wikitable border="1" cellpadding="2"
!New England Route
!Current routes
!Endpoints
|-
|[[Image:New England 1.svg|30 px]] [[Route 1 (New England)|Route 1]]
|[[US 1]]
|NY/CT state line ([[NY 1 (1924)|NY 1]] towards [[New York City]]) to [[Calais, ME]] (towards [[Saint John, NB]])
|-
|[[Image:New England 1A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 1A (New England)|Route 1A]]
|[[Route 3 (RI)]]
|[[Westerly, RI]] to [[Providence, RI]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 2.svg|30 px]] [[Route 2 (New England)|Route 2]]
|[[U.S. Route 5|US 5]]
|[[New Haven, CT]] (Route 1) to [[Derby Line, VT]] ([[Route 5 (Quebec)|Route 5]] towards [[Sherbrooke, QC]])
|-
|[[Image:New England 2A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 2A (New England)|Route 2A]]
|[[VT 5A]]
|[[West Burke, VT]] to [[Derby, VT]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 3.svg|30 px]] [[Route 3 (New England)|Route 3]]
|[[US 6]]
|NY/CT state line (towards [[Bedford, NY]]) to [[Provincetown, MA]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 4.svg|30 px]] [[Route 4 (New England)|Route 4]]
|[[US 7]]
|NY/CT state line ([[NY 21 (1924)|NY 21]] towards [[Amenia, NY]]) to [[Highgate Springs, VT]] ([[Route 7 (Quebec)|Route 7]] towards [[Montreal, QC]])
|-
|[[Image:New England 5.svg|30 px]] [[Route 5 (New England)|Route 5]]
|[[US 20]]
|NY/MA state line ([[NY 5 (1924)|NY 5]] towards [[Albany, NY]]) to [[Boston, MA]] (Routes 1 - 6 - 7 - 28)
|-
|[[Image:New England 6.svg|30 px]] [[Route 6 (New England)|Route 6]]
|[[US 3]]; [[Route 3 (MA)]]
|[[Orleans, MA]] (Route 3) to [[Colebrook, NH]] (Route 26)
|-
|[[Image:New England 6A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 6A (southern New England)|Route 6A]]
|[[Route 3A (MA)]]
|[[Kingston, MA]] to [[Quincy, MA]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 6A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 6A (northern New England)|Route 6A]]
|[[NH 3A]]
|[[Franklin, NH]] to [[Plymouth, NH]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 6B.svg|30 px]] [[Route 6B (New England)|Route 6B]]
|[[Route 38 (MA)]]
|[[Cambridge, MA]] to [[Lowell, MA]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 7.svg|30 px]] [[Route 7 (New England)|Route 7]]
|[[Route 2 (MA)]]
|NY/MA state line ([[NY 7 (1924)|NY 7]] towards [[Troy, NY]]) to [[Boston, MA]] (Routes 1 - 5 - 6 - 28)
|-
|[[Image:New England 8.svg|30 px]] [[Route 8 (New England)|Route 8]]
|[[Route 8 (CT)]]; [[Route 8 (MA)]]; [[VT 8]]
|[[Stratford, CT]] (Route 1) to [[Wilmington, VT]] (Route 9)
|-
|[[Image:New England 9.svg|30 px]] [[Route 9 (New England)|Route 9]]
|[[VT 9]]; [[NH 9]]; [[SR 9 (ME)]]
|NY/VT state line ([[NY 9 (1924)|NY 9]] towards [[Troy, NY]]) to [[Wells, ME]] (Route 1)
|-
|[[Image:New England 10.svg|30 px]] [[Route 10 (New England)|Route 10]]
|[[Route 9 (CT)]]; [[Route 10 (CT)]]; [[Route 10 (MA)]]; [[NH 10]]
|[[Old Saybrook, CT]] (Route 1) to [[Littleton, NH]] (Route 18)
|-
|[[Image:New England 11.svg|30 px]] [[Route 11 (New England)|Route 11]]
|[[VT 11]]; [[NH 11]]; [[SR 11 (ME)]]; [[SR 111 (ME)]]
|[[Manchester, VT]] (Route 4) to [[Biddeford, ME]] (Route 1)
|-
|[[Image:New England 12.svg|30 px]] [[Route 12 (New England)|Route 12]]
|[[Route 32 (CT)]]; [[Route 12 (CT)]]; [[Route 12 (MA)]]; [[VT 12]]
|[[New London, CT]] (Route 1) to [[Derby, VT]] (Route 2)
|-
|[[Image:New England 12A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 12A (New England)|Route 12A]]
|[[VT 12A]]
|[[Randolph, VT]] to [[Northfield, VT]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 12B.svg|30 px]] [[Route 12B (New England)|Route 12B]]
|[[VT 14]]
|[[Hardwick, VT]] to [[Coventry, VT]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 13.svg|30 px]] [[Route 13 (New England)|Route 13]]
|[[US 4]]
|[[Whitehall, NY]] to [[White River Junction, VT]] (Routes 2 - 14)
|-
|[[Image:New England 14.svg|30 px]] [[Route 14 (New England)|Route 14]]
|[[VT 14]]; [[US 2]]
|[[Burlington, VT]] (Routes 4 - 15 - 30) to [[White River Junction, VT]] (Routes 2 - 13)
|-
|[[Image:New England 15.svg|30 px]] [[Route 15 (New England)|Route 15]]
|[[VT 15]]; [[US 2]]
|[[Burlington, VT]] (Routes 4 - 14 - 30) to [[Houlton, ME]] (<!--what route?-->towards [[Fredericton, NB]])
|-
|[[Image:New England 16.svg|30 px]] [[Route 16 (New England)|Route 16]]
|[[NH 16]]
|[[Portsmouth, NH]] (Route 1) to [[Errol, NH]] (Route 26)
|-
|[[Image:New England 17.svg|30 px]] [[Route 17 (New England)|Route 17]]
|[[Route 23 (MA)]]; [[US 7]]; [[US 44]]; [[Route 2 (CT)]]
|NY/MA state line ([[NY 23 (1924)|NY 23]] towards [[Hudson, NY]]) to [[Westerly, RI]] (Route 1)
|-
|[[Image:New England 18.svg|30 px]] [[Route 18 (New England)|Route 18]]
|[[US 2]]; [[VT 18]]; [[NH 18]]; [[US 302]]
|[[Portland, ME]] (Routes 1 - 25 - 26) to [[Montpelier, VT]] (Routes 12 - 14 - 25)
|-
|[[Image:New England 19.svg|30 px]] [[Route 19 (New England)|Route 19]]
|[[US 302]]; [[SR 11 (ME)]]; [[SR 196 (ME)]]
|[[Bethlehem, NH]] (Route 10 - 18) to [[Brunswick, ME]] (Route 1)<br><small>In the 1922 plan but was never signed.</small>{{Fact|date=June 2007}}
|-
|[[Image:New England 20.svg|30 px]] [[Route 20 (New England)|Route 20]]
|[[US 201]]
|[[Brunswick, ME]] (Route 1) to [[Jackman, ME]] (<!--what route?-->towards [[Quebec City, QC]])
|-
|[[Image:New England 24.svg|30 px]] [[Route 24 (New England)|Route 24]]
|[[US 1]]
|[[Calais, ME]] to [[Madawaska, ME]]<br><small>1922 plan was routed [[Portland, ME]] to [[Greenville, ME]]</small>
|-
|[[Image:New England 25.svg|30 px]] [[Route 25 (New England)|Route 25]]
|[[US 302]]; [[NH 25]]; [[SR 25 (ME)]]
|[[Montpelier, VT]] (Routes 12 - 14 - 18) to [[Portland, ME]] (Routes 1 - 18 - 26)
|-
|[[Image:New England 25A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 25A (New England)|Route 25A]]
|[[VT 25]]
|[[West Topsham, VT]] to [[Bradford, VT]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 26.svg|30 px]] [[Route 26 (New England)|Route 26]]
|[[SR 26 (ME)]]; [[NH 26]]; [[VT 26]]
|[[Portland, ME]] (Routes 1 - 18 - 25) to [[Colebrook, NH]] (Route 6)
|-
|[[Image:New England 28.svg|30 px]] [[Route 28 (New England)|Route 28]]
|[[Route 28 (MA)]]; [[NH 28]]
|[[Buzzards Bay, MA]] (Route 3) to [[Ossipee, NH]] (Route 16)
|-
|[[Image:New England 30.svg|30 px]] [[Route 30 (New England)|Route 30]]
|[[VT 30]]; [[US 7]]; [[US 2]]
|NY/VT state line (<!--what route, if any?-->towards [[Granville, NY]]) to [[Alburgh (town), Vermont|Alburgh, VT]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 30A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 30A (New England)|Route 30A]]
|[[VT 22A]]
|[[Fair Haven, VT]] to [[Vergennes, VT]]
|-
|[[Image:New England 32.svg|30 px]] [[Route 32 (New England)|Route 32]]
|[[Route 12 (CT)]]; [[Route 32 (CT)]]; [[Route 32 (MA)]]; [[NH 32]]
|[[Groton, CT]] (Route 1) to [[Newport, NH]] (Route 11)
|-
|[[Image:New England 32A.svg|30 px]] [[Route 32A (New England)|Route 32A]]
|[[US 202]]; [[NH 103]]
|[[Bradford, NH]] to [[Hopkinton, NH]]
|}
==References==
<references/>
*[http://www.roadgeek.org/nehwys/ New England Interstate Highways of the 1920s]
[[Category:New England Interstate Routes| ]]
[[Category:New England]]