New England road marking system

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] The New England road marking system was a regional system of marked numbered routes in the six-state region of New England in the United States. The routes were marked by a yellow rectangular sign with black numbers and border. Many signs were painted on telephone poles. The routes were approved by the highway departments of the six New England states in April 1922.

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.

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 routes (marked in a rectangle, with the state abbreviation below the number). In general, odd numbers ran east–west and even numbers ran north–south. The main exception was Route 1, which was to run along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Calais, Maine. A few of the major auto trails 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.

In 1926, several of the routes were supplanted by the national United States Numbered Highway System. Except for 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 routes were transferred to state highway systems, often retaining their original route numbers.

Background Before 1915, there was no uniform method to mark major throughways in New England or New York. Vermont and New Hampshire had existing pole marking schemes, though these varied between the states. Vermont's system was unique because route colors were not determined by direction, but by funding and responsibility for maintenance. Maine also had an existing lettering scheme, established in 1914. Many states at this time had numbering systems solely for government use. For example, Connecticut had established an internal system of trunk lines in 1900, which had grown to 14 routes by 1913, but this system was not signposted. In 1908, the New York legislature had laid out 37 routes slated for maintenance solely by the state, but there was no proper numbering until 1924.

In 1915, the Massachusetts Highway Commission proposed to the New England States and New York to adopt a uniform pole-marking scheme, with red bands signifying major east-west routes, blue bands signifying major north-south routes, and all secondary routes marked yellow. All the states agreed to the system, though New Hampshire and Vermont stipulated that these routes would not replace their existing systems.

This system held in most of these states, though Maine supplanted this system in 1919 with its own system of auto trails. By 1922, it was generally agreed that pole markings in general were too inconsistent from region to region. In April 1922, delegates from the New England states met at a dinner conference hosted by the Automobile Club of America to coordinate a new system. Soon thereafter, the system was approved by the highway commissions of all the states involved, and signing began soon thereafter. Maine did not use the system until 1925.

Routes by number

Interstate routes

Route 1

Route 1, or the Atlantic Highway, began in Greenwich, Connecticut, from which the main highway of the Atlantic Coast continued to New York City. The highway followed the coast of Long Island Sound through Stamford, Norwalk, and Bridgeport to Stratford, where the highway met the southern end of Route 8. Route 1 continued through Milford and had a junction with Route 2 in New Haven. The highway continued east to Old Saybrook, where it met the southern terminus of Route 10 and crossed the Connecticut River. Route 1 met the southern ends of Route 12 and Route 32 in New London and Groton, respectively. The highway intersected the eastern end of Route 17 in Stonington, Connecticut, immediately before entering Westerly, Rhode Island.

Route 1 immediately intersected the southern end of Route 1A on entering Rhode Island. Route 1A followed a shorter, more inland route between Westerly and Providence. Route 1 paralleled the Block Island Sound coast to Narragansett, where the highway turned north along Narragansett Bay toward Warwick and Providence. In the state capital, Route 1 collected the other end of Route 1A and intersected Route 3. The highway passed through Pawtucket and entered Massachusetts. Route 1 went straight toward Boston, where the route met the eastern ends of Route 5 and Route 7 and intersected the north–south Route 6 and Route 28. The highway left Boston for the North Shore of Massachusetts, then passed through the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire to Portsmouth. Route 1A in New Hampshire followed the shore from Seabrook to Portsmouth where the route met the southern end of Route 16.

Route 1 continued along the southern Maine coast, where the highway had junctions with Route 9 and Route 11 in Wells and Biddeford, respectively. The highway met three route termini in Portland: Route 18, Route 25, and Route 26. Route 1 continued northeast to Brunswick, where the highway intersected the eastern and southern ends of Route 19 and Route 20, respectively. The route continued through the Down East cities of Belfast and Ellsworth before turning north to its terminus in Calais, where the highway met the southern end of Route 24 before entering New Brunswick.

The general course of Route 1 is today followed by U.S. Route 1, which served as the main highway of the Atlantic coast of not just New England but the United States until it was eclipsed by Interstate 95. Route 1A in Rhode Island was replaced with Rhode Island Route 3, and in New Hampshire was replaced with New Hampshire Route 1A.

Route 2

Route 2, or the Connecticut River Way, began at Route 1 in New Haven, Connecticut. The highway headed north through Meriden and entered the Connecticut River valley south of Hartford, where the highway joined Route 3 and Route 17 to cross the Bulkeley Bridge to the east side of the river. Route 2 followed the east side of the river from East Hartford into the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. At Springfield, the highway joined Route 5 on the Memorial Bridge to return to the west side of the river. Route 2 headed north through Holyoke to Northampton, where the highway was joined by Route 10. The two New England routes intersected Route 7 at Greenfield before diverging at Bernardston, where Route 10 crossed the river to serve New Hampshire and Route 2 continued along the west side of the river into Vermont.

Route 2 briefly ran concurrently with Route 9 through Brattleboro. The highway passed through Bellows Falls and intersected Route 11 in Springfield. At Weathersfield, Route 2 was joined by Route 12, which came across the river from Claremont, New Hampshire. The two highways diverged at Hartland, then Route 2 continued into White River Junction and its junctions with Route 13 and Route 14, which crossed the river together into Lebanon, New Hampshire. The highway intersected Route 25A in Bradford and Route 25 in Wells River. Route 2 left the Connecticut River at Barnet and intersected Route 15 and Route 18 in St. Johnsbury. At West Burke, Route 2 continued northwest while Route 2A continued north. Route 2 was joined by Route 12 again at Barton. The two highways passed through Orleans and received the northern end of Route 12B at Coventry before Route 12 ended at Newport. Route 2 headed east to receive the northern end of Route 2A at Derby before reaching the Canadian border, where the road entered Quebec.

The general course of Route 2 is today followed by U.S. Route 5, the main route through the Connecticut River valley until it was succeeded by Interstate 91. Route 2A was replaced with Vermont Route 5A.

Route 3

Route 3, or the New York, Hartford, Providence, and Cape Cod Route, began at the New York state line in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The highway headed east through Newtown to Waterbury. Route 3 joined Route 8 north from Waterbury to Thomaston, then headed east through Bristol and Plainville. The highway bypassed New Britain on its way to Hartford, where the highway intersected Route 10 and crossed the Connecticut River on the Bulkeley Bridge with Route 2 and Route 17. In East Hartford, Route 2 split to the north, Route 17 split to the southeast, and Route 3 continued east through Manchester to Willimantic, where it met Route 32. The highway continued through Danielson, the site of its junction with Route 12, before entering Rhode Island.

Route 3 crossed northern Rhode Island to Providence, where the highway intersected Route 1. The highway entered Massachusetts and served the South Coast cities of Fall River and New Bedford. Route 3 met the southern end of Route 28 at Wareham and in Bourne met a connector road to Route 6 at Sagamore. Route 3 headed south from Bourne to Falmouth, then headed east along the Nantucket Sound shore of Cape Cod through Hyannis. The highway turned north at Chatham and met the eastern end of Route 6 in Orleans. Route 3 continued north and then west along the narrowing cape to its terminus in Provincetown.

The general course of Route 3 was replaced by U.S. Route 6, except from New York to Ridgefield by Connecticut Route 35, from Southbury to Farmington by local roads and Connecticut Route 10, and from Bourne to Orleans, which is today part of Massachusetts Route 28. The Danbury–East Hartford portion of the highway was further superseded by Interstate 84, and the Providence–Wareham portion was replaced by Interstate 195.

Route 4