New Hampshire Route 101
Route information | ||||
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Maintained by NHDOT | ||||
Length | 95.189 mi[1] (153.192 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | NH 9 / NH 10 / NH 12 in Keene | |||
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East end | NH 1A in Hampton Beach | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | New Hampshire | |||
Counties | Cheshire, Hillsborough, Rockingham | |||
Highway system | ||||
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New Hampshire Route 101 (NH 101) is a state-maintained highway in southern New Hampshire extending from Keene to Hampton Beach. It is the major east–west highway in the southern portion of the state. Most of its eastern portion is a major freeway linking the greater Manchester area to the Seacoast Region. At 95.189 miles (153.192 km) in length, NH 101 nearly spans the entire width of southern New Hampshire.
The western terminus of NH 101 is in Keene at the junction of NH 9, NH 10, and NH 12. The eastern terminus is in Hampton Beach at the junction with Ocean Boulevard (NH 1A).
Between Exeter and Hampton, NH 101 is known as the Exeter–Hampton Expressway.
There are two current and three former auxiliary routes for NH 101. The current routes are NH 101A, which connects Milford and Nashua, and NH 101E, which parallels the main route in Hampton.
Route description
Western segment (Keene to Bedford)
The western terminus of NH 101 is in Keene at the main intersection of NH 9, NH 10, and NH 12 anchoring the South Keene retail district. NH 101 begins eastbound cosigned with southbound NH 10 and NH 12. At a
Bedford and Manchester
Entering
Eastern segment (Manchester to Hampton Beach)
After splitting off from I-93, NH 101 is posted with exit numbers beginning sequentially at 1. The westbound exit ramps to I-93 are unnumbered. Between I-93 and exit 1 in Manchester, as well as between I-95 and Landing Road in Hampton, the NH 101 freeway carries a posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour (89 km/h). The remainder of the freeway has a posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) and a minimum speed requirement of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h).
The NH 101 freeway has one exit in Manchester, exit 1 to
NH 101 enters Hampton Beach as a full-access two-lane highway, crosses the marshy estuary system of the Hampton River and its tributaries, then splits into a pair of one-way streets (Highland Avenue eastbound and Church Street westbound) before reaching its eastern terminus at NH 1A (Ocean Boulevard).
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2007) |
Most of the eastern section of NH 101 was originally planned as part of the canceled New England East–West Highway from Albany, New York to Portsmouth. Because of the cancellation, NH 101 remained a two-lane freeway until the mid-1990s. This road was colloquially known as the Highway of Death for its numerous accidents and large signs at the start of the two-lane freeway segment between exits 5 and 6 in Raymond that displayed the number of fatalities that had occurred.[2][3] In the mid-1990s, the two-lane freeway segment was dualized over much of the swampland that it traversed in Rockingham County, creating a full divided controlled-access freeway between Manchester and I-95.
In 1991, an overpass was constructed over North Road in Brentwood near the Rockingham County Jail Farm for the future routing of NH 101. However, the NH 101 expressway was not built in this area until 2000, giving the bridge the nickname the "bridge to nowhere."[4]
Prior to April 2024, the section of NH 101 east of I-93 featured mile markers beginning at Mile 100 and increasing toward Hampton.[5]
Several portions of the highway have been named after prominent figures by the state legislature. According to the state Department of Transportation, the portion from Keene to the Merrimack River was named the Horace Greeley Highway in 1949. The name Robert C. Erler Highway was given to the stretch of highway "from a beginning point at the Auburn-Candia town line to the Raymond-Epping town line" in 1981. Erler was a former Raymond town selectman and state legislator. In 1995, the name Jay McDuffee Highway was given to the stretch "from the Epping/Raymond town line to its terminus in Hampton."[6]
New Hampshire Route 51
NH 101 between NH 108 in Stratham, just east of the Exeter town line, to New Hampshire Route 1A in Hampton Beach was opened in 1963 as the Exeter-Hampton Expressway.[7][8] It was marked with round shields featuring the highway's name and was later designated NH 51 in the 1980s. This designation remained until October 1994.[9] During this time, NH 101 exited the expressway at exit 11 and was cosigned with NH 108 north into Stratham.[10] At the Stratham Traffic Circle, NH 101 split from NH 108 and followed what is now the entirety of NH 33 into downtown Portsmouth, terminating at US 1.
On NH 51, there were two traffic lights located on the limited access two-lane highway: the east-end lights at the terminus of
In October 1994, NH 101 was re-routed onto the NH 51 highway between Exeter and Hampton Beach, with the entire expressway becoming NH 101.[11] The existing NH 101 designation was removed from NH 108 between the exit 11 interchange and the Stratham Traffic Circle, and the remaining section of old NH 101 between the Stratham Traffic Circle and downtown Portsmouth became was redesignated as NH 33. The NH 51 designation became redundant and was removed entirely.
Future
NH 101 has long been proposed as a part of the greater East–West Highway, which would provide upgraded freeway connections across the three northern New England states (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont). Some early proposals suggested that the route should be part of the Interstate Highway System as I-92, but these were rejected. More recent proposals have suggested that the entire route could be part of a privately maintained toll road.
Location | Albany, NY – Portsmouth, NH or Glens Falls, NY – Calais, ME |
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Northern New England is served by the following major north–south
- I-95, which connects metro Boston with coastal New Hampshire, Maine, and ultimately New Brunswick.
- The Spaulding Turnpike (NH 16), which connects I-95 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to the White Mountains Region of northern New Hampshire (although the freeway only goes as far north as Milton), and indirectly to the Lakes Region of central New Hampshire (via NH 11).
- I-93, which connects Boston with I-91 in northeastern Vermont via central New Hampshire, including Manchester and Concord.
- I-89, which connects I-93 in Concord, New Hampshire, to central and northwestern Vermont, including Montpelier and Burlington, and ultimately Quebec. With its southeast-to-northwest orientation, I-89 is the closest thing to an east-west Interstate that exists in northern New England.
- US 3, the Everett Turnpike, and I-293, which connect I-95 in Burlington, Massachusetts to I-93 in Hooksett, New Hampshire.
- I-91, which runs along the Connecticut River, connecting I-90 in western Massachusetts to points in western New Hampshire and eastern Vermont.
However, the northernmost complete east–west freeway within the region, I-90 in Massachusetts, does not enter northern New England. Continuous east–west freeway travel through (and within) northern New England is presently accomplished by three segments, only one of which is truly east–west. The most major east-west highways useful for long distance travel are as follows:
- Vermont Route 9, NH 9, and Maine State Route 9, which connect Bennington, Vermont (and New York to the west) to as far east as Calais, Maine, although somewhat indirectly in various locations. The road goes through Brattleboro, Vermont, Keene, Concord, Dover, and Somersworth in New Hampshire, and Portland, Augusta, and Bangor in Maine (although I-95 is a faster option between Portland and Bangor).
- US 4, which connects Fair Haven, Vermont (and New York to the west) to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
- US 2, which connects Burlington, Vermont to Houlton, Maine (via Montpelier and Bangor).
- US 302, which connects Montpelier, Vermont to Portland, Maine. US 202 offers an alternative routing between Windham, Maine and Bangor.
Major intersections
County | Location[1][12] | mi[1][12] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
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Cheshire | Keene | 0.000 | 0.000 | NH 9 / NH 10 north / NH 12 north (Franklin Pierce Highway) – Brattleboro VT, Concord, Walpole | Western terminus of NH 101 | |
0.459 | 0.739 | NH 10 south (Winchester Street) – Winchester | Eastern end of concurrency with NH 10 | |||
1.240 | 1.996 | NH 12 south (Main Street / Lower Main Street) – Troy | Eastern end of concurrency with NH 12 | |||
Marlborough | 5.362 | 8.629 | NH 124 east (Jaffrey Road) – Jaffrey | Western terminus of NH 124 | ||
Dublin | 15.626 | 25.148 | NH 137 (Brush Brook Road) – Hancock, Jaffrey | |||
US 202 west (Grove Street) – Jaffrey | Western end of concurrency with US 202 | |||||
20.290 | 32.654 | Eastern end of concurrency with US 202; western end of concurrency with NH 123 | ||||
21.154 | 34.044 | NH 123 south (Elm Hill Road) – Sharon, New Ipswich | Eastern end of concurrency with NH 123 | |||
Temple | 25.812 | 41.540 | NH 45 south (Senator Tobey Highway) – Temple, Greenville | Northern terminus of NH 45 | ||
Wilton | 30.743 | 49.476 | NH 31 south (Greenville Road) – Greenville, Mason, New Ipswich | Western end of concurrency with NH 31 | ||
32.737 | 52.685 | NH 31 north (Island Street) – Wilton, Greenfield | Eastern end of concurrency with NH 31 | |||
NH 101A east (Elm Street) – Milford | Western terminus of NH 101A | |||||
38.349 | 61.717 | NH 13 (South Street) – Milford, Brookline | Interchange | |||
39.997 | 64.369 | Interchange | ||||
Amherst | 41.110 | 66.160 | NH 122 (Ponemah Road) | Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
42.974 | 69.160 | NH 122 (Baboosic Lake Road) – Amherst | Interchange | |||
Bedford | 52.419 | 84.360 | NH 114 north / Boynton Street – Goffstown | At-grade intersection; western terminus of freeway; southern terminus of NH 114 | ||
53.847 | 86.658 | – | To US 3 (Kilton Road (WB), Meetinghouse Road/S. River Road (EB)) | |||
54.119 | 87.096 | 3 | Western end of concurrency with I-293; exit number not signed | |||
Manchester | 55.160 | 88.771 | 2 | NH 3A (Brown Avenue) – Litchfield | ||
55.787 | 89.780 | 1 | Mall of New Hampshire | |||
57.972 | 93.297 | – | I-293 – Boston | Southern terminus of I-293; western end of concurrency with I-93 | ||
58.900 | 94.790 | 6 | Candia Road / Hanover Street | |||
59.275 | 95.394 | 7 | I-93 north – Concord | Eastern end of concurrency with I-93; exit number not signed westbound | ||
60.994 | 98.160 | 1 | ||||
Rockingham | Auburn | 62.521 | 100.618 | 2 | To NH 121 / Hooksett Road – Auburn, Candia | |
Trumpet interchange ; southern terminus of NH 43 | ||||||
Raymond | 71.979 | 115.839 | 4 | Old Manchester Road – Raymond | Signs stating "Local Traffic Only" removed in 2015; Raymond not signed going eastbound | |
73.875 | 118.890 | 5 | NH 107 (Freetown Road) to NH 102 / NH 156 – Raymond, Fremont | |||
Epping | 76.021 | 122.344 | 6 | Depot Road / Beede Hill Road | ||
78.288 | 125.992 | 7 | NH 125 (Calef Highway) – Epping, Kingston | |||
Bridge to Nowhere | ||||||
Exeter | 83.586 | 134.519 | 9 | NH 27 (Epping Road) – Exeter | ||
85.101 | 136.957 | 10 | NH 85 (Newfields Road) – Exeter, Newfields | |||
Stratham | 86.236 | 138.783 | 11 | NH 108 (Portsmouth Avenue) to NH 33 / NH 88 – Stratham, Exeter | ||
Exeter | 88.942 | 143.138 | 12 | NH 111 (North Hampton Road) – Exeter, North Hampton | ||
Blue Star Turnpike) – Portsmouth, Boston | Trumpet interchange; exit 2 on I-95; Hampton Side Toll Plaza | |||||
91.276 | 146.894 | 13 | NH 27 (Exeter Road) – Hampton | Roadway narrows to a two-lane undivided freeway east of this interchange | ||
92.884 | 149.482 | – | US 1 (Lafayette Road) – Hampton, Seabrook | |||
93.731 | 150.845 | Eastern terminus of freeway | ||||
95.189 | 153.192 | NH 1A (Ocean Boulevard) – Hampton Beach | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Suffixed routes
New Hampshire Route 101A
Location | Milford–Nashua |
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Length | 13.819 mi[1] (22.240 km) |
New Hampshire Route 101A (abbreviated NH 101A) is a 13.819-mile-long (22.240 km) east–west highway in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, connecting Milford and Nashua. It also runs through Merrimack and Amherst and very briefly touches Hollis.
The western terminus of NH 101A is in western Milford at the intersection with NH 101. The eastern terminus is in the center of Nashua, when it meets New Hampshire Route 111 at the Merrimack River. Most of it is two lanes in each direction, sometimes with a central turning lane.
Route 101A is quite busy by southern New Hampshire standards, with traffic ranging from 26,000 vehicles per weekday in Nashua to 9,000 in western Milford. [1]
The road carries a number of names. In Milford it is Elm Street and then Nashua Street; in Amherst and Merrimack it is the Milford Road or, more commonly, just 101A; in Nashua it is Amherst Street. There is some confusion over the eastern terminus; Google Maps shows the route continuing to the Taylor Falls Bridge and ending at the bridge, while the official New Hampshire route map shows the route ending at the eastern terminus of Amherst Street, where it meets Main Street and Concord Street.[13] Local signage also stops at the end of Amherst Street.
New Hampshire Route 101B
New Hampshire Route 101B was a designation once held by two separate
Western segment
Location | Hooksett–Candia |
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The western segment of NH 101B was a roughly 8.5-mile-long (13.7 km) east–west road in the
All of the western segment of NH 101B was renumbered NH 27 at an unknown time.[14]
Eastern segment
Location | Portsmouth |
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The eastern segment of NH 101B was a short east–west road in downtown
Prior to 1971, NH 101B from Islington Street east to US 1 became NH 101 while Islington Street and the portion of NH101B east of US 1 reverted to city maintenance. This section of NH 101 was renumbered to NH 33 in 1994.[14]
New Hampshire Route 101C
Location | Hampton Beach |
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New Hampshire Route 101C ran from NH 108 east along what is now NH 27 to NH 1A in Hampton Beach.
New Hampshire Route 101D
Location | Hampton–Hampton Beach |
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The portion of NH 111 between New Hampshire Route 27 in Hampton and NH 1A in Hampton Beach was once designated New Hampshire Route 101D.[14]
New Hampshire Route 101E
Location | Hampton |
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Length | 2.357 mi[1] (3.793 km) |
New Hampshire Route 101E is a short stretch of urban road 2.357 miles (3.793 km) in length in
Guide signs exist at the eastern terminus at NH 1A, but along the road itself, there is no signage to indicate the route's number. It is not known as Route 101E to local residents, who call it Winnacunnet Road.
References
- ^ a b c d e Bureau of Planning & Community Assistance (February 20, 2015). "NH Public Roads". Concord, New Hampshire: New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Ford, Royal (May 9, 1991). "Safety drives N.H. 'Death Zone' debate". The Boston Globe. p. 39. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "The top 10 Local Stories of 1999: Route 101 rolls". seacoastonline.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2007 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ Haberman, Steve (May 29, 2001). "Route 101 no longer a death trap". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ ""Project 43934 Plans"" (PDF). Retrieved May 24, 2024.
- ^ [N.H. Department of Transportation internal document: "New Hampshire Named Highways, Rest Areas, Bridges, etc. (1900 to 2016)"]
- ^ "Exeter, Hampton Get New Highway". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. July 11, 1963. p. 1. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- Nashua Telegraph. Nashua, New Hampshire. AP. August 3, 1963. p. 12. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "51 from 1A to 101 is now 101: Got it?". The Boston Globe. October 9, 1994. p. 6-NH. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Ford, Royal (May 9, 1991). "Safety, environment drive 'Death Zone' debate". The Boston Globe. p. 46. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "SENATE BILL 644-FN-A". gencourt.state.nh.us. New Hampshire General Court. 1994. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
AN ACT appropriating funds for the redesignation of a portion of New Hampshire Route 51 as New Hampshire Route 101.
- ^ a b Bureau of Planning & Community Assistance (April 3, 2015). "Nodal Reference 2015, State of New Hampshire". New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 7, 2015.[permanent dead link]
- City of Keene, Cheshire County
- Town of Marlborough, Cheshire County
- Town of Dublin, Cheshire County
- Town of Peterborough, Hillsborough County[permanent dead link]
- Town of Temple, Hillsborough County
- Town of Wilton, Hillsborough County
- Town of Milford, Hillsborough County
- Town of Amherst, Hillsborough County
- Town of Bedford, Hillsborough County[permanent dead link]
- City of Manchester, Hillsborough County[permanent dead link]
- Town of Auburn, Rockingham County
- Town of Candia, Rockingham County
- Town of Raymond, Rockingham County
- Town of Epping, Rockingham County
- Town of Brentwood, Rockingham County
- Town of Exeter, Rockingham County
- Town of Stratham, Rockingham County
- Town of Hampton, Rockingham County[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Official New Hampshire State Route Map". New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ a b c d New Hampshire Routes 101-125
External links
- New Hampshire State Route 101 on Flickr
- New Hampshire State Route 101A on Flickr
- New Hampshire State Route 101E on Flickr