U.S. Route 1
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North end | Route 161 at the Fort Kent–Clair Border Crossing | |
Location | ||
Country | United States | |
States | Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine | |
Highway system | ||
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U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south
While US 1 is generally the easternmost of the main north–south U.S. Routes, parts of several others occupy corridors closer to the ocean. When the road system was laid out in the 1920s, US 1 was mostly assigned to the existing
Route description
mi | km
| |
---|---|---|
FL | 545 | 877 |
GA | 223 | 359 |
SC | 171 | 275 |
NC | 174 | 280 |
VA | 197 | 317 |
DC | 7 | 11 |
MD | 81 | 130 |
PA | 81 | 130 |
NJ | 66 | 106 |
NY | 22 | 35 |
CT | 117 | 188 |
RI | 57 | 92 |
MA | 86 | 138 |
NH | 17 | 27 |
ME | 526 | 847 |
Total | 2,369 | 3,813 |
Florida
US 1 travels along the east coast of
Georgia
The part of US 1 in Georgia, as it shifts from the coastal alignment in Florida to the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line alignment in South Carolina, is generally very rural, passing through marshes and former plantations between the towns and cities of Folkston, Waycross, Alma, Baxley, Lyons, Swainsboro, and Augusta. The Georgia Department of Transportation has an ongoing plan to widen all of US 1 to four lanes with bypasses, which is more than 50 percent complete.
The Carolinas
In South Carolina, US 1 generally serves mostly rural areas as it falls west of I-95 while the coastal areas are served by routes east of it. Starting in South Carolina, US 1 is paralleled by I-20 along the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line through Aiken, Lexington, and Columbia to Camden and Lugoff. US 1 functions as a local two-lane road with occasional boulevard stretches. After Camden, US 1 continues northeast away from any Interstate toward Bethune, Patrick, McBee, and Cheraw with no bypasses or four-lane sections except around Cheraw through the US 52 and South Carolina Highway 9 (SC 9) concurrencies. After SC 9, it continues northward into North Carolina as a two -lane highway. The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has no plans to widen or bypass any US 1 alignments northeast of Camden to the North Carolina line.
Between the South Carolina line and the US 74 bypass, US 1 is a two-lane road but sees a considerable amount of truck and tourist traffic of people cutting through from the US 74/US 220 and I-73/I-74 corridor attempting to reach points south and east. US 1 goes through downtown Rockingham, with a bypass in the future plans. North of the North Carolina Highway 177 (NC 177) junction, it becomes four lanes or greater, becoming a superstreet with limited access and then becoming a limited access freeway. US 1 becomes a major artery for the state as it moves north of Rockingham. After Richmond County, it goes into Moore County with two expressway bypasses in Southern Pines, Vass, and Cameron. US 1 continues with the Jefferson Davis Highway label through Lee County and Sanford, and on to Cary and Raleigh. US 1 runs concurrently with US 64 through most of Cary, where the freeway recently underwent a major renovation and improvements that added lanes in both directions.[8] North of Raleigh, US 1 (known as Capital Boulevard in northern Wake County) crosses I-540 and then again becomes a four-lane divided arterial to I-85 near Henderson. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has begun a corridor study for this section of US 1.[9] Moreover, NCDOT is planning to finish four-laning US 1 in Richmond County past NC 177 with a Rockingham bypass to the east. There are no plans from SCDOT to widen US 1 from the state line. From Henderson into Virginia, US 1 runs parallel with I-85 as a two-lane local road until the state line, where Virginia hosts a continuous third center lane for alternate passing toward US 58 before South Hill.
Mid-Atlantic
In the Mid-Atlantic, US 1 generally serves some of the most populated areas of the east coast. Through Virginia, US 1 is paralleled by Interstates: the remainder of I-85 to Petersburg, I-95 through Richmond and Fredericksburg to Alexandria, and I-395 into Arlington. In much of Virginia, US 1 was called the Jefferson Davis Highway by state law, although there are exceptions. South of Petersburg, it is known as Boydton Plank Road. Through some of Fairfax County and Alexandria, it is called the Richmond Highway.[10] In February 2021, Virginia renamed all remaining portions of the Jefferson Davis Highway in the state to Emancipation Highway beginning on January 1, 2022.[11][12]
US 1 crosses the
The two-lane US 1 becomes a four-lane
After crossing into
New England
In
The short portion of US 1 in New Hampshire follows the historic Lafayette Road, staying close to I-95, passing through Portsmouth before crossing the Piscataqua River on Memorial Bridge, which was demolished and replaced during 2012–2013, leaving a temporary gap in US 1. During construction, drivers had to detour to one of two other nearby bridges carrying US 1 Bypass or I-95. Within Maine, US 1 begins as a parallel route to I-95 near the Atlantic Ocean. At Portland, I-95 splits off to the north, and I-295 heads northeast paralleling US 1 to Brunswick. There US 1 turns east as a mostly two-lane road along the coast to Calais; much of this portion is advertised as the "Coastal Route" on signs. North from Calais, US 1 follows the Canadian border, crossing I-95 in Houlton and eventually turning west and southwest to its "north" end at the Clair–Fort Kent Bridge in Fort Kent. The short Route 161 extends north on the New Brunswick (Canada) side of the bridge to Route 120, a secondary east–west route from Edmundston, New Brunswick, west to Quebec Route 289 toward Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, Quebec.[6]
History
The direct predecessor to US 1 was the Atlantic Highway, an
When the
One of the many changes made to the system before the final numbering was adopted in 1926 involved US 1 in Maine. The 1925 plan had assigned US 1 to the shorter inland route (Route 15) between Houlton and Bangor, while US 2 followed the longer coastal route via Calais. In the system as adopted in 1926, US 2 instead took the inland route, while US 1 followed the coast, absorbing all of the former Route 24 and Route 1 in New England.[22][23] Many local and regional relocations, often onto parallel superhighways, were made in the early days of US 1; this included the four-lane divided Route 25 in New Jersey, completed in 1932 with the opening of the Pulaski Skyway,[24] and a bypass of Bangor involving the Waldo–Hancock Bridge, opened in 1931.[25] The Overseas Highway from Miami to Key West was completed in 1938 and soon became a southern extension of US 1.[26]
With the construction of the Interstate Highway System in and after the 1950s, much of US 1 from Houlton to Miami was bypassed by I-95. Between Houlton and Brunswick, Maine, I-95 took a shorter inland route, much of it paralleling US 2 on the alignment proposed for US 1 in 1925. Between Philadelphia and Baltimore, I-95 leaves US 1 to pass through Wilmington. Most notably, I-95 and US 1 follow different corridors between Petersburg, Virginia, and Jacksonville, Florida; while US 1 followed the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line west of the coastal plain, I-95 takes a more direct route through the plain and its swamps. Although some of this part of US 1 was followed by other Interstates—I-85 between Petersburg and Henderson, North Carolina, and I-20 between Camden, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia—the rest remains an independent route with four lanes in many places. By the late 1970s, most of I-95 had been completed, replacing US 1 as the main corridor of the east coast and relegating most of it to local road status.[27]
Major intersections
- Florida
- Whitehead Street and Fleming Street in Key West
- I-95 in Miami
- US 41 in Miami
- I-395in Miami
- US 27in Miami
- I-195 in Miami
- I-595 on the Dania Beach–Fort Lauderdale, Florida city line
- US 98 in West Palm Beach
- US 192 in Melbourne
- US 92 in Daytona Beach
- I-95 in Ormond Beach
- I-95 near Palm Coast
- I-295 in Jacksonville
- I-95 in Jacksonville
- I-95 in Jacksonville. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- US 90 in Jacksonville. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- US 17 in Jacksonville. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- US 23 in Jacksonville
- I-95 in Jacksonville
- US 23 in Jacksonville. The highways travel concurrently to north of Alma, Georgia.
- I-295 in Jacksonville
- US 301 in Callahan. The highways travel concurrently to Homeland, Georgia.
- Georgia
- US 82 in Waycross. US 1/US 82/SR 520 travels concurrently to west of Deenwood.
- US 84 in Waycross. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- US 341 in Baxley
- US 280 in Lyons
- I-16 in Oak Park
- US 80 in Swainsboro
- US 319 in Wadley
- US 221 in Louisville. US 1/US 221 travels concurrently to Wrens.
- I-520 in Augusta
- US 78 / US 278 in Augusta. US 1/US 78 travels concurrently to Aiken, South Carolina. US 1/US 278 travels concurrently to Clearwater, South Carolina. US 1/SR 10 travels concurrently to the South Carolina state line.
- US 25 in Augusta. US 1/US 25 travels concurrently to North Augusta, South Carolina. US 1/SR 121 travels concurrently to the South Carolina state line.
- South Carolina
- I-520 in North Augusta
- I-20 north-northeast of Aiken
- US 178 in Batesburg-Leesville
- US 378 in Lexington. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- I-20 east of Lexington
- I-26 in Oak Grove
- US 378 in West Columbia. The highways travel concurrently to Columbia.
- US 21 / US 176 / US 321 in Columbia
- US 76 in Columbia. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- I-20 in Dentsville
- I-77 in Dentsville
- US 601 in Lugoff. The highways travel concurrently to Camden.
- US 521 / US 601 in Camden
- US 52 south-southwest of Cheraw. The highways travel concurrently to Cheraw.
- North Carolina
- Future I-74 / US 74 west-southwest of East Rockingham
- US 220 in Rockingham
- US 15 / US 501 in Aberdeen. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- US 15 / US 501 north-northeast of Cameron. The highways travel concurrently to Sanford.
- US 421 in Sanford
- US 64 in Cary. The highways travel concurrently to Raleigh.
- I-40 / I-440 / US 64 in Raleigh. I-440/US 1 travels concurrently through the city.
- US 70 in Raleigh
- I-440 / US 401 in Raleigh. US 1/US 401 travels concurrently through the city.
- I-540 near Raleigh
- US 158 northeast of Henderson. The highways travel concurrently to Norlina.
- I-85 southwest of Middleburg
- US 158 / US 401 in Middleburg. US 1/US 401 travels concurrently to north-northwest of Wise.
- I-85 / US 401 north-northwest of Wise
- Virginia
- US 58 southwest of South Hill. The highways travel concurrently to just southwest of the city.
- I-85 in South Hill
- I-85 south of Alberta
- I-85 / US 460 southwest of Petersburg. US 1/US 460 Bus. travels concurrently to Petersburg.
- US 301 in Petersburg. The highways travel concurrently to Richmond.
- US 360 in Richmond
- US 60 in Richmond
- US 33 / US 250 in Richmond
- I-64 / I-95 in Richmond
- I-95 in Lakeside
- I-295 in Glen Allen
- Spotsylvania. The highways travel concurrently to south of Fredericksburg.
- I-95 / US 17 south of Fredericksburg
- I-95 in Lorton
- I-495 in Alexandria
- I-395 in Arlington. The highways travel concurrently to Washington, D.C.
- District of Columbia
- US 50 in Washington The highways travel concurrently through part of the city.
- Rhode Island Avenue NW.
- Maryland
- I-495 in College Park
- I-895 in Elkridge
- I-195 in Arbutus
- US 40 in Baltimore
- I-83 in Baltimore
- I-695 in Overlea
- US 222 in Conowingo
- Pennsylvania
- US 202 / US 322 in Concordville. US 1/US 322 travels concurrently through the community.
- I-476 in Marple Township
- US 30 on the Wynnewood–Philadelphia city line
- I-76 on the Bala Cynwyd–Philadelphia city line. The highways travel concurrently into Philadelphia proper.
- US 13 in Philadelphia. The highways travel concurrently through part of the city.
- I-276 in Bensalem Township
- I-295 in Woodbourne
- US 13 southwest of Morrisville
- New Jersey
- I-295 in Lawrence Township
- US 130 in North Brunswick
- I-287 on the Edison–Metuchen city line
- US 9 in Woodbridge Township. The highways travel concurrently to New York City.
- I-278 in Linden
- I-78 / I-95 in Newark
- US 22 in Newark
- I-78 / I-95 in Newark
- I-95 in Newark
- US 46 in Palisades Park. The highways travel concurrently to the New Jersey-New York state line at the George Washington Bridge.
- US 9W in Fort Lee
- I-95 in Fort Lee. The highways travel concurrently to The Bronx, New York City.
- US 46 at the New Jersey–New York state line
- New York
- US 9 in Manhattan, New York City
- I-87 in The Bronx, New York City
- I-95 in The Bronx, New York City
- I-95 in New Rochelle
- I-95 in Rye
- I-287 on the Rye–Port Chester city line
- Connecticut
- I-95 in Stamford
- I-95 in Darien
- US 7 in Norwalk
- I-95 in Fairfield
- I-95 in Stratford
- I-95 in Milford
- I-91 in New Haven
- I-95 in East Haven
- I-95 in Branford
- I-95 in Guilford
- I-95 in Old Saybrook. The highways travel concurrently to Old Lyme.
- I-95 in East Lyme
- I-95 in New London. The highways travel concurrently to Groton.
- Rhode Island
- US 6 in Providence
- US 44 in Providence. The highways travel concurrently for one block.
- I-95 in Pawtucket. The highways travel concurrently for less than 1 mile (1.6 km).
- Massachusetts
- I-95 in Attleboro
- I-295 in North Attleborough
- I-495 in Plainville
- I-95 in Sharon
- I-95 on the Westwood–Dedham city line. The highways travel concurrently to Canton.
- I-93 / I-95 in Canton. I-93/US 1 travel concurrently to Boston.
- US 3 in Boston
- I-90 in Boston
- I-95 in Peabody
- I-95 in Peabody
- I-95 in Danvers
- New Hampshire
- US 4 in Portsmouth
- Maine
- I-95 in Kittery
- I-195 in Saco
- I-295 in South Portland. The highways travel concurrently to Portland.
- US 302 in Portland
- I-495 in Falmouth
- I-295 in Yarmouth
- I-295 in Yarmouth
- I-295 in Freeport
- I-295 in Brunswick
- US 201 in Brunswick
- US 2 in Houlton. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
- I-95 in Houlton
- Route 161 at the Fort Kent–Clair Border Crossing in Fort Kent
Auxiliary routes
US 1 has six three-digit auxiliary routes. In numerical order, these are:
- US 201, from Brunswick, Maine, to the Armstrong–Jackman Border Crossing running south to north in east-central Maine.
- US 301, from Sarasota, Florida, to Biddles Corner, Delaware, along the East Coast. Most of the route closely parallels I-95 and it has numerous intersections with its parent.
- US 401 from Sumter, South Carolina, to Wise, North Carolina, near the Virginia border. For most of the route, it parallels US 1 about 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) to the east, though the two share pavement in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- US 501 from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Buena Vista, Virginia. The highway runs southeast–northwest, meeting its parent in Aberdeen and Sanford.
- US 601 from Tarboro, South Carolina, to Mount Airy, North Carolina. It runs mostly due south–north to the west of US 501, meeting the parent route in Camden, South Carolina.
- US 701 from Georgetown, South Carolina, to Four Oaks, North Carolina. Furthest east of the US 1 auxiliary routes, it never meets its parent route, but does intersect US 501 in Conway, South Carolina, and terminates at US 301 at its northern end.
US 101, despite its number, is not an auxiliary route, but rather considered a primary U.S. Route in its own right as major highway west of the former US 99 on the west coast of the U.S. (In the numbering scheme, its first "digit" is "10".)
Related state highways
- Florida State Road A1A
- Massachusetts Route 1A
- New Hampshire Route 1A
- New York State Route 1A
- Rhode Island Route 1A
In popular culture
- The route in Richard Bachman's horror novel, The Long Walk (1979), begins each year at the Maine–New Brunswick border at 9:00 on the morning of May 1 and travels down the East Coast of the United States, along US 1, until the winner is determined.
- The Atlantic Highway features prominently as both a location, and a character in Seanan McGuire's Ghost Roads series.
See also
References
- ^ American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. United States Numbered Highways (1989 ed.). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Archived from the original on February 4, 2007.
- ^ "America's longest north-south highways". Times-News. December 14, 2010. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ "E. W. James on designating the Federal-aid system and developing the U.S. numbered highway plan". Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ a b Rand McNally (1926). Auto Road Atlas (Map). Rand McNally – via Broer Map Library.
- ^ Google (August 9, 2012). "490 Whitehead St, Key West, FL 33040" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ USGS topographic maps, accessed via ACME Mapper Archived November 19, 2022, at the Wayback Machine[full citation needed]
- ^ Gordon, John. "US Highway 17 to Florida: Scenic, Historic and Very Slow, December 29, 1993". The Virginian-Pilot.
Drivers know they're in Florida when they notice the U.S. Highway signs are color-coded for easy recognition. The US 17 signs, for example, are yellow, while those of US 1 are red, US 90 blue. and US 27 green
[full citation needed] - ^ "US 1/64 Widening". Town of Cary, North Carolina. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012.[full citation needed]
- ^ "US 1 Corridor Study". North Carolina Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
- ^ Nirappil, Fenit; Hernandez, Arelis R. (December 31, 2018). "A plastic straw ban and a Confederate name change: New laws in the D.C. region in 2019". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ "LIS > Bill Tracking > HB2075 > 2021 session". lis.virginia.gov. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ Thomas, Pat (March 31, 2021). "Governor signs remaining bills from 2021 Special Session". Harrisonburg, Virginia: WHSV-TV. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- doi:10.7282/T3N58JK0. Archivedfrom the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
- ^ Kaczynski, William (2000). The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United States. p. 38.[full citation needed]
- Decatur Daily Review. November 14, 1915.[full citation needed]
- Clason Map Company (1923). Midget Map of the Transcontinental Trails of the United States (Map). Clason Map Company – via Federal Highway Administration.[full citation needed]
- ^ "Motor Sign Uniformity". The New York Times. April 16, 1922. p. 98.
- ^ "New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers". The New York Times. December 21, 1924. p. XX9.
- ^ Weingroff, Richard F. "From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System". Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.[full citation needed]
- OCLC 733875457, 55123355, 71026428. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017 – via Wikisource.
- ^ The following routes were used, shown on the 1926 Rand McNally:
- Florida: 4
- Georgia: 15, 17, and 24
- South Carolina: 12 and 50
- North Carolina: 50
- Virginia: 31
- Maryland: state highways were not numbered prior to the U.S. Highway system
- Pennsylvania: 12 and 1
- New Jersey: 13 and 1
- New York: 1
- New England: 1 and 24, and a small piece of 160 beyond Madawaska, Maine (in the 1925 plan, part of 15 was also used)
- .
- American Association of State Highway Officials. April 1927.
- ISBN 978-1-59558-098-6.
- ^ Maine Department of Transportation. "Waldo–Hancock Bridge". Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
- State Road Department of Florida (1941). Official State Road Map of Florida (Map). Tallahassee: State Road Department of Florida. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.[full citation needed]
- Rand McNally & Company.[full citation needed]
- ISBN 978-0-528-00771-2.
External links
- Weingroff, Richard F. "U.S. 1: Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
- Endpoints of U.S. Highway 1