History

Until 2004, the I-295 designation was only used for the section between Scarborough and Falmouth; it was extended northward with a rerouting of I-95 onto the Maine Turnpike.

A Portland throughway, originally designed as a bypass for US 1 before the advent of the Interstate system, was first planned in the 1950s. The first section, connecting the Falmouth Spur of the Maine Turnpike to a newly built Tukey's Bridge over Back Cove in Portland, opened in 1960. (Tukey's Bridge, for what it's worth, replaced a centuries-old bridge of the same name, named for 18th-century toll collector Lemuel Tukey).

Despite land being acquired for a routing through South Portland, officials in Westbrook and Gorham convinced MDOT in the 1960s to consider a westward extension to their communities instead. This idea was later abandoned, and a Gorham bypass is only now under construction.

Construction of I-295 continued through the city and South Portland in the 1960s. The downtown segment opened in 1971, and the South Portland section opened in 1974.

North of Falmouth, the present-day I-295 was constructed as part of I-95. The section between Falmouth and Brunswick opened in 1957, although part of it in the Yarmouth and Freeport areas remained sub-standard with at-grade intersections until the mid-1980s. A bridge to Topsham opened in 1973, and the segment between Topsham and West Gardiner did not open until 1977.

In 2007, US 1 was rerouted onto I-295 between exits 4 and 9.

Guide - under construction

Exit List

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