I-95 renumbering aims to cut down on confusion

BANGOR – If you watch the mile markers while you’re driving between Alton and Howland today on Interstate 95, you might think the state’s math needs some work.

With crews continuing to renumber all the mile markers on the state’s major highway, Maine Department of Transportation officials in the past week have fielded a spate of inquiries about the project – the first stage of a larger plan to rename sections of the state’s most traveled routes and change the way highway exits are numbered.

“I didn’t know that people paid that close attention to the mile markers,” Stephen Landry, MDOT’s assistant state traffic engineer, said Monday of the numerous calls his office has received about the project, which when all is said and done will add about six miles to Maine’s major highway from Kittery to Houlton. “It’s generated a lot of interest.”

Crews have already finished renumbering the mile markers from Houlton to Howland, according to Landry, who said work would continue today south of Howland. The work is moving southward to avoid duplication of mileage markers, he said.

The ultimate plan, which must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration, would in 2003 redesignate I-495 from Gardiner to Falmouth via Lewiston as I-95 and I-95 between Gardiner and Falmouth via Freeport as I-495.

Because the current I-495 is about three miles longer than the stretch of I-95 from Gardiner to Falmouth, that change requires a complete renumbering of mileage markers on those highways, DOT officials said. Three “missing” miles near the York toll booth must also be accounted for in the renumbering effort, said Landry, adding that he wasn’t clear on why the mileage markers in that area were inaccurate.

If the final plan – cost estimates for which approach $700,000 to change the exit and mileage signs – wins federal approval, I-95 from Kittery to Houlton will be 299 miles long instead of 293.

Under the new plan, all exits on those highways would be renumbered to coincide with the nearest mile marker. For instance, in Bangor, the Union Street interchange would likely become Exit 183 under the new system instead of Exit 47.

The mileage system would bring Maine in line with much of the country, said Landry, adding that the mileage-based exit numbering system was designed to make it easier for travelers to judge how many miles they had to travel before their destination.

“It could eliminate some confusion,” he said.

Like Landry, DOT engineer Guy Baker said he was surprised by the amount of public interest in these initial stages of the project.

“I guess I’m just not that curious,” Baker said from his Bangor office.