Quote:
Originally Posted by adamuptownsj
As Maritimers tend to do, I was thinking about the East-West Highway last night. While westerly portions of it remain up to the whims of Quebec and Maine remain impossible, I thought of something interesting.
Route 7 from Grand Bay to the Trans-Canada is roughly 40 miles. State Route 9/Airport Road from the I-395 in Bangor is roughly 80. I wonder if some kind of arrangement could be formed where Maine commits to upgrading 60 miles of SR9 as a mostly-controlled super-two (Bangor to Crawford), NB twins Route 7 (perhaps west of the base instead of through it), and NB pays for the 20 miles of Crawford-to-Calais SR 9 upgrades.
Completing this loop would put northern Maine much closer to Port Saint John, and Port Saint John closer to the I-95 AND the Trans Canada. In addition to the nearby rail upgrades, would this corridor be an economically viable, albeit mini, East-Really East Corridor? Plug Saint John into the Eastern Seaboard, and Maine into Saint John. No crazy roads through the wilderness to Sherbrooke or anything. That could come later.
Very few bridges, exits, overpasses, etc. would be needed, and SR 9 really doesn't justify a 4-lane true divided highway.
This would be a lot of new road, sure, but Nova Scotia twins tens of miles year to nowhere, just for the hell of it. It wouldn't be a highway to nowhere until the more pie-in-the-sky portions in parts west were built- it would have immediate economic utility.
I know this is a conversation had on here every couple years, but from searching, it seems to usually be focused on the whole grandiose E-W idea, and most of the discussion if from when Port Saint John was moribund, Halifax was almost flatlining, and the railways were in disrepair. There might be a real case for a more modest plan, these days.
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What I would actually love to see is a highway along the coast where the elevation changes are not so drastic. It would travel east of Bangor along the coast first southeast to Ellsworth and then east on to Machias and Pembroke before turning north, going around the east side of Moosehorn wildlife reserve and connecting to the existing border crossing.
You would than have another highway extend south of Bangor to Belfast, Camden & Rockland before it would turn west roughly following the #1 from Wiscasset through Bath & Brunswick.
You could number it 1-95 to Bangor and than south along the new alignment and through downtown Portland and have a new interstate like I-98 go from Calais to Bangor and than follow the existing I-95 before heading west, south of Portland to Sanford, Rochester, NH, before meeting the terminus of 1-89 in Concord, NH.
You would than take this new I-98 and run it concurrently with 1-89 it met the I-91 where it would branch off continuing west to Rutland VT before ending in Glen Falls NY.
I-89 woukd than continue concurrently with I-93 before taking the existing I-293 route west of Manchester, NH before continuing on the turnpike, US route 3. It would follow the I-495 concurrently, west before taking the I-290/I-395 route to New London.
I always thought New England had way to many spur routes like 295, 395, 495, 190, 290 etc. when there was actual full interstate highways that just ended. Like I-84 but there is no interstate from Hartford to Providence. Like I-93 stopping in Boston but south of Boston there is several state highways up to standard plus several spurs of 1-95.
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