New England Interstate Route 9

New England Route 9
Route information
Length:	173.65 mi (279.46 km) Vermont: 47.15 mi (75.88 km) New Hampshire: 110.00 mi (177.03 km) Maine: 16.5 mi (26.6 km)
Existed:	1922 – present
Major junctions
West end:	NY Route 7 in Hoosick, NY
	Route 4 in Bennington, VT Route 8 in Searsburg, VT Route 2 & Route 30 in Brattleboro, VT Route 10 & Route 12 in Keene, NH Route 32 in Hillsboro, NH Route 32A & Route 32 in Henniker, NH Route 32A in Hopkinton, NH Route 6 in Concord, NH Route 28 in Epsom, NH Route 16 in Dover, NH
East end:	Route 1 in Wells, ME
Highway system
New England road marking system

Route 9 is a multi-state state highway in the New England region of the United States, running across the southern parts of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, and numbered, owned, and maintained by each of those states. Its number was assigned in 1922, when it was designated one of the New England Interstate Routes, also known as the Bennington-Wells Route. Much of the route remains intact in Vermont and New Hampshire. In Maine, however, Route 9 has since been extended eastward by about 270 miles (435 km) from its original terminus in Wells, through Biddeford, Portland, and Bangor, to the Canada–US border in Calais.

History

Route 9 originally extended 167 miles (269 km) across the southern part of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, from the New York-Vermont border in Bennington, via Brattleboro and Keene, to Wells. When New York first signed its state highways in 1924, the westward continuation of the route towards Troy was also designated as New York State Route 9. In 1927, however, because of the designation of U.S. Route 9, New York renumbered its former Route 9 as Route 7. By the beginning of 1934, Maine extended its portion of Route 9 by about 270 miles (430 km) to the Canada–US border in Calais, creating an alternate route to U.S. Route 1.^[1]

Route description

Vermont

Vermont Route 9 begins at the New York state line in Bennington, Vermont, where it continues west as Route 7. It crosses the Green Mountains to Brattleboro, Vermont, where it crosses the Connecticut River into Chesterfield, New Hampshire. Route 9 in Vermont is also known as the Molly Stark Byway.^[2] The VT Route 9 section between Bennington and Searsburg across Woodford Mountain is notorious for its steep and winding bends, which over the years have contributed to a number of tractor-trailer incidents on this stretch of the road.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire Route 9 runs through Keene, Concord and Dover. It runs concurrent with U.S. Route 202 for much of its path across the Granite State. The concurrent section of Route 202/9 between Hillsborough and Hopkinton, which passes through Henniker, is considered one of the most deadly sections of road in the state.^[3] Route 9 crosses the Salmon Falls River from Somersworth, New Hampshire, into Berwick, Maine.

Route 9A is an alternate route in Chesterfield.

Maine

Route 9 in Maine runs in a short distance from Berwick to Wells, where it ends at its junction with Route 1.

See also

• New York State Route 7, once part of Route 9 east of Troy, New York

References

1. 1934 Hammond's Auto Route Distance Map of Northern New England
2. Molly Stark Byway Project

Browse numbered routes
← VT 8A	VT	VT 10 →
← US 5	list	NH 10 →
← SR 8	ME	SR 10 →
← Route 8	N.E.	Route 10 →