 Interstate 495 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falmouth Spur | ||||
 Falmouth Spur highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route of I-95 | ||||
| Maintained by MTA | ||||
| Length | 4.3 mi[1] (6.9 km) | |||
| Existed | 1955–present | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |   I-95 / Maine Turnpike in Portland | |||
| East end |   I-295 / US 1 in Falmouth | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Maine | |||
| Counties | Cumberland | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
The Falmouth Spur is a short freeway connecting Interstate 95 (I-95) with I-295 and US Route 1 (US 1) north of Portland, Maine, in the United States. It carries the unsigned designation of Interstate 495 (I-495). As part of the Maine Turnpike, the mainline of which carries I-95, the Falmouth Spur is a toll road. The spur has only two interchanges—one at each end—and a toll booth in the middle. It is signed only for its destinations—I-95, I-295, and US 1[2]—to minimize driver confusion.[3]
Prior to January 2004, the Falmouth Spur carried I-95 from the Maine Turnpike mainline to the spur's eastern terminus, where I-95 continued north along present-day I-295.[4] In 2004, I-95 was rerouted to follow the entire length of the turnpike in order to reduce confusion.[5] Most of the former I-95 between Portland and Augusta became an extension of I-295, while the short Falmouth Spur was given the unsigned I-495 designation.
Destinations on signs (control cities) on the Falmouth Spur are the same as when it was part of I-95—Falmouth and Freeport for eastbound traffic from I-95 and Lewiston and Kittery (one for each direction of the turnpike) for westbound traffic from US 1. Signs on I-295 southbound point traffic for New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and "points south" along the spur.[2]
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices-compliant milemarkers proceed easterly from the western end with the letters FS (for Falmouth Spur) horizontally on a line below the word "MILE" and range from 0 to 3.
- ^ Starks, Edward (January 27, 2022). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ a b "Interstate 495 Maine". Interstate Guide. Retrieved October 5, 2014.[self-published source]
- ^ "All Along the Interstate, New Exit Strategies". Portland Press Herald. February 23, 2003. Archived from the original on September 12, 2005.
- ^ Federal Highway Administration (October 31, 2002). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as of October 31, 2002". Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration.
- ^ Maine Department of Transportation (2004). "Maine Interstate Redesignation" (PDF).