Heading south into New Hampshire across the Piscataqua River. Upstream, By-Pass 1 crosses over the next drawbridge down the river of very similar design, and I-95 gets the graceful arch bridge in the distance. Check out the NH US 1 page for more bridge photos.
Click for a video heading north from NH back into Maine.
By-Pass 1 is still signed here even though it already left US 1. Just one more chance to take the faster and less confusing route around Portsmouth. If you really wanted that, though, you'd use I-95, which was not around when By-Pass 1 was conceived. The FHWA would prefer these signs used Portsmouth and Boston as control cities.
SB and NB at the beginning of the York US 1A, just a short distance north from the beginning of ME 91. The NB street sign is in the gore to cut off the traffic light at the beginning of 1A.
US 1 SB/ME 9 WB in Wells at the breakup of the routes' southernmost concurrency (and beyond on US 1). ME 9 multiplexes with US 1 twice more south of Portland and once near the end in Calais. Maine loves to keep routes together, so here's another example wherein ME 109 begins concurrent with ME 9.
SB through Kennebunk, which was about to have a Memorial Day parade (it happened to be that particular day) and I was one of the last cars through. Good, because I still had to make it back to New Jersey at a reasonable hour via small roads. To get to the famous Kennebunkport and to see some even older signs, follow ME 9A (see big link at bottom).
SB in Biddeford to the original New England Route 11. The third photo is shared with ME 111 WB, and the last is past there at Precourt St., begging the question why traffic would not have already followed 111 to begin with. (Notice that in either direction, "To I-95" is signed via ME 111. If it's really best to head west on 111 to get to 95, and it is, then EB traffic should be signed to U-turn....)
This is a 1959 Dodge Royal Lancer. Information courtesy Scott Colbert.
More old Maine font signs, the last ones I have south of Portland. All are SB, and the first is shared with ME 9 WB.
US 1 SB and ME 9 WB at secret ME 703, the I-95 connector in South Portland. Click to drive westbound on ME 703 in the video.
SB in Yarmouth. ME 88 is old US 1 along the coast. Here you see the only old speed limit sign I found without a Maine-specific Le Hay (as Michael Summa says) font. The photo sandwiched between the two speed limit 40s is at ME 115.
Found in Freeport, courtesy Lou Corsaro.
SB from Brunswick down to Freeport. The last two photos are at Desert Rd., which leads to I-295 at Exit 20.
Brunswick is where "Coastal 1" begins, and it does so via this short freeway spur to/from I-295, formerly to/from I-95. South of here, US 1 follows I-95 (or what was originally I-95) down to Virginia. North of here, I-95 splits off along the US 201 corridor to US 2. The second photo is after US 1 SB hangs a left, joins the eastbound freeway connector, then crosses over both lanes and bears right to continue on US 1. It's not easy because the intent is to funnel tourists away from US 1 at this point.
The Androscoggin River Railroad Bridge is not just a railroad bridge, but as you see, it carries automobile traffic on the lower level between Brunswick and Topsham. Its capabilities are very limited in this regard. Click the link at the bottom of the page to learn more.
NB from Bath to Newcastle. Something about Business US 1B is redundant, and there is no US 1B, so that makes the choice obvious.
Railroad trestle southeast of US 1, just north of ME 97, and then on into Thomaston with ME 131. In the last photo, Toll Bridge Rd. dead ends to the right, and there's a stub end on the left (east) side. Guess what used to be there?
Old font on ME 73 NB in Rockland.
Courtesy Michael Summa, yummm. I believe it dates to 1976 because that's when he took his other Maine photos. This style of town line sign is similar to New Hampshire and may have been more widespread in New England (with variations) in decades past.
and US 1/ME 9 south of Belfast
Found in Freeport, courtesy Lou Corsaro.
Old font on ME 73 NB in Rockland.