Maine State Route 17
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Termini and Mileage (2006)	Termini Main alignment: Int of RTE 1, RTE 1A, MAVE, Rockland to Int of ST RTE 17, ST RTE 4, Rangeley Mileage Main alignment: 131.21 miles (total over all segments)
Notes and History	A central coast and western arterial, ME 17 was first designated after the Maine Great Renumbering. Its original terminus was apparently the same as today's, Maverick St and US 1 in Rockland, although it was not always this way (see below). From Rockland it followed the alignment of old ME 101 and former lettered highway P to Augusta, where it joined ME 11/ME 100, then-ME 3 and later US 202 to cross the Kennebec with US 201. Originally, ME 17 crossed the Kennebec River over the Father Curran Bridge (see US 201), switching to the southern Memorial Bridge after its construction in 1949. From the other shore, it exited town with then-ME 3, ME 11 and later US 202 along Western Avenue and continued with them until Manchester when it branched north again by itself along old ME 215, itself an abandoned alignment of ME 134, and a small portion of ME 134 itself to new routing through Fayette and along Parks Pond to Livermore Falls. In Livermore Falls, it joined ME 4 until north of Jay, when it deviated west along new routing to US 2 at Wilton and continued west on US 2 to Mexico, where it turned north again along new routing to terminate at Houghton. A poorly maintained local road continued north from there, ending ultimately in Oquossoc (Rangeley township). This local road was eventually upgraded and ME 17 extended along it in 1951 to complete the modern routing; ME 17's terminus was and is still the corner of Rumford Rd and Carry Rd (now ME 4). Some older maps, including at least one previous edition of NAVTEQ, show ME 17 in Rockland entering as Maverick St but then veering off as N Main St (crossing US 1A on Broadway) and terminating at US 1 on Main St. Interestingly, this was an intermediate routing that is not known until the late 1940s; the 1941 topo actually shows the modern routing, which is in fact the old one, continuing straight along Maverick to terminate at US 1 and Camden St on the northeast side of town. By 1949, ME 17 is seen on the N Main St spur and persists in this routing on maps through at least the early 1950s, still appearing as such as late as 1998 (the 1967 general atlas, the only intermediate look at this region, is not specific enough to draw conclusions). The 2002 route log is similarly ambiguous, but the routing must have been rectified because the old routing along Maverick is the only way the current terminus can be rectified, and is actually the routing signed in the field.
Archival Photographs
Part of the I-95 interchange for ME 11/ME 17/ME 100/US 202 along Western Avenue in Augusta (Highway News 9/60). This is just after exiting the Interstate on the approach road facing north.
Additional Photographs
ME 11, ME 17, ME 100 and US 202 cosigned in Augusta.
Additional Resources	Maine Highways 11 to 25 (JP Kirby)

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