Floodgap Roadgap's RoadsAroundME: Maine State Route 203

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Maine State Route 203

<< Maine State Route 202 All Points in Maine Maine State Route 204 >>

Termini and Mileage (2006)

Termini
Main alignment: Int of POND RD, WALDO STATION, Waldo to Int of LANG HILL HWY, PURPLE H, Brooks
Mileage
Main alignment: 4.62 miles (total over all segments)

Notes and History
ME 203 as originally designated in 1925 ran between Sorrento at ME 185 and the "downtown" with an unclear terminus. In 1928, this alignment was added to ME 185 and the number transferred to new routing between Acton/Emery Mills at ME 109 to cross ME 110 at West Newfield, and enter New Hampshire as apparently unnumbered road. After the Maine Great Renumbering, the routing between ME 109 and ME 110 was added to new route ME 11 and the remaining alignment remained ME 203 until it finally ceased to be numbered highway in 1949; portions of it appear to be approximated by modern Maplewood Rd and Mountain Rd, running close to modern NH 153.
Modern ME 203 is first seen on maps as early as 1950 over the former ME 7 Lang Hill Highway alignment, but it does not appear in the route logs until 1953 and the evolution of its routing is similarly complex. Originally proceeding from ME 131 west of Waldo, its initial routing was simple enough -- north up the Lang Hill Hwy to ME 139 -- and this routing persisted for at least three years, but for some reason the number is missing from the 1955 route log and its exact course between 1956-1960 is unclear due to the 10-mile-length log limit. In the 1961 route log it reappears extended to ME 7 on both ends, on the south along ME 131 into Waldo, and on the north along ME 139 into Brooks, generating two useless multiplexes with one for each terminus; confusing matters even more are the logs themselves inexplicably giving the termini as ME 137 initially, not (truly) ME 7, despite the maps showing the relationship correctly. Although still appearing with the uselessly multiplexed termini as late as 2002, by 2006 the unnecessary co-routage on both ends was finally cut off thus leaving ME 203 to terminate at ME 131 and ME 139 respectively as it did originally, severing the link to its ancestor.
Local rumour insists that ME 203's days are numbered but so far it is still present in the route logs and signed.

<< Maine State Route 202 All Points in Maine Maine State Route 204 >>

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Termini and Mileage (2006)	Termini Main alignment: Int of POND RD, WALDO STATION, Waldo to Int of LANG HILL HWY, PURPLE H, Brooks Mileage Main alignment: 4.62 miles (total over all segments)

*Notes and History*	ME 203 as originally designated in 1925 ran between Sorrento at ME 185 and the "downtown" with an unclear terminus. In 1928, this alignment was added to ME 185 and the number transferred to new routing between Acton/Emery Mills at ME 109 to cross ME 110 at West Newfield, and enter New Hampshire as apparently unnumbered road. After the Maine Great Renumbering, the routing between ME 109 and ME 110 was added to new route ME 11 and the remaining alignment remained ME 203 until it finally ceased to be numbered highway in 1949; portions of it appear to be approximated by modern Maplewood Rd and Mountain Rd, running close to modern NH 153. Modern ME 203 is first seen on maps as early as 1950 over the former ME 7 Lang Hill Highway alignment, but it does not appear in the route logs until 1953 and the evolution of its routing is similarly complex. Originally proceeding from ME 131 west of Waldo, its initial routing was simple enough -- north up the Lang Hill Hwy to ME 139 -- and this routing persisted for at least three years, but for some reason the number is missing from the 1955 route log and its exact course between 1956-1960 is unclear due to the 10-mile-length log limit. In the 1961 route log it reappears extended to ME 7 on both ends, on the south along ME 131 into Waldo, and on the north along ME 139 into Brooks, generating two useless multiplexes with one for each terminus; confusing matters even more are the logs themselves inexplicably giving the termini as ME 137 initially, not (truly) ME 7, despite the maps showing the relationship correctly. Although still appearing with the uselessly multiplexed termini as late as 2002, by 2006 the unnecessary co-routage on both ends was finally cut off thus leaving ME 203 to terminate at ME 131 and ME 139 respectively as it did originally, severing the link to its ancestor. Local rumour insists that ME 203's days are numbered but so far it is still present in the route logs and signed.