Notes and History |
US 302 is Maine's shortest non-bannered US highway, first designated in 1935
over former NEI 18/ME 18. As did NEI 18, it terminates today in Portland
and proceeds northwest to cross the state line into New Hampshire at Fryeburg
via Raymond and Bridgton. Comparatively minor due to its length (both
within the state and without) and the
small communities it services, it is nevertheless a handy alternative link
for traffic accessing the coast from points inland. As with ME 18, the
route number it carried formerly, it represents former
lettered highway B.
Like US 201, another comparatively less trafficked US route, it has
largely been unmolested by realignments. Here are some of the known changes:
- Portland. Historically US 302, and ME 100 by 1936,
have entered downtown Portland together and run co-routed
for much of their routings on Forest Avenue, just as former NEI 18/ME 18
did -- the question is where they terminated. Although there are few
satisfactory maps to determine the exact terminus in 1925, by 1937 a WPA
map shows US 302 (along with then-ME 3, ME 26 and ME 100) approaching
the harbour along Forest Ave, picking up ME 25 at Winslow St and
terminating somewhere between Park Ave and State Sts. By 1949, the next good
detailed look at the city on the Maine official maps, US 302 has moved off
Forest, branching off it at Deering Ave to intersect ME 25 at Brighton Ave.
From there, both routes are co-signed on Deering south to US 1 along
Park Avenue, where they terminate. The final 1967 route log implies in the
definition of ME 25 that that was still the case, and the official maps do
not clearly show US 302 back on Forest with ME 100 as it is today until
1981. It is possible that it had been shifted before then, but unfortunately
the placement of the US 302 shield on the city maps during the 1970s
is too ambiguous to draw conclusions, and the general atlas does not
distinguish them either.
Today, its official terminus is at the I-295/US 1 interchange;
it's somewhat confusing why Bridgton Rd is in the terminus description. It
is much clearer in the 2002 route log, which has exactly the same mile length
and therefore almost certainly had the same termini.
Note that as a result, US 302 and ME 100 do not terminate at the same
point today, and ME 100 actually continues past US 302's ending at
I-295/US 1 (despite the signage, which as usual states otherwise).
- Fosters Corners. US 302 and ME 4/US 202 intersect at a
later traffic rotary; as this didn't actually change US 302's routing, just
where they intersected, see US 202.
- Raymond. US 302 now occupies a bypass alignment to the southeast
signed as the Roosevelt Trail. The former alignment is Main St, partially
ME 121 today, and can be seen on the
1944 topo
(warning: large image).
Comparative analysis of ME 121's length places this change at
approximately 1956, consistent with the
1957 topo
(warning: large image) showing this change as completed.
- Casco.
In South Casco, US 302/ME 35 now occupies a curve-reduced alignment now
signed as the Roosevelt Trail. The old alignment is in two parts and
variously signed as S Casco Village Rd and Hams Hill Rd, as seen on the
1943 topo (warning:
large image). The modern alignment appears by the 1962 general atlas.
Continuing north, US 302/ME 35 cross the Crooked River on a newer 1958
crossing, replacing the previous one which still survives north of the
current route as Hillside Ave and can be seen on the
1943 topo (warning:
large image).
- Naples-Mast Cove. US 302 has a small old portion signed as
Mast Cove Ln and can be seen on the
1943 topo (warning:
large image). The current alignment appears on the 1962 general atlas.
- Bridgton. The
1949 topo (warning:
large image) implies that US 302 was routed on Kansas Rd into Main St,
picking up the modern routing west of there. However, the 1949 official
map disagrees and shows the modern alignment; in addition, the current alignment
existed as early as the 1896
topo (warning: large image), and the 1934 National Surveys map also shows
the modern alignment as current, so the 1949 topo is likely in error.
It is unclear if the realignment of ME 117 shown on the map is also wrong.
North of Portland, US 302 is variously referred to as the
Roosevelt Trail and the 10th Mountain Division Highway.
The Roosevelt Trail is named after President Theodore Roosevelt ("Teddy"),
who was a frequent denizen of the route for his camping trips in Maine, and
was the earlier of the two names hailing from the former designation as
the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway.
The Tenth Mountain Division
Highway designation did not come into use until
2001,
named for the fascinating 10th Mountain Division of the Army who were
established as a harsh-conditions elite unit, even including winter combat on
skis, for World War II. It was established
by the other Roosevelt, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at the
lobby of skiing pioneer Charles Minot Dole, and its soldiers were trained
in the rarified air of Camp Hale near Leadville, CO. First activated in the
Pacific theatre for Kiska, the division saw its first true combat in
northern Italy in 1944. Deactivated in 1958, it was reinstated by President
Ronald Reagan in 1984 with its new base to be Fort Drum, New York, and
officially activated in 1985 as the
10th
Mountain Division (Light Infantry).
This new, repurposed division saw action in Desert Shield/Desert Storm (Iraq),
Operation Restore Hope (Somalia), medical and humanitarian missions to Haiti
and Bosnia and the current campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving it the
reputation as the Army's most deployed division. Former Senator and
Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole is a veteran of the 10th
Mountain Division;
many nationally known ski sites today, including Vail and Aspen in Colorado,
were also founded by 10th Division veterans, including Vail founder Pete
Siebert.
Near US 302 in East Fryeburg is the Hemlock Bridge, approximately three miles
north of the highway over an old channel
of the Saco River. Built in 1857, this 109' covered
truss is one of the two oldest surviving covered spans in Maine and still
carries traffic today after a 1988 retrofit (the other bridge is the Lowes
Bridge in Guilford-Sangerville). Due to its historical value and continued
utility in the modern age, it was designated a State Historic Civil Engineering
Landmark in 2002. It can be accessed via Hemlock Bridge Rd and heading
northwest. For another covered bridge still in service, see ME 15.
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