Interstate 295 | ||||
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Richard A. Coleman Highway | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by MaineDOT | ||||
Length: | 53.11 mi (85.47 km) | |||
Existed: | 1960 – present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end: | I‑95 / Maine Turnpike in Scarborough | |||
North end: | I‑95 / Maine Turnpike in West Gardiner | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Interstate 295 (I-295) is a 53.11-mile (85.47 km)-long auxiliary route in the U.S. state of Maine from I-95 in Scarborough to I-95 in West Gardiner. The highway was designated the Richard A. Coleman Highway in 2015 by the Maine Legislature.
Interstate 295 branches off from exit 44 of Interstate 95 (Maine Turnpike) providing access to downtown Portland, Maine, and then generally follows the Atlantic coast and Kennebec River until it merges back into I-95 in West Gardiner 52 miles (84 km) to the north at exit 103.
I-295's first exit is in South Portland, giving access to the Maine Mall (southbound) and U.S. 1 in South Portland and Scarborough (northbound); its last exit is Exit 51 (formerly Exit 28), which gives access to Gardiner. The route starts at Exit 44 (formerly Exit 6A) of I-95, and it has toll plazas just before its own Exit 1, and between Exit 51 and its northern terminus at I-95.
In 2015, the Maine Legislature unanimously voted to name the highway's entire length for Richard A. Coleman, a Maine Department of Transportation employee since 1956, who has been involved with many Maine transportation projects. He was involved in projects ranging from Maine's interstates to the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory. Coleman declined comment on the naming, only telling the Kennebec Journal that while the naming is humbling, he found it uncomfortable. Maine Sen. Roger Katz, the sponsor of the bill, said "Very few people have heard of Dick Coleman, but as he drives around the state, he must feel a great deal of pride looking at his decades of work."