The East–West Highway is a long-proposed east–west highway corridor in northern New England, intended to link remote northern communities in those states with markets in the Maritimes, Quebec, and upstate New York.
History
Low population and natural barriers like the White Mountains have long impeded significant economic development in northern New England. Proposals for an east–west highway date back to the 1940s. In the early 1970s, all three northern New England states and New York proposed two new Interstate Highway corridors, both of which may have been designated as Interstate 92:
Current backers of the highway propose an east–west axis through northern and central Maine — these could cover up to three existing surface ports of entry on the U.S.-Canada border, two from Québec; and one from New Brunswick. Any new highway achieving the New Brunswick crossing would run from Interstate 395 in Brewer, Maine, to the Canada–United States border near Calais, with a direct link to New Brunswick Route 1—a major transportation corridor serving the Maritimes. A potential obstacle to the eastern end of such an American highway could be the presence of the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, as its "Baring division's" easternmost extremities, on the American side, lie close to the International Avenue Bridge that crosses the international border between Maine and New Brunswick in the area. The more-southerly located link with Québec would travel northwest from Interstate 95 near Waterville, Maine, to the Canada–United States border at Coburn Gore, with a connection to a proposed extension of the Canton de l'Est extension of Quebec's Autoroute 10 eastwards from Montreal. One possible routing for an "east-west freeway" would travel due west from Interstate 95 near Waterville, following the U.S. Route 2 corridor through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and upper New York state. The more northerly-located link to Québec would exist with Autoroute 73, whose Chaudière-Appalaches proposed southeast extension within Quebec could link through, and generally heads directly towards, the existing Armstrong–Jackman Border Crossing some 57 km northeast of Coburn Gore, ME, despite no link to the American Interstate Highway System existing or planned to exist to it — only the two-lane U.S. Route 201 - Maine State Route 6 currently has a northern terminus at that specific port of entry. The only existing mainline freeway link on both sides of the border between any part of New England and Canada that does not become a two-way road within any close proximity of the crossing is the north-south linkup at the Derby Line–Rock Island Border Crossing, between Interstate 91 in Vermont and Quebec Autoroute 55. The current port of entry opened in 1978. This existing link is also expected to someday be paralleled further west between Vermont and Québec, with an expected cross-border linkup between Interstate 89 — which already ends at the international border at the Highgate Springs–St. Armand/Philipsburg Border Crossing; and Quebec Autoroute 35, via the Autoroute's planned extension to the international border. Northern New England is served by three north–south freeways radiating generally northwards from Boston, Massachusetts — from east to west, I-95, Interstate 93, and U.S. Route 3, all coming from or through the Boston metro area; and westernmost of all, by Interstate 91, which follows the Connecticut River. However, the northernmost complete east–west freeway existing within the region, Interstate 90 in Massachusetts, does not enter northern New England. Continuous east–west freeway travel through northern New England is presently accomplished by three segments, only one of which is truly east-west:
New Hampshire Route 101 is freeway standard from I-93 in Manchester eastward to Interstate 95 near Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. The I-89/1-93 interchange near Concord is less than northwest of NH-101.
I-95, in paralleling the Atlantic coastline, runs in a northeastern direction throughout much of Maine, only curving more northward after Bangor.
There are a handful of alternate east-west roadways, including US-2 between Montpelier, Vermont, and Bangor, Maine; US-302 between Montpelier and Portland, US-4 from the New York/Vermont border to Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and VT-9 / NH-9 between Bennington, Vermont and the Concord, New Hampshire area. These alternatives are mostly not limited access or designed for higher speed travel. The presence of Massachusetts Route 2 as a signed east-west Massachusetts state roadway, whose own east-west route to New York state lies between Interstate 90 to its south, and the Massachusetts-Northern New England border, is not as significant, as MA Route 2 does not exist as a freeway through much of its length.
Opposition
A number of groups in Maine oppose the creation of the East-West Highway / Corridor, citing environmental concerns such as the impact on wetlands and the risks of oil spills from pipelines along the corridor, as well as the increased impact of sprawl-type development. The issue has led to repeated protests and was one of the few areas of agreement between the candidates for governor of Maine in 2014.
