Interstate 95 - Alternate Routes

Alternate Routes

I-95 is parallelled in many locations, primarily by US 1, but also by US 2, US 15, US 17, US 40, US 130, and US 301. Although primarily considered to be the interstate upgrade of U.S. 1, the two routes diverge substantially for large portions of the route northward. After paralleling U.S. 1 from 95's southern terminus to Jacksonville, FL, the federal route bears west and I-95 picks up U.S. 17 through Georgia and into southern South Carolina, even multiplexing with it at times. In Walterboro, SC, U.S. 17 heads east towards Charleston, SC and U.S. 15 begins paralleling the interstate. This continues for a short distance to Summerton, SC, where I-95 begins its long close parallel with U.S. 301. The two never stray more than a few miles from each other all the way to Petersburg, VA, where U.S. 1 rejoins the parallel of I-95. With the exception of I-95's brief hiatus on the DC beltway, this remains the case all the way to Baltimore. Here, though still somewhat paralleled by US-1, I-95 is more closely followed by U.S. 40, which stays with the interstate to Wilmington, DE. In Wilmington, U.S. 40 heads east to Atlantic City, NJ and U.S. 13 begins to follow I-95. This continues to the discontinuity near Trenton, NJ. Assuming I-95's route to take the soon-to-be-completed connection, the interstate is paralleled by U.S. 130 to New Brunswick, NJ, where US-1 again picks up the route. U.S. 1 repeatedly crosses the interstate all the way to Pawcatuck, where I-95 leaves all US routes and instead follows the RI-3 corridor. U.S. 1, however, again finds the interstate in Providence, RI and follows it to Boston, where I-95 was forced to take the beltway around the city. U.S. 1 in Boston actually follows some of the right-of-way intended for I-95 before its routing was blocked. North of the City, U.S. 1 and I-95 stick together all the way to Portland, ME, where I-95 takes a more northerly route paralleled by ME 100 to Newport, ME. Here it picks up U.S. 2, which it keeps all the way to its northern terminus just past Houlton, ME. Less than three miles from the Canadian border, I-95 intersects U.S. 1 for the last time; the federal route is headed due north for Fort Kent, ME.