Interstate 293
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Interstate 293 (I-293) is an
auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a subset of highways within the United States' Interstate Highway System. The 323 auxiliary routes generally fall into three types: spur routes, which connect to or i ...
surrounding
Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...
, roughly shaped like two sides of a
triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...
. Completing the loop in the northeast (the third side of the triangle) is
I-93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
. The southern portion of the loop shares the road with
New Hampshire Route 101 New Hampshire Route 101 (NH 101) is a state-maintained highway in southern New Hampshire extending from Keene to Hampton Beach. It is the major east–west highway in the southern portion of the state. Most of its eastern portion is a major fr ...
(NH 101) and passes near
Manchester–Boston Regional Airport Manchester–Boston Regional Airport , informally referred to as Manchester Airport, is a public use airport south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham coun ...
and
The Mall of New Hampshire The Mall of New Hampshire is a shopping mall located in the Lower South Willow neighborhood of Manchester, New Hampshire. Its major anchoring stores are Macy's, Old Navy, J. C. Penney, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, and Dave & Buste ...
. The western portion of the loop shares the road with the
Everett Turnpike The Frederick E. Everett Turnpike, also called the Central New Hampshire Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, running from the Massachusetts border at Nashua north to Concord. The Everett Turnpike i ...
, but there are no tolls on this portion of the turnpike.


Route description

I-293 begins at a
directional T interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
in the southeast of Manchester, where NH 101 west leaves
I-93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
. I-293 is signed as a north–south road, but, along the section
concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
with NH 101, the road travels in an entirely westerly direction. Exits 1 and 2 provide access to
The Mall of New Hampshire The Mall of New Hampshire is a shopping mall located in the Lower South Willow neighborhood of Manchester, New Hampshire. Its major anchoring stores are Macy's, Old Navy, J. C. Penney, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, and Dave & Buste ...
area and
Manchester–Boston Regional Airport Manchester–Boston Regional Airport , informally referred to as Manchester Airport, is a public use airport south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham coun ...
respectively. After crossing the
Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...
, I-293 enters the modified cloverleaf exit 3 interchange where I-293, NH 101, and the
Everett Turnpike The Frederick E. Everett Turnpike, also called the Central New Hampshire Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, running from the Massachusetts border at Nashua north to Concord. The Everett Turnpike i ...
intersect. At exit 3, NH 101 leaves I-293 and continues west as a four-lane freeway to its junction with NH 114. I-293 makes a nearly 90-degree turn here, joining the Everett Turnpike and traveling north along the west bank of the
Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...
. The I-293/Everett Turnpike concurrency heads in to downtown Manchester and is joined by NH 3A at exit 4. Exits 5 and 6 intersect local roads near bridges across the Merrimack River, allowing travelers access to both east and west sides of Manchester. At exit 7, NH 3A leaves the concurrency, while I-293 and the turnpike continue north to the end of I-293 at another interchange with I-93, just south of the
Hooksett Hooksett is a New England town, town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,871 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 13,451 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 ...
barrier
toll plaza A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenan ...
. From here, I-93 and the Everett Turnpike are concurrent to the turnpike's northern end in
Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...
. As of June 16, 2008, the project to complete exit 5 as a full interchange was complete. Drivers are now able to exit and enter exit 5 both southbound and northbound. This exit is a
single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic th ...
, the third in New Hampshire. Like
I-393 Interstate 393 (I-393) is a east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway extending from I-93 at Concord to Pembroke, New Hampshire. The primary purpose of the road is to bypass a densely built commercial strip on New Hampshire Route 9 (NH&n ...
, the other auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Hampshire, I-293 is signed in concurrency with other routes along its entire length and never runs alone other than on transition ramps between NH 101 and the Everett Turnpike. This is due to the I-293 designation having been added to already existing routes, NH 101, and the Everett Turnpike.


History

I-293 overlays portions of two earlier routes that were upgraded to provide the route an Interstate designation. NH 101 was the main east–west route across southern New Hampshire, connecting Keene with (at the time)
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
, and passed through southern Manchester. The
Everett Turnpike The Frederick E. Everett Turnpike, also called the Central New Hampshire Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, running from the Massachusetts border at Nashua north to Concord. The Everett Turnpike i ...
was an early toll highway connecting the three cities of the
Merrimack Valley The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those ...
: Nashua, Manchester, and Concord. When it was accepted into the Interstate Highway System, the short NH 101 freeway from I-93 to the Everett Turnpike was numbered I-193 from 1961 to 1977. When I-93 was completed in 1977, the Everett Turnpike from NH 101 to I-93 was added to the route and it was renumbered as I-293. The NH 101 to Everett Turnpike interchange was later rebuilt to provide a free-flowing transition between the two legs.


Exit list


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Interstate 93-2 93-2 93-2
293 __NOTOC__ Year 293 ( CCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, year 1046 ''Ab urbe condita''). The den ...
Transportation in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Transportation in Merrimack County, New Hampshire