State Route 3 (SR 3) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

located in southern

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. It is a major interregional highway, connecting the

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

corridor to the Atlantic coast. The western terminus is at SR 8, SR 11 and SR 27 in Augusta and the eastern terminus is at SR 102 and SR 198 in Mount Desert. Major cities and towns along the length of SR 3 include Augusta,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Ellsworth, and

Bar Harbor Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laboratory. ...

Route description

SR 3 begins at Civic Center Drive ( SR 8/ SR 11/ SR 27) in the northwest corner of Augusta. SR 3 heads east using the Augusta Bypass, a controlled-access road completed in 2004 to alleviate congestion in the city center caused by traffic headed to and from

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

. The bypass ends at North Belfast Avenue (

US 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware in the south to Maine in the north and traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ne ...

/ SR 9) on the east end of Augusta. SR 3 runs concurrently with US 202 and SR 9 (the Belfast Road) to the village of

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

, where US 202 and SR 9 split to the north. SR 3 continues east to the city of

, where it interchanges with

US 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort ...

west of downtown. US 1 and SR 3 run concurrently for over from Belfast through Bucksport, crossing the Penobscot Narrows Bridge over the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's W ...

. SR 15 joins US 1 and SR 3 in downtown Bucksport and splits to the south in Orland after . US 1 and SR 3 continue along the Acadia Highway to the city of Ellsworth. SR 3 leaves US 1 at The Triangle, an intersection at the south end of Ellsworth that has been the center of numerous traffic problems within that cit
The News@Ellsworth American.com ,
Entering the Trenton township, the remainder of the route is designated as the Acadia All-American Road. Continuing south through Trenton, the route crosses a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

Mount Desert Island Mount Desert Island (MDI; ) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the List of islands of the United States by area, 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in th ...

and intersects with SR 102 and SR 198, which run along the island's western side. SR 3 turns east follows the eastern shore to the tourist town of

, then continues south through

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor, Maine, Bar Harbor. The park includes about half of Mount Desert ...

to the village of Northeast Harbor. SR 3 intersects with SR 198 and turns north towards the village of Somesville. SR 3 and SR 198 intersect with SR 102 in Somesville; SR 3 ends and SR 198 turns north onto SR 102, eventually meeting SR 3 again near the Mount Desert Island causeway. On the southern end of Mount Desert Island, and along the concurrency with SR 198, SR 3 signs lack directional indicators. This was intentionally done to avoid confusion, as a motorist on the southern part of the island driving on SR 3 westbound is actually traveling ''east'' (and vice versa). SR 3 signs along this stretch have "Route" in place of directional banners. Directional signs begin appearing westbound and stop appearing eastbound just east of Seal Harbor when the highway begins to loop around the island.

History

When originally designated in 1933, the western terminus of SR 3 was located in downtown

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. It was cosigned on sections of SR 26, SR 4 and SR 11 between Portland and Augusta. In 1946-7, the western portion of the route was truncated to Augusta and its western terminus was moved to the intersection of Bangor Street and North Belfast Avenue, where it began cosigned with US 202 and SR 9. In 2004, the Augusta Bypass was completed, providing a connection between I-95 and points east which bypasses downtown Augusta. SR 3 was rerouted onto the new bypass, proceeding northwest to a new interchange at exit 113. The bypass connected to North Belfast Avenue where SR 3 joined US 202/SR 9 and continued its existing route eastward. In 2013, the bypass was extended west of I-95 to connect with Old Belgrade Road and serve the new Alfond Center for Health and Cancer Center. The Exit 113 interchange was reconfigured to provide full access and SR 3 was extended along the northern segment of Old Belgrade Road to its present western terminus at Civic Center Drive (SR 8/SR 11/SR 27).

Junction list

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Maine State Route 3

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: * 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) * 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway * ''O03 (O2)'' and other related blood type alleles in the AB ...

Transportation in Kennebec County, Maine Transportation in Waldo County, Maine Transportation in Hancock County, Maine

Route description

History

Junction list

See also

References

External links