Existed: 1929 – present East end: US 1A at York Harbor Length 26.28 km County York County, Maine | West end: SR 236 near Eliot Counties: York Constructed 1929 Major cities Kittery, South Berwick | |
State Route 103 is a 16.3-mile (26.2 km) long state highway in extreme southern Maine. The route is signed east–west, but forms a half-loop, with most of its eastern segment skirting the Piscataqua River and the state border with New Hampshire. The road piggybacks on different roads with many turns throughout.
Contents
Map of ME-103, Maine, USA
Route description
SR 103 begins in the west at an intersection with SR 236 (which is itself a former alignment of SR 103) west of Eliot, near its intersection with SR 101 just southwest of the border between South Berwick and Dover, New Hampshire. SR 103 is a meandering route, to say the very least - on the initial stretch, for about 3/4 mile, a driver on SR 103 east is actually heading south-southwest. The route meets the Piscataqua River, where it turns southeast to parallel the river (which also forms the state border with New Hampshire) south through Eliot and into Kittery. In Kittery, SR 103 finds its first intersection at Dennett Road, a local road which provides a connection to Interstate 95 southbound into New Hampshire (Exit 1 is a partial interchange, with a northbound exit from and southbound entrance to I-95). SR 103 passes underneath U.S. Route 1 Bypass without a direct interchange, although the bypass is accessible via local roads near Oak Terrace. SR 103 continues east, intersecting US 1 just north of the Memorial Bridge. Continuing east, SR 103 meets the southern end of its former alignment, SR 236. Access to I-95 North is possible using any of these three routes, as they converge just south of I-95's exit 2 and 3 interchanges. As the Piscataqua River empties into the Atlantic Ocean to the south, SR 103 turns northeast, heading out of Kittery and towards York. The highway enters the town from the south, crossing the York River near York Harbor, and ends at US 1A.
History
SR 103 has existed since the New England road marking system was in place, as early as 1929. It ran from Route 9 in Berwick (along what is now SR 236) to its current alignment and on to York. In 1940 it was extended into York Village to, what was at the time, State Route 1 (a designation that was removed in 1949). Once stretching over 26 miles (42 km), SR 103 was truncated in 1957 to its current alignment, with the old alignment north of Eliot designated as SR 236. SR 236 was itself routed parallel to SR 103 south of the intersection, and terminates at SR 103 in Kittery. Perhaps ironically, SR 103 and SR 236 both terminate at the other.
Major intersections
The entire route is in York County.