New Hampshire Route 16

New Hampshire Route 16 (NH 16) is a 149.75-mile (241.00 km), north–south state highway in New Hampshire, United States, the main road connecting the Seacoast region to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. Much of its length is close to the border with Maine. The section from Portsmouth to Milton is a controlled-access toll highway known as the Spaulding Turnpike. Between Milton and Chocorua, and between Conway and Glen, it is known as the White Mountain Highway. It is known as Chocorua Mountain Highway between Chocorua and Conway and various other local names before crossing into Maine about 20 miles (32 km) south of the Canadian border. Portions of NH 16 run concurrent with U.S. Route 4 (US 4), US 202, NH 25, and US 302, and US 2.

New Hampshire Route 16
Map of New Hampshire with NH 16 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NHDOT
Length154.771 mi[1] (249.080 km)
Existed1922 (as New England Route 16)–present
Major junctions
South end I-95 / US 1 Byp. in Portsmouth
 
North end SR 16 in Magalloway Plantation, ME[2]
Location
CountiesRockingham, Strafford, Carroll, Coos
Highway system
← NH 13→ NH 18
← Route 15N.E.→ Route 17

The southern terminus of NH 16 is at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle, intersecting with Interstate 95 and the US 1 Bypass. The northern terminus is at the Maine state line near Wentworth's Location, where it continues as Maine State Route 16.

There are three auxiliary routes of NH 16, two loops labeled 16A and one labeled 16B.

Route description

Portsmouth to Milton (Spaulding Turnpike)

For the section of NH 16 between Portsmouth and Milton, see the Spaulding Turnpike article.

Milton to Bartlett

From Milton, NH 16 continues north, roughly paralleling the Maine border. In Wakefield, the road takes a turn to the northwest heading towards Ossipee. NH 16 turns back to a northerly heading near Tamworth, then makes a turn eastward in Albany to reach Conway. NH 16 turns north again in Conway, entering the region known as the Mount Washington Valley, and begins a concurrency with US 302 at the south end of the village of North Conway. North of North Conway, in Bartlett, the southern NH 16A loop departs and rejoins NH 16 / US 302 before the road makes a westward hook.

Glen to Wentworth's Location

In Glen, NH 16 turns north from US 302 and heads toward Jackson, where the northern NH 16A loop is located, as well as NH 16B, which is a loop that begins and ends at NH 16A. Continuing north, NH 16 passes through Pinkham Notch, to the east of Mount Washington, New Hampshire's highest peak, and intersecting with the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road. Route 16 meets US 2 in Gorham, sharing a short concurrency along Gorham's Main Street. Leaving US 2, Route 16 continues north along the Androscoggin River to the city of Berlin, then follows the river north through the towns of Milan and Dummer, and the township of Cambridge, into the town of Errol. From Errol NH 16 continues northeast to Wentworth's Location and the Maine border. After crossing the border the road becomes Maine State Route 16 and heads east toward Rangeley.

History

From 1922 until 1926, most of the original surface alignment of NH 16 from Portsmouth to the intersection with NH 26 in Errol was known as New England Interstate Route 16,[3] the "East Side Road".[4] In 1926, the New England road marking system was superseded by the system of United States Numbered Highways, and many of the New England Routes, including NH 16, became state highways with the same number.

NH 16 formerly served as a non-tolled alternative to the Spaulding Turnpike between Dover and Rochester. In the early 1990s, NHDOT rerouted NH 16 onto the turnpike as a concurrency for the full length of the turnpike. The old alignment is now made up of several different roads. After crossing the Little Bay Bridge (or, prior to 1966, the General Sullivan Bridge) northbound from Newington to Dover, historic NH 16 traveled along Dover Point Road into downtown Dover to an intersection with NH 108, where that route used to terminate. NH 16 continued along Central Avenue north through Somersworth and into Rochester on what is now the northern stretch of NH 108. In Rochester, NH 16 used the present alignment of NH 125 through downtown and north into Milton where it met the current alignment north of the Turnpike.

After NH 16 was rerouted, the section between downtown Dover and NH 125 in Rochester became a northward extension of NH 108. From downtown Rochester the alignment to Milton is now part of NH 125. Between the Rochester/Milton town line and the northern terminus of the Spaulding Turnpike, NH 125 carries the White Mountain Highway moniker.

The Conway Bypass is a proposed re-routing of NH 16 around Conway and North Conway. While preliminary work has been done, the bypass is still in planning stages.

Junction list
For a list of exits along the controlled-access portion of NH 16, see Spaulding Turnpike § Exit list.
CountyLocation[1][5]mi[1][5]kmDestinationsNotes
StraffordMilton33.25953.525 Spaulding Turnpike / NH 16 south – Rochester, PortsmouthNorthern terminus of Spaulding Turnpike
CarrollWakefield34.76355.946 NH 125 south / NH 153 (Main Street / Wakefield Road) – Union, SanbornvilleNorthern terminus of NH 125
38.60862.134 NH 109 (Wentworth Road / Meadow Street) to NH 153 – Brookfield, Wolfeboro, Sanbornville
Ossipee48.81678.562 NH 171 west (Old Granite Road) – Center Ossipee, TuftonboroEastern terminus of NH 171
50.47781.235 NH 28 south – Ossipee, WolfeboroNorthern terminus of NH 28
54.67887.996 NH 25 east – Center Ossipee, Portland, MEInterchange; southern end of concurrency with NH 25
60.29797.039 NH 25 west (Ossipee Mountain Highway) to I-93 – Moultonboro, MeredithNorthern end of NH 25 concurrency
60.55797.457 NH 41 north (Plains Road) – Silver Lake, MadisonSouthern terminus of NH 41
Tamworth64.549103.882 NH 113 (Deer Hill Road) – Tamworth, Madison
Albany74.436119.793 NH 113 west – MadisonSouthern end of concurrency with NH 113
Conway75.580121.634 NH 112 west (Kancamagus Highway) – Lincoln, North Woodstock, FranconiaEastern terminus of NH 112
76.333122.846 NH 153 south (Pleasant Street) – Eaton, EffinghamNorthern terminus of NH 153
76.405122.962 NH 113 east (East Main Street) – Center Conway, Fryeburg, MENorthern end of concurrency with NH 113
79.248127.537 US 302 east (Eastman Road) – Portland, MESouthern end of concurrency with US 302
Bartlett83.896135.018 NH 16A north – IntervaleSouthern terminus of NH 16A
86.203138.730 NH 16A south – IntervaleNorthern terminus of NH 16A
87.336140.554 US 302 west (Crawford Notch Road) – Bartlett, Bretton Woods, Twin MountainNorthern end of concurrency with US 302
Jackson89.591144.183 NH 16A north (Main Street) to NH 16B – Jackson VillageSouthern terminus of NH 16A
90.062144.941 NH 16A south (Village Road) to NH 16B – Jackson VillageNorthern terminus of NH 16A
CoosGorham109.695176.537 US 2 east (Main Street) – Shelburne, Portland, MESouthern end of concurrency with US 2
111.068178.747 US 2 west (Lancaster Road) – LancasterNorthern end of concurrency with US 2
Berlin116.106186.854 NH 110 west (Green Street) – GrovetonEastern terminus of NH 110
Milan124.120199.752 NH 110B west (Milan Hill Road) – West MilanEastern terminus of NH 110B
Dummer128.188206.299 NH 110A west (Muzzy Hill Road) – West Milan, GrovetonEastern terminus of NH 110A
Errol145.639234.383 NH 26 west (Colebrook Road) – Dixville Notch, ColebrookSouthern end of concurrency with NH 26
145.935234.860 NH 26 east (Upton Road) – Upton, MENorthern end of concurrency with NH 26
Wentworth's Location154.771249.080 SR 16 east (Wilsons Mills Road) – RangeleyContinuation into Maine
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Suffixed routes

New Hampshire Route 16A

New Hampshire Route 16A is a designation held by two separate state highways in New Hampshire. Although not directly connected, the two routes are linked by their parent route, New Hampshire Route 16.

Southern segment

New Hampshire Route 16A
LocationBartlett
Length2.484 mi[1] (3.998 km)

The southern segment of NH 16A is a loop road, known locally as the Intervale Resort Loop, entirely in the town of Bartlett. It splits off from U.S. Route 302 and NH 16, runs parallel to the highway for 2.484 miles (3.998 km), then rejoins US 302 and NH 16.

Officially, this section of NH 16A is also designated U.S. Route 302 Business, but is not signed as such anywhere along the route.[6] This is a rare instance of a hidden route in New Hampshire and is interesting in that a duplicate state numbering has been given precedence over a unique federal one.

Northern segment

New Hampshire Route 16A
LocationJackson
Length1.029 mi[1] (1.656 km)

The northern segment of NH 16A is a loop road in Jackson that is 1.029 miles (1.656 km) long. This road leaves NH 16, travels east to meet both the southern and northern termini of NH 16B (separated by just 500 feet (150 m)) and returns to NH 16, passing through the Wentworth Golf Club. The local name for this route is Village Road.[6][7]

New Hampshire Route 16B

New Hampshire Route 16B
LocationJackson
Length5.381 mi[1] (8.660 km)

New Hampshire Route 16B is a 5.381-mile-long (8.660 km) long state highway located entirely in Jackson. Although the road is signed north–south, NH 16B is a nearly-complete loop, beginning and ending at intersections with NH 16A roughly 500 feet (150 m) apart. Heading counterclockwise on NH 16B (signed "north") from NH 16A, NH 16B is known as Black Mountain Road, Moody Farm Road, and Carter Notch Road. The entire route has also been known as Five Mile Circuit Road, in reference to its length.[8]

In addition to its present designation, NH 16B has been assigned to several old alignments of NH 16, but those other routes are no longer officially designated as such.

In Ossipee, NH 16B was once the designation for an old alignment of NH 16 through the village of Center Ossipee that has been bypassed by the present NH 16 southwest of Ossipee Lake. The route, 2.52 miles (4.06 km) in length, is still called "Route 16B" on street blade signs.[9][10]

Two other roads have also held the NH 16B designation. One is a local road called Old Rochester Road in Somersworth and Old Dover Road in Rochester, paralleling the Spaulding Turnpike in those two towns from NH 108 to NH 125. There is no longer any signage along the road indicating that the road was designated NH 16B.[9][11]

The other road followed what is now NH 125 between NH 16 near Union and NH 153 in Union, as well as NH 153 from NH 125 north to NH 16 in Wakefield. The section of NH 125 in Carroll County is still shown as NH 16B on several maps.[9][12]

See also

References
  1. Bureau of Planning & Community Assistance (February 20, 2015). "NH Public Roads". Concord, New Hampshire: New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  2. Google (2006-09-29). "Wentworth's Location, NH" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  3. "Interstate Route Numbers for Roads". Groton Times. Woodsville, New Hampshire. June 9, 1922. p. 1. Retrieved July 12, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. "Condition of State Highway". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. October 13, 1923. p. 2. Retrieved July 12, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  5. Bureau of Planning & Community Assistance (April 3, 2015). "Nodal Reference 2015, State of New Hampshire". New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  6. New Hampshire DOT Route Logs
  7. Google (June 8, 2009). "map of northern segment" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  8. "Town of Jackson - Street Map" (PDF). Town of Jackson website. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
  9. New Hampshire Routes 1-25 Archived May 9, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Google (June 8, 2009). "map of former Ossipee alignment" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  11. Google (June 8, 2009). "map of former Somersworth and Rochester alignment" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  12. Google (June 8, 2009). "map showing NH 125 as NH 16B" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
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