New Hampshire Route 101

New Hampshire Route 101
Map of southern New Hampshire with NH 101 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NHDOT
Length	95.189 mi[1] (153.192 km)
Major junctions
West end	NH 9 / NH 10 / NH 12 in Keene
Major intersections	US 202 in Peterborough US 3 in Manchester I-293 in Manchester NH 125 in Epping I-95 in Hampton US 1 in Hampton
East end	NH 1A in Hampton Beach
Location
Country	United States
State	New Hampshire
Counties	Cheshire, Hillsborough, Rockingham
Highway system
New Hampshire Highway System Interstate US State Turnpikes
← NH 101D NH 101E → NH 102

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 freeway linking the greater Manchester area to the Seacoast Region. At 95.189 miles (153.192 km) in length, NH 101 nearly spans the entire width of southern New Hampshire.

The western terminus of NH 101 is in Keene at the junction of NH 9, NH 10, and NH 12. The eastern terminus is in Hampton Beach at the junction with Ocean Boulevard (NH 1A).

Between Exeter and Hampton, NH 101 is known as the Exeter–Hampton Expressway.

There are two current and three former auxiliary routes for NH 101. The current routes are NH 101A, which connects Milford and Nashua, and NH 101E, which parallels the main route in Hampton.

Route description

Western segment (Keene to Bedford)

The western terminus of NH 101 is in Keene at the main intersection of NH 9, NH 10, and NH 12 anchoring the South Keene retail district. NH 101 begins eastbound cosigned with southbound NH 10 and NH 12. At a

The NH 101 freeway has one exit in Manchester, exit 1 to

NH 101 enters Hampton Beach as a full-access two-lane highway, crosses the marshy estuary system of the Hampton River and its tributaries, then splits into a pair of one-way streets (Highland Avenue eastbound and Church Street westbound) before reaching its eastern terminus at NH 1A (Ocean Boulevard).

History

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Most of the eastern section of NH 101 was originally planned as part of the canceled New England East–West Highway from Albany, New York to Portsmouth. Because of the cancellation, NH 101 remained a two-lane freeway until the mid-1990s. This road was colloquially known as the Highway of Death for its numerous accidents and large signs at the start of the two-lane freeway segment between exits 5 and 6 in Raymond that displayed the number of fatalities that had occurred.^[2][3] In the mid-1990s, the two-lane freeway segment was dualized over much of the swampland that it traversed in Rockingham County, creating a full divided controlled-access freeway between Manchester and I-95.

In 1991, an overpass was constructed over North Road in Brentwood near the Rockingham County Jail Farm for the future routing of NH 101. However, the NH 101 expressway was not built in this area until 2000, giving the bridge the nickname the "bridge to nowhere."^[4]

Prior to April 2024, the section of NH 101 east of I-93 featured mile markers beginning at Mile 100 and increasing toward Hampton.^[5]

Several portions of the highway have been named after prominent figures by the state legislature. According to the state Department of Transportation, the portion from Keene to the Merrimack River was named the Horace Greeley Highway in 1949. The name Robert C. Erler Highway was given to the stretch of highway "from a beginning point at the Auburn-Candia town line to the Raymond-Epping town line" in 1981. Erler was a former Raymond town selectman and state legislator. In 1995, the name Jay McDuffee Highway was given to the stretch "from the Epping/Raymond town line to its terminus in Hampton."^[6]

New Hampshire Route 51

NH 101 between NH 108 in Stratham, just east of the Exeter town line, to New Hampshire Route 1A in Hampton Beach was opened in 1963 as the Exeter-Hampton Expressway.^[7][8] It was marked with round shields featuring the highway's name and was later designated NH 51 in the 1980s. This designation remained until October 1994.^[9] During this time, NH 101 exited the expressway at exit 11 and was cosigned with NH 108 north into Stratham.^[10] At the Stratham Traffic Circle, NH 101 split from NH 108 and followed what is now the entirety of NH 33 into downtown Portsmouth, terminating at US 1.

On NH 51, there were two traffic lights located on the limited access two-lane highway: the east-end lights at the terminus of

In October 1994, NH 101 was re-routed onto the NH 51 highway between Exeter and Hampton Beach, with the entire expressway becoming NH 101.^[11] The existing NH 101 designation was removed from NH 108 between the exit 11 interchange and the Stratham Traffic Circle, and the remaining section of old NH 101 between the Stratham Traffic Circle and downtown Portsmouth became was redesignated as NH 33. The NH 51 designation became redundant and was removed entirely.

Future

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NH 101 has long been proposed as a part of the greater East–West Highway, which would provide upgraded freeway connections across the three northern New England states (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont). Some early proposals suggested that the route should be part of the Interstate Highway System as I-92, but these were rejected. More recent proposals have suggested that the entire route could be part of a privately maintained toll road.

Northern New England is served by the following major north–south

• I-95, which connects metro Boston with coastal New Hampshire, Maine, and ultimately New Brunswick.
  • The Spaulding Turnpike (NH 16), which connects I-95 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to the White Mountains Region of northern New Hampshire (although the freeway only goes as far north as Milton), and indirectly to the Lakes Region of central New Hampshire (via NH 11).
• I-93, which connects Boston with I-91 in northeastern Vermont via central New Hampshire, including Manchester and Concord.
  • I-89, which connects I-93 in Concord, New Hampshire, to central and northwestern Vermont, including Montpelier and Burlington, and ultimately Quebec. With its southeast-to-northwest orientation, I-89 is the closest thing to an east-west Interstate that exists in northern New England.
• US 3, the Everett Turnpike, and I-293, which connect I-95 in Burlington, Massachusetts to I-93 in Hooksett, New Hampshire.
• I-91, which runs along the Connecticut River, connecting I-90 in western Massachusetts to points in western New Hampshire and eastern Vermont.

However, the northernmost complete east–west freeway within the region, I-90 in Massachusetts, does not enter northern New England. Continuous east–west freeway travel through (and within) northern New England is presently accomplished by three segments, only one of which is truly east–west. The most major east-west highways useful for long distance travel are as follows:

• Vermont Route 9, NH 9, and Maine State Route 9, which connect Bennington, Vermont (and New York to the west) to as far east as Calais, Maine, although somewhat indirectly in various locations. The road goes through Brattleboro, Vermont, Keene, Concord, Dover, and Somersworth in New Hampshire, and Portland, Augusta, and Bangor in Maine (although I-95 is a faster option between Portland and Bangor).
• US 4, which connects Fair Haven, Vermont (and New York to the west) to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
• US 2, which connects Burlington, Vermont to Houlton, Maine (via Montpelier and Bangor).
• US 302, which connects Montpelier, Vermont to Portland, Maine. US 202 offers an alternative routing between Windham, Maine and Bangor.

Major intersections

County	Location[1][12]	mi[1][12]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Cheshire	Keene	0.000	0.000		NH 9 / NH 10 north / NH 12 north (Franklin Pierce Highway) – Brattleboro VT, Concord, Walpole	Western terminus of NH 101
		0.459	0.739		NH 10 south (Winchester Street) – Winchester	Eastern end of concurrency with NH 10
		1.240	1.996		NH 12 south (Main Street / Lower Main Street) – Troy	Eastern end of concurrency with NH 12
	Marlborough	5.362	8.629		NH 124 east (Jaffrey Road) – Jaffrey	Western terminus of NH 124
	Dublin	15.626	25.148		NH 137 (Brush Brook Road) – Hancock, Jaffrey
US 202 west (Grove Street) – Jaffrey	Western end of concurrency with US 202
	20.290	32.654		US 202 east / NH 123 north (Granite Street) – Hancock, Concord	Eastern end of concurrency with US 202; western end of concurrency with NH 123
	21.154	34.044		NH 123 south (Elm Hill Road) – Sharon, New Ipswich	Eastern end of concurrency with NH 123
	Temple	25.812	41.540		NH 45 south (Senator Tobey Highway) – Temple, Greenville	Northern terminus of NH 45
	Wilton	30.743	49.476		NH 31 south (Greenville Road) – Greenville, Mason, New Ipswich	Western end of concurrency with NH 31
		32.737	52.685		NH 31 north (Island Street) – Wilton, Greenfield	Eastern end of concurrency with NH 31
	NH 101A east (Elm Street) – Milford	Western terminus of NH 101A
		38.349	61.717		NH 13 (South Street) – Milford, Brookline	Interchange
		39.997	64.369		NH 101A (Nashua Street) – Milford, Nashua	Interchange
	Amherst	41.110	66.160		NH 122 (Ponemah Road)	Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		42.974	69.160		NH 122 (Baboosic Lake Road) – Amherst	Interchange
	Bedford	52.419	84.360		NH 114 north / Boynton Street – Goffstown	At-grade intersection; western terminus of freeway; southern terminus of NH 114
		53.847	86.658	–	To US 3 (Kilton Road (WB), Meetinghouse Road/S. River Road (EB))
		54.119	87.096	3	I-293 north – Merrimack, Nashua, Manchester, Concord	Western end of concurrency with I-293; exit number not signed
	Manchester	55.160	88.771	2	NH 3A (Brown Avenue) – Litchfield
		55.787	89.780	1	Mall of New Hampshire
		57.972	93.297	–	I-293 – Boston	Southern terminus of I-293; western end of concurrency with I-93
		58.900	94.790	6	Candia Road / Hanover Street
		59.275	95.394	7	I-93 north – Concord	Eastern end of concurrency with I-93; exit number not signed westbound
		60.994	98.160	1	I-93 – Auburn, Hooksett
Rockingham	Auburn	62.521	100.618	2	To NH 121 / Hooksett Road – Auburn, Candia
	Trumpet interchange ; southern terminus of NH 43
	Raymond	71.979	115.839	4	Old Manchester Road  – Raymond	Signs stating "Local Traffic Only" removed in 2015; Raymond not signed going eastbound
		73.875	118.890	5	NH 107 (Freetown Road) to NH 102 / NH 156 – Raymond, Fremont
	Epping	76.021	122.344	6	Depot Road / Beede Hill Road
		78.288	125.992	7	NH 125 (Calef Highway) – Epping, Kingston
	Bridge to Nowhere
	Exeter	83.586	134.519	9	NH 27 (Epping Road) – Exeter
		85.101	136.957	10	NH 85 (Newfields Road) – Exeter, Newfields
	Stratham	86.236	138.783	11	NH 108 (Portsmouth Avenue) to NH 33 / NH 88 – Stratham, Exeter
	Exeter	88.942	143.138	12	NH 111 (North Hampton Road) – Exeter, North Hampton
	Blue Star Turnpike) – Portsmouth, Boston	Trumpet interchange; exit 2 on I-95; Hampton Side Toll Plaza
		91.276	146.894	13	NH 27 (Exeter Road) – Hampton	Roadway narrows to a two-lane undivided freeway east of this interchange
		92.884	149.482	–	US 1 (Lafayette Road) – Hampton, Seabrook
		93.731	150.845	Eastern terminus of freeway
		95.189	153.192		NH 1A (Ocean Boulevard) – Hampton Beach
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access        Tolled       Route transition

Suffixed routes

New Hampshire Route 101A

New Hampshire Route 101A (abbreviated NH 101A) is a 13.819-mile-long (22.240 km) east–west highway in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, connecting Milford and Nashua. It also runs through Merrimack and Amherst and very briefly touches Hollis.

The western terminus of NH 101A is in western Milford at the intersection with NH 101. The eastern terminus is in the center of Nashua, when it meets New Hampshire Route 111 at the Merrimack River. Most of it is two lanes in each direction, sometimes with a central turning lane.

Route 101A is quite busy by southern New Hampshire standards, with traffic ranging from 26,000 vehicles per weekday in Nashua to 9,000 in western Milford. [1]

The road carries a number of names. In Milford it is Elm Street and then Nashua Street; in Amherst and Merrimack it is the Milford Road or, more commonly, just 101A; in Nashua it is Amherst Street. There is some confusion over the eastern terminus; Google Maps shows the route continuing to the Taylor Falls Bridge and ending at the bridge, while the official New Hampshire route map shows the route ending at the eastern terminus of Amherst Street, where it meets Main Street and Concord Street.^[13] Local signage also stops at the end of Amherst Street.

New Hampshire Route 101B

New Hampshire Route 101B was a designation once held by two separate

The western segment of NH 101B was a roughly 8.5-mile-long (13.7 km) east–west road in the

All of the western segment of NH 101B was renumbered NH 27 at an unknown time.[14]

Eastern segment

The eastern segment of NH 101B was a short east–west road in downtown

Prior to 1971, NH 101B from Islington Street east to US 1 became NH 101 while Islington Street and the portion of NH101B east of US 1 reverted to city maintenance. This section of NH 101 was renumbered to NH 33 in 1994.^[14]

New Hampshire Route 101C

New Hampshire Route 101C ran from NH 108 east along what is now NH 27 to NH 1A in Hampton Beach.

New Hampshire Route 101D

The portion of NH 111 between New Hampshire Route 27 in Hampton and NH 1A in Hampton Beach was once designated New Hampshire Route 101D.^[14]

New Hampshire Route 101E

New Hampshire Route 101E is a short stretch of urban road 2.357 miles (3.793 km) in length in