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Maine State Route 9
Highway in Maine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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State Route 9 (SR 9) is a numbered state highway in Maine, running from the New Hampshire border at Berwick in the west to the Canada–US border with New Brunswick at Calais in the east. SR 9 runs a total of 289 miles (465 km).
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Route description
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State Route 9 is a meandering highway that works its way from New Hampshire to Canada. It frequently runs concurrently with other highways listed below and also frequently changes direction.
State Route 9 runs through most of Maine's major cities including Biddeford, Saco, South Portland, Portland, Augusta, and Bangor.
Over the years, a number of improvements have been made by the Route 9 Committee, a partnership of local government officials and business interests in the Baileyville-Calais area.
The Airline
The leg from Bangor to Calais is often referred to as "The Airline," commonly thought to be because of its shorter route than the older U.S. 1. (Before the coming of air travel, the term airline often referred to such a shortcut.) Although anecdotes about unexploded ordnance deriving from bombers flying from the former Dow Air Force Base (now Bangor International Airport) using a number of towers and landmarks along "The Airline", in fact the term goes back to the early 1850s as a contrast to the shoreline route.[2] The last section of "The Airline" was paved in 1973 in Crawford and many old sections of the road are visible to the side of the present roadway. The "Whale's Back", a two-mile stretch built atop an esker in Hancock County was one of the most notable features of the highway until it was rebuilt.[3]
Bypass of Brewer
Plans to extend I-395 connecting it to SR 9 began as early as 2001.[4] In February 2008, MaineDOT suggested five possible routes to extend I-395 to SR 9, with two in particular designated as "State's Choice" and "Holden's Choice".[5] The state approved the "Holden's Choice" route, designated 2B-2. All three affected communities issued resolutions in 2014 opposing this route.[6]
The state went forward with the project not as an I-395 extension but as a 5.5-mile (9 km) super two rerouting of SR 9. The design was finalized in 2021, with construction commencing in 2022.
MaineDOT completed the project with a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 27, 2025.[7] When it opened, the existing segment of Route 9 through downtown Brewer became Route 9 Business.[8]
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Junction list
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Auxiliary route
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State Route 9 Business (abbreviated SR 9 Bus. or SR 9B) is an 8.6-mile (13.8 km) business route of SR 9. Its western terminus is at I-395 and SR 9 in Bangor. Its eastern terminus is at SR 9 in Eddington.
SR 9 Business was designated in 2025 after SR 9 was moved onto its southerly bypass of downtown Brewer.
- Junction list
The entire route is in Penobscot County.
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