Interstate 89

Route information
Length	191.12 mi (307.58 km)
Major junctions
South end	I-93/Everett Turnpike/NH 3A near Concord, NH
Major intersections	I-91 in White River Junction, VT
North end	R-133 to A-35 at Canadian border near Highgate Springs, VT

Interstate 89 (abbreviated I-89) is an interstate highway in the New England region of the United States travelling between Concord, New Hampshire and Highgate Springs, Vermont. As with all odd-numbered primary interstates, I-89 is signed as a north–south highway. However, the northwest-to-southeast path the road actually takes serves in two capacities: as an east–west interstate highway north of Interstate 90 in New England, and as a substantial part of the main connection between the major cities of Montreal and Boston. It is one of three Interstate highways whose entire route is located within the New England states.

Interstate 89 connects smaller cities and rural areas within New Hampshire and Vermont, and maintains two lanes of traffic in each direction throughout the route. Unlike its neighboring Interstates (91 and 93), it does not intersect any even-numbered Interstates along its route. It does, however, parallel (and interchange multiple times with) portions of three U.S. routes: U.S. Route 4 from Enfield to White River Junction; U.S. Route 2 from Montpelier to Colchester, and U.S. Route 7 from Burlington to the Canadian border.

Route description

Lengths

	mi	km
NH	60.80	97.89
VT	130.25	209.70
Total	191.05	307.59

New Hampshire

Interstate 89 runs for about 60.6 miles (97.5 km) in the state of New Hampshire, and is the major freeway corridor through the western part of the state. Despite being signed as a north–south freeway, its first 8 miles (13 km) actually run east–west before shifting to the northwest. The two major population centers along I-89's length in New Hampshire are Concord, at its southern terminus, and Lebanon, on the Vermont border. Mileage signs along I-89 in each direction consistently list one of the two cities. Also located along I-89 in New Hampshire are the towns of Grantham, New London and Warner.

Starting at an intersection with Interstate 93 and New Hampshire Route 3A in the town of Bow, just south of the New Hampshire capital city of Concord, the highway runs a northwest path through the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region. One exit directly serves Concord (Exit 2) before the highway enters the neighboring town of Hopkinton. east–west New Hampshire Route 11 joins I-89 at Exit 11 and runs concurrently with it for about 3 miles (4.8 km) before departing at Exit 12. At Exit 13 in Grantham, New Hampshire Route 10 enters I-89, and the pair of highways form another concurrency, this one for about 15 miles (24 km). Guide signs for exit 16 southeast of Lebanon display the name "Purmort", a made-up name taken from the name of an early settler in order to meet naming conventions for interstate exits. However, a community by that name has now taken root around the exit.

The highway continues northwest, passing through Lebanon, in which the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is located. A few miles north of this point is Dartmouth College. U.S. Route 4 parallels I-89 through Lebanon. Exits 17-20 serve the city of Lebanon and are passed in quick succession. At Exit 19, northbound New Hampshire Route 10 separates from I-89 and joins westbound U.S. Route 4 to pass through West Lebanon. The final exit in New Hampshire is Exit 20, providing access to West Lebanon's large retail district along New Hampshire Route 12A. Just after this interchange, the highway crosses the Connecticut River and enters Vermont, where it remains for the rest of its run northwest to the Canadian border.

Vermont

Interstate 89 northbound in Vermont, approaching Exit 2 in Sharon.

Interstate 89 is arguably one of Vermont's most important roads, as it is the only Interstate highway to directly serve both Vermont's capital city (Montpelier) and largest city (Burlington). Other important cities and towns located along I-89 are Barre, Waterbury, and St. Albans. Williston, which has become Burlington's big-box retail center (and one of the fastest-growing towns in the state) over the past decade, also has an interchange along I-89.

Crossing the Connecticut River into Vermont, I-89 continues the northwesterly direction it carried in New Hampshire. The Interstate intersects I-91 at an unnumbered interchange immediately upon entering Vermont. Shortly afterward, another interchange with U.S. 4 occurs. The highway begins to enter the scenic rolling hills of Vermont, turning almost due northward about 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the New Hampshire state line, and continues through the high country of central Vermont. The Interstate passes through the towns of Sharon, Royalton, Bethel, Randolph, Brookfield, and Williamstown before reaching the "twin cities" of Barre and Montpelier in the middle of Vermont. The interstate's highest point was said to be in the town of Brookfield, although the sign stating this was taken down in the late 1990s.

Another directional shift, again to the northwest, occurs while passing the interchange for Montpelier. For the next 40 miles (64 km), I-89's path isn't so much chosen as it is logical: paralleling the Winooski River and U.S. Route 2, the highway cuts through the section of the Appalachians known as the Green Mountains, and is surrounded by peaks of over 4,000 feet (1,219 m), such as Camel's Hump. U.S. 2 crosses the Interstate frequently, and has several interchanges with it, en route to Burlington.

Interstate 89 is unique due to one instance of its signage. Just beyond (Vermont) Exit 9 on both sides of the highway, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Montpelier, signs showing the distance to the next control cities are completely in metric. While there are many instances of signs being in both miles and kilometres, this is the only case of solely metric in the entire Interstate System. (Interstate 19 in Arizona used to be the other "only signed in metric" interstate in the U.S., but has been changed over in recent years as the last 2 km have been changed.) Speed limit signs have always been posted in mph.

After Exit 11 in Richmond, I-89 leaves the Green Mountains to enter the Champlain Valley and a notable shift in the landscape is visible. Here, just outside of Burlington, the highway turns northward once again. Also, at this turn is where the only official auxiliary highway starts, Interstate 189. A second highway, Interstate 289, was proposed as a beltway through Burlington's northeastern suburbs in the 1980s; amidst controversy, the highway has only been partially completed as Vermont Route 289, a Super two roadway. It has yet to directly meet its parent.

Passing I-189, I-89 sees the busiest freeway interchange in the entire state, Exit 14. A full cloverleaf interchange at this exit provides access to downtown Burlington, the University of Vermont, and the retail-heavy Dorset Street, via U.S. 2. Heading north from Burlington, the landscape quickly fades from suburban development into rolling hills more characteristic of northern New England, providing a vista overlooking Lake Champlain. I-89 passes through Milton, Georgia, St. Albans, Swanton, and finally the border town of Highgate Springs. The highway ends at the Canadian border in Highgate Springs. Its final exit, which northbound motorists can use to reverse direction onto I-89 south without crossing the border, is Exit 22 - the highest exit number along the route. U.S. Route 7 has its northern terminus at this interchange as well.

Although the divided highway continues about 5 miles (8 km) into Phillipsburg, Quebec as Route 133, this changes back to a two-lane road, until Autoroute 35 starts outside of St. Jean, Quebec, and continues to Montreal. The I-89 border crossing is the only instance where an Interstate entering Quebec does not become an Autoroute upon entry. However, Autoroute 35 will be extended in the next few years, creating a freeway-to-freeway connection.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
New Hampshire
Merrimack	Bow			NH Route 3A	At-grade intersection.
		Southern terminus of I-89 designation.
		0.0		I-93 North to I-393/US-4 - Concord, Seacoast Interstate 93 South - Manchester, Boston
		0.2	1	Logging Hill Road - Bow	Signed "Local traffic only."
	Concord	2.1	2	NH Route 13 (Clinton Street) - Concord
		3.8	3	Stickney Hill Road	Northbound exit/southbound entrance only.
	Hopkinton	6.6	4	US-202/NH-9 to NH-103 - Hopkinton	Northbound exit, southbound entrance only.
		8.5	5	US 202/NH 9 - Henniker, Keene (north); Hopkinton (south)	Left exit northbound. Access to US-202/NH-9 West only from I-89 North. Access to I-89 North only from US-202/NH-9 West. Access to I-89 South only from US-202/NH-9 East.
		10.4	6	NH Route 127 - Contoocook, West Hopkinton
	Warner	14.2	7	NH Route 103 - Davisville, Contoocook	To NH Route 127.
		17.4	8	NH Route 103 - Warner	Northbound exit/southbound entrance only.
		20.0	9	NH Route 103 - Warner, Bradford
	Sutton	27.2	10	North Road	To Sutton via NH 114.
	New London	31.2	11	NH Route 11 East (King Hill Road) - New London	To NH Route 114.
		I-89 and NH 11 form a 3.7-mile (6.0 km) long concurrency.
		34.9	12	NH-11 West to NH-103A - New London, Sunapee
Sullivan	Sunapee	37.0	12A	To NH Route 114 - Georges Mills, Springfield	To NH Route 11.
	Grantham	43.0	13	NH Route 10 South - Grantham, Croydon
		Southern terminus of I-89/ NH 10 concurrency.
		48.2	14	North Grantham	Northbound entrance, southbound exit only. Old Route 10.
Grafton	Enfield	50.2	15	Smith Pond Road/Old Route 10
		52.0	16	Eastman Hill Road — Purmort	To Whaleback Ski Area.
	Lebanon	54.1	17	US-4 To NH-4A - Enfield, Canaan
		56.2	18	NH 120 - Lebanon, Hanover	To Dartmouth College. To U.S. Route 4.
		Northern terminus of I-89/ NH 10 concurrency.
		58.2	19	US-4/NH-10 North — Lebanon, West Lebanon
		60.3	20	NH Route 12A - West Lebanon, Claremont
Vermont
Windsor	Hartford	0.6		Interstate 91 North - White River Junction Interstate 91 South - Brattleboro	To U.S. Route 5 Norwich: use US-5 North. North Hartland: use US-5 South.
	Hartford (Quechee)	3.9	1	U.S. Route 4 - Woodstock, Rutland, Quechee (south)	Artery road to Quechee, Woodstock, Rutland, and Killington Ski Resort.
	Sharon	13.4	2	VT-132 to VT-14 - Sharon, South Royalton (north)
	Royalton	22.1	3	VT-107 to VT-14 - Bethel, Royalton (north); Rutland (south)	To VT Route 100.
Orange	Randolph	30.9	4	VT-66 to VT-12 - Randolph	To VT Route 14. To Vermont Technical College.
	Willamstown	43.0	5	VT-64 to VT-12/VT-14 - Northfield, Williamstown	To Norwich University from points south.
Washington	Berlin	46.9	6	VT-63 to VT-14 - South Barre, Barre	Western terminus of VT Route 63.
		50.3	7	VT-62 to US-302 - Berlin, Barre	Western terminus of VT Route 62.
	Montpelier	52.9	8	US-2 to VT-12 - Montpelier, St. Johnsbury	Northeastern Vermont via U.S. Route 2 East. To Norwich University from points north.
	Middlesex	58.7	9	US-2 to VT-100B - Middlesex, Moretown	parallels I-89 here. Access to Sugarbush Resort and Mad River Glen via VT Route 100B from points south.
	Waterbury	63.8	10	VT-100 to US-2 - Waterbury, Stowe	Access to Sugarbush and Mad River Glen from points north. Bolton Valley ski resort from points south. To Ben & Jerry's Factory Headquarters.
Chittenden	Richmond	78.4	11	US-2 to VT-117 - Richmond, Williston (north), Bolton (south)	To VT Route 289. To Bolton Valley from points north.
	Williston	84.0	12	VT-2A to US-2 - Williston, Essex Junction	To Burlington International Airport from points south.
	South Burlington	87.5	13	I-189 to US-7 - Shelburne, Burlington (north), Middlebury (south)	Eastern terminus of Interstate 189.
		88.7	14E-W	U.S. Route 2 - South Burlington, Burlington	To Burlington, Champlain College, University of Vermont. Access to Burlington International.
	Winooski	90.5	15	VT Route 15 - Essex Junction, Winooski, Colchester	To Saint Michael's College. Northbound exit/southbound entrance only.
	Colchester	91.5	16	US-2/US-7 to VT-15 - Winooski, Colchester
		97.9	17	US-2/US-7 - Lake Champlain Islands, Milton (north); Colchester (south)
Franklin	Georgia	106.6	18	US-7/VT-104A - Fairfax, Georgia Center (north); Milton (south)
	St. Albans	113.8	19	US-7/VT-36/VT-104 - St. Albans
		117.6	20	US-7 to VT-207 - St. Albans
	Swanton	123.4	21	US-7/VT-78 - Swanton
	Highgate	129.8	22	U.S. Route 7 South - Highgate Springs	Northern terminus of US 7. Northbound: last exit before Canada.
		130.3	United States/Canada border. Northern terminus of I-89. I-89 north becomes File:Qc133.png Quebec Route 133.

Auxiliary routes

• Interstate 289 was originally slated to go around Burlington, but it was never completed. The lone completed section of the highway is signed as Vermont Route 289.

References

Browse numbered routes
← NH 88	NH	→
← VT 78	VT	→