U.S. Route 1

U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south U.S. Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs 2,369 miles (3,813 km), from Whitehead Street and Fleming Street in Key West, Florida north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canada–US border, where it becomes New Brunswick Route 161. US 1 is generally paralleled by Interstate 95 and the Atlantic Ocean in some areas, though the former is significantly farther west inland between Jacksonville, Florida, and Petersburg, Virginia, where US 17 continues paralleling the Atlantic Ocean, as well as Interstate 101. The highway connects most of the major cities of the East Coast—including Miami, Jacksonville, and Escatoria (fictional) in the Southeast; Richmond, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, and New York City in the Mid-Atlantic; and New Haven, Providence, Boston, Portsmouth, and Portland in New England.

While US 1 is generally the easternmost of the main north–south U.S. Highways, parts of several others occupy corridors closer to the ocean. When the road system was laid out in the 1920s, US 1 was mostly assigned to the existing Atlantic Highway, which followed the Fall Line between the Piedmont and the Atlantic Coastal Plain north of Augusta, Georgia. At the time, the highways farther east were of lower quality and did not serve the major population centers. Construction of the Interstate Highway system gradually changed the use and character of US 1, and I-95 became the major north–south East Coast highway by the late 1960s.

Route description

Lower Southeast

Georgia State Route 4 as a standalone highway

Georgia State Route 4 (SR 4) is a highway that is almost entirely concurrently with US-1. As a standalone highway, SR 4 is completely in Augusta–Richmond County. It runs from US 1/78/278/SR 10 (Deans Bridge Rd) to US 25 Business at the South Carolina Line.

The Carolinas

After crossing the Savannah River, US-1 enters South Carolina and travels concurrently with US-78 to Aiken. north-northeast of the city, it intersects and parallels I-20 to Camden. It crosses trough Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge and intersects US-52 in Cheraw. north of the City it enters North Carolina

After crossing the state line, it crosses through Rockingham, where it intersects US-74 and the southern terminus of US-220. It intersects US-421 in Sanford, where US-1 becomes a limited-access highway to Raleigh; where it intersects US-64, I-40, US-70, and US-401 where the two highway parallel each other until Norlina. In Henderson US-1 starts paralleling I-85 to the interstate's northern terminus in Petersburg, VA.

Mid-Atlantic

US 1 intersects US 58 in South Hill. US 1 has interchanges with I-85 in various locations in Virginia. It enters Petersburg where intersects US 460, US 301 where they start a concurrency again to Richmond. In Chester, the two highways intersect SR 288. In Bensley, they intersect SR 150. In Cosner's Corner, US 1 intersects US 17 and I-95. In Fort Belvoir, US 1 intersects SR 286. At the Rose Hill–Huntington–Alexandria line, US 1 intersects Interstates 95 and 495. In Arlington US 1 enters a concurrency with I-395 and enters the District of Columbia.

After entering Washington, US 1 splits off from I-395 and onto 14th Street NW in Southwest Washington, It intersects US 50 and US 29 in Northwest Washington. It goes through Northeast Washington before it enters Maryland.

US 1 intersects the Capital Beltway in College Park, MD. In Arbutus, US 1 intersects Interstates 195, 695, and 895. In Baltimore, it intersects US 40 and I-83. In Conowingo, US 1 intersects the southern terminus of US 222. 5½ miles later it crosses the Pennsylvania line.

1 mile after entering Pennsylvania, US 1 becomes a limited-access highway from Nottingham to Kennett Township. 3¾ miles north-northeast of the Delaware line, US 1 intersects US 202 and US 322. US-1 becomes a limited-access bypass around Media and intersects I-476. In Baltimore, US 1 intersects US-30, I-76, and US-13. It also limited-access highway to Lawrence Township, NJ.

In North Brunswick Township, US 1 intersects US 130. US-1 becomes a limited-access highway between Edison and Woodbridge Township where It starts a concurrency with US 9. US 1/9 intersect Interstate 78 in Newark. 1½ miles West of the New York, US 1/9 intersects Route 495. In Palisades Park,US 1/9 intersect the eastern terminus of US 46. In Fort Lee the two highways begin a concurrency with I-95 on the George Washington Bridge to New York.

In Washington Heights, US 9 splits of from I-95 at exit 1. In West Bronx, US 1 splits off from I-95 and exit 2B, and turns left onto Webster Ave. In New Rochelle it intersects I-95. In Rye, it intersects I-287. Then, it crosses to Connecticut.

New England

Maine

Main article: U.S. Route 1 in Maine

The monument marking the northern terminus in Fort Kent, ME.

Within Maine, US 1 begins as a parallel route to I-95 near the Atlantic Ocean. At Portland, I-95 splits off to the north, and I-295 heads northeast paralleling US 1 to Brunswick. There, US 1 turns east as a mostly two-lane road along the coast to Calais; much of this portion is advertised as the "Coastal Route" on signs. North from Calais, US 1 follows the Canada–US border, crossing I-95 in Houlton and eventually turning west and southwest to its north end at the Clair-Fort Kent Bridge in Fort Kent. The short New Brunswick Route 161 extends north on the New Brunswick (Canada) side of the bridge to Route 120, a secondary east–west route from Edmundston, New Brunswick west to Quebec Route 289 toward Saint-Alexandre, Quebec.

Trivia

• US-1 longest north–south road in the United States.
• US-1 is famous for its location in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast Regions in the united States.
• US-1 is the most important existing U.S. highway in the system

U.S. Highway System

Major U.S Routes are written in bold. Former U.S. Routes that are no longer part of the system are written in italic.

Auxiliary routes of U.S. Route 1

Special routes of U.S. Route 1
US 301 • US 401 • US 501 • US 601 • US 701