Maine State Route 236
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harold L. Dow Highway | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by MaineDOT | ||||
| Length: | 15.8 mi[1] (25.4 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1957 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: |
 SR 103 in Kittery | |||
 US 1 in Kittery US 1 Byp. in Kittery I‑95 in Kittery SR 4 in South Berwick | ||||
| North end: |
 SR 9 in Berwick | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | York | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Route 236 (abbreviated SR 236) is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, located in the extreme southern part of the state. It runs for 15.8 miles (25.4 km) from an intersection with State Route 103 in Kittery to an intersection with State Route 9 in Berwick just east of the border with New Hampshire. Between Kittery and South Berwick, SR 236 is known as the Harold L. Dow Highway.
SR 236 is signed as a north-south route, but follows more of a southeast-to-northwest alignment.
Route description
The southern terminus of SR 236 is at the intersection of Whipple Road (SR 103), Woodlawn Avenue, and Shapleigh Road in Kittery, near the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Gate 2. It follows Shapleigh Road, then Rogers Road, to the Kittery Traffic Circle, where it connects to US 1, US 1 Bypass, and Old Post Road. The rotary marks the beginning of the Dow Highway. Passing under US 1 Bypass and over I-95, the route heads along the former right-of-way of the B&M Railroad until intersecting with SR 4 in South Berwick at the northern end of the Dow Highway. SR 236 runs briefly with SR 4 through downtown South Berwick, then splits off to follow Berwick Road into downtown Berwick, along Allen Street to its northern terminus at SR 9 near the New Hampshire state line. Less than a quarter mile west, SR 9 crosses into Somersworth, New Hampshire and becomes New Hampshire Routes 9 and 236.
NH 236, which terminates at the state border, is a westward extension of SR 236 through downtown Somersworth which connects to NH 108 south of Rochester. Though it does not directly connect to SR 236 as signed, the two routes are connected via SR 9.
History
The northern section of SR 236, from Gould's Corner (near SR 103 and SR 101) in Eliot to downtown Berwick, was originally designated in 1929 as part of SR 103. That route was truncated to its current terminus in 1957, and its northern segment was re-designated as SR 236. Both SR 103 and SR 236 have a terminus at the other route.
Most of the southern part of the route, between I-95 in Kittery and SR 91 in South Berwick, was built in 1956 on the former right-of-way of the B&M Railroad after service was discontinued and the tracks removed four years earlier.[2] While railroad service has disappeared, SR 236 is a busy commuter corridor to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery and downtown Portsmouth.[3]
Junction list
The entire route is in York County.
| Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kittery | 0.0 | 0.0 | SR 103 (Whipple Road) – Eliot, York | Southern terminus of SR 236 | |
| 1.0 | 1.6 | US 1 (State Road) to I‑95 north – York, Portsmouth NH | Rotary | ||
| 1.1 | 1.8 | US 1 Byp. south – Portsmouth NH | Interchange | ||
| 1.4 | 2.3 | I‑95 south – Portsmouth NH, Boston MA | I-95 exits 2 & 3 No access to I-95 north from SR 236 | ||
| Eliot | 7.1 | 11.4 | SR 103 east (State Road) – Eliot | Western terminus of SR 103 | |
| 7.5 | 12.1 |  SR 101 (Dover-Eliot / Goodwin Roads) – Kittery, Dover NH | |||
| South Berwick | 10.1 | 16.3 |  SR 91 south (York Woods Road) – York | Northern terminus of SR 91 | |
| 11.8 | 19.0 | SR 4 south (Main Street) – Rollinsford NH, Dover NH | Southern terminus of SR 4 / SR 236 concurrency | ||
| 12.0 | 19.3 | SR 4 north (Portland Street) – North Berwick, Sanford | Northern terminus of SR 4 / SR 236 concurrency | ||
| Berwick | 15.8 | 25.4 | SR 9 (School Street) – North Berwick, Somersworth NH | Northern terminus of SR 236; to NH 9 / NH 236 | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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