town's east to west connector, connecting SR 9 (Middle Road) with SR 26/SR 100 (Gray Road). The spur connected exit 8, a trumpet interchange with the mainline turnpike, with exit 9, another trumpet at US 1 in Falmouth. (The west end later became exit 9—exit 8 was moved south to the new Westbrook interchange—and the east end became exit 15 on I-95.) The tollbooth was just west of US 1, right where the spur now crosses over I-295. The part of US 1 that it connected to had been built as a realignment (old US 1 is SR 88), and the spur connected the turnpike, which headed inland at Portland, with US 1, a major route to and beyond Brunswick via the shore. When the Interstate Highway System was designed in the 1940s and 1950s, the main route along the East Coast, numbered I-95 in 1957, was assigned to the route via Brunswick to Augusta. Thus, the Falmouth Spur became I-95, and the turnpike was unnumbered between the spur and Gardiner. Around 1960, the piece of I-95 (now I-295) north of the spur was completed, and a partial interchange was added at its crossing with the spur. The tollbooth was moved west at that time. The turnpike stayed unnumbered between Falmouth and Gardiner until around 1988, when it was added to the Interstate System as I-495. This allowed it to have a speed limit higher than the National Maximum Speed Limit of , as per the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act. In 2002, the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) submitted a proposal to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to relocate I-95 along I-495 and extend I-295 along I-95 to Gardiner, leaving the Falmouth Spur unnumbered. This was approved by AASHTO on November 5, 2002, with one change—the Falmouth Spur was assigned the I-495 designation. The MaineDOT and Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) decided not to sign or publicize I-495 to minimize confusion; maps of the changes distributed to the public included the remark "existing I-95 becomes a ramp" or just "Falmouth Spur" pointing to the spur. Signs were changed from January 5 to 10, 2004. A prominent sign was posted near the New Hampshire state line informing travelers of the change and that the information center had new maps. Exit list References External links Transportation in Cumberland County, Maine Transportation in Portland, Maine Falmouth,