Embedded Files
100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
This page is about the east segment of US 2 (not to be confused with the separate west segment of US 2).
1926-present
East: Houlton, ME
West: Rouses Point, NY
Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 461 miles for the east segment of US 2. That closely matches our own 2020 measurement, which yielded 459.8 miles. If it ever connected with the Canada border in Rouses Point, US 2 would have been 460.6 miles long. Want historic mileages? Our handy reference book includes the mileages that were published in all 13 of AASHO/AASHTO's historic route logs (spanning the years 1927 to 1989).
Houlton
The east end of the eastern segment of US 2 is near the Canada border just outside Houlton ME. I-95 runs east/west through Houlton and into New Brunswick. US 2 heads east out of Houlton, but just shy of the Canada border the highway turns north, and that is where the last eastbound US 2 marker is posted:
Dienhart, Sep. 2019
(To the left is also how one would get to northbound I-95, although there are only a few hundred feet of I-95 remaining before the road crosses the Canada border.) Immediately to the left drivers encounter this "End" assembly where US 2 terminates at the last interchange on I-95 (formerly exit 63, now exit 305):
Miller, Nov. 2001
Taylor, Oct. 2004
Dienhart, Sep. 2019
Straight ahead leads only to the onramp for southbound I-95 (the next photo was taken from that overpass). If one were to go right in the photo above (to north I-95), they would be on the on-ramp visible at far right in this photo:
Miller, Nov. 2001
That was looking east along the northbound barrel of I-95. The building in the median is the US customs station. The Canada line is right about where the road bends in the distance. Of course, before I-95 was built, it was US 2 that provided access to this border crossing, so its historic east end was in the distance (we'll see more of that below). But first, here is a shot from the last exit on northbound I-95:
Buchanan/Nitzman, Jun. 2005
That exit leads to the east beginning of US 2. The offramp has the following assembly:
Buchanan/Nitzman, Jun. 2005
When a driver turns that direction, they are heading south, but US 2 traffic is directed to take another right:
Buchanan/Nitzman, Jun. 2005
...and drivers are shortly reassured with the first westbound sign...
Buchanan/Nitzman, Jun. 2005
...but in the opposite direction was where US 2 ran before I-95 was built, and before an extension of a runway at the Houlton airport. Just off modern US 2, the old border inspection station still stands, mellowing with age:
Mortell, 1998
Mortell, 1998
The west end of the eastern segment of US 2 has always been in (or near) Rouses Point.
Research and/or image credits: George Bourey; Carter Buchanan; Paul Dienhart; Matt Miller; Robert Mortell; Alex Nitzman; Dale Sanderson; Steven Taylor
Page originally created 2000;last updated May 7, 2025.
Page updated
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