Maine State Route 118 Explained

State:ME
Type:ME
Route:118
Map Custom:yes
Length Mi:13.04
Length Round:2
Length Ref:[1]
Established:1925
Direction A:West
Terminus A: in Waterford
Direction B:East
Terminus B: in Norway
Counties:Oxford
Previous Type:ME
Previous Route:117
Next Type:ME
Next Route:119

State Route 118 is a secondary highway located in eastern Oxford County, Maine. It runs for 13.04miles between the towns of Waterford and Norway. Its western terminus in Waterford is at State Route 35 and its eastern terminus in Norway is at the intersection of Main Street and Paris Street, where it is overlapped by State Route 117.

Route description

SR 118 begins at an intersection with SR 35 north of Waterford, near that route's intersection with SR 5. The highway departs to the east, passing through East Waterford and meeting the northern end of SR 37 before entering the town of Norway. SR 118 continues east into town, passing south of Lake Penneseewassee (Norway Lake) before meeting SR 117 at Harrison Road, which approaches from the south. SR 117 and SR 118 are cosigned on Lake Street, then Main Street, heading east into downtown Norway. At the intersection of Main and Paris Streets the SR 118 designation ends. SR 117 turns east onto Paris Street to meet SR 26 near the Paris town line. Main Street continues southeast for 0.3miles to terminate at Fair Street (SR 26).

History

When it was first commissioned in 1925, SR 118 extended north along SR 5 into Bethel to end at SR 26. When SR 35 was designated in the early 1930s, it was cosigned along SR 5 and SR 118 along the same stretch of road. In 1938, SR 118 was truncated to its current western terminus in Waterford, eliminating the overlaps and cutting the route's overall length by more than half. In the 1980s, SR 118 was extended along SR 117 (its original eastern terminus) through downtown Norway to its current terminus at the junction of Main and Paris Streets, extending the designation 2.11miles to the east. This remains the current routing. Despite what signage suggests, SR 118 does not appear to have ever connected directly with SR 26 as SR 117 does.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/me/r?118 Floodgap Roadgap's RoadsAroundME: Maine State Route 118