Vermont Route 15 - History

History

In 1922, the New England states adopted a region-wide route marking system. Major inter-state routes were assigned numbers between 1 and 99. The east–west route beginning in Burlington, Vermont, through Randolph, New Hampshire and Bangor, Maine, to Houlton, Maine was designated as New England Route 15. Within the state of Vermont, Route 15 followed modern US 2/US 7 to Winooski then modern VT 15 to Danville then modern US 2 to Lunenburg, where it crossed into Lancaster, New Hampshire. In late 1926, the U.S. Highway system was established nationwide and many of the New England inter-state routes became U.S. routes. In Maine and New Hampshire, U.S. Route 2 was designated on New England Route 15, continuing along Route 15 up to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. However, between St. Johnsbury and Burlington, US 2 was initially designated on a more southerly alignment, first heading south to Wells River, then northwest via Montpelier to Burlington (US 2 was later relocated between St. Johnsbury and Montpelier). The section of old New England Route 15 in Vermont from St. Johnsbury to Burlington became Vermont Route 15. The Vermont state highway system was established in 1931, with the state officially taking control over maintenance of VT 15. The route was streamlined to remove the unnecessary overlaps at both its ends, truncating it to its modern Winooski to West Danville designation.