Was Interstate 95 Originally Supposed to Skip Right By Bangor, Maine?

First and foremost...

This story was told to me by a coworker who used to be pretty close friends with Galen Cole, who's a legendary figure in the Bangor area. He will come into the story more in a bit... But, near as I can tell, there's no official record of this. But one look at a map of Maine's highways will at least support this theory. So what I'm saying is... This could be 100% fact, or complete fiction.

Read More: One Section of Interstate 95 Through Bangor, ME is Becoming Scary 

The story has to do with the actual route that Interstate 95 makes in through Bangor. It's possible, that we were never supposed to have I-95 come through here at all. That would seem strange, because we're the third largest city in Maine, why would you not get highway access?

I-95 was alleged to have an entirely different route planned.

It would seem that once upon a time, the original planned route of I-95 was going to go from Newport, in a straight line, up towards the Old Town area. Probably pretty close to where that exit is now. But Galen Cole, who was a member of the Bangor City Council at the time, and founded the Cole Land Transportation Museum, made the case that the highway should come through Bangor.

Obviously, it seems like a perfectly logical choice now, but it had plenty of obstacles. In particular, the route through Bangor would go right through an existing cemetery. When I asked my Mom about this, she confirmed that it was quite the kerfuffle at the time, because it meant relocating a lot of burial plots.

The original route would be shorter.

If you look at a map of I-95 in it's current form, you can clearly see where at Newport, there's a pretty hard right, and it winds its way up to Bangor. Had the original plan stayed true, It would get you from Newport to Old Town in about the same time it takes to get from Newport to Bangor. But, in hindsight it was the best thing for Bangor.

As Maine's third largest city, it only makes sense. Otherwise, I-95 would basically be a completely rural highway from past Waterville, all the way North. And at this point, does it even matter? Besides, this could all be hogwash. But between the map, and the anecdote from my coworker, it's plausible. Stranger things have certainly happened.

I mean, I-95 does cross through a cemetery...