Route 286
Route information
Maintained by MassDOT and NHDOT
Length:	3.7 mi (6.0 km) Massachusetts: 1.40[1] mi (2.25km) New Hampshire: 2.3[2] mi (3.8 km)
Existed:	1971 – present
Major junctions
West end:	Interstate 95 in Salisbury, MA
	U.S. Route 1 in Salisbury, MA
East end:	Route 1A in Seabrook, NH
Location
Counties:	MA: Essex, NH: Rockingham
Highway system
Massachusetts State Highway Routes New Hampshire Routes
← Route 240 I-290 → ← NH 236 I-293 → ← I-86 Route 88 → ← NH 85 NH 87 →

Route 286 is a short, east–west state highway in Salisbury, Massachusetts and Seabrook, New Hampshire. The route was previously known as Route 86 and renumbered to avoid a numerical conflict with the designation of a freeway as Interstate 86 in the 1970s.

Route description

The eastern terminus of Route 286 is at the junction with New Hampshire Route 1A (Ocean Boulevard), which runs north–south along the Atlantic shore, approximately 160 feet (49 m) north of the Massachusetts/New Hampshire state line. The road continues into Massachusetts on Collins Street in Salisbury, and then connects with U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 95. Some maps incorrectly^[3] show the New Hampshire section of Route 286 briefly crossing into Massachusetts, just west of its terminus at NH Route 1A.

The total length of Route 286 is approximately 3.7 miles (6.0 km), of which approximately 2.3 miles (3.7 km) is in New Hampshire. The total length of Route 286 in Massachusetts is approximately 1.4 miles (2.3 km).

Street names

Route 286 is known by the following street names:

• Salisbury, Massachusetts
  • Main Street
  • High Street
  • Pike Street
  • Collins Street
• Seabrook, New Hampshire
  • Collins Street
  • Route 286

History

Route 286 was formerly numbered 86 and renumbered to make room for I-86, which is now designated as part of I-84.

Route 286 was previously designated as Route 86 in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Between 1971 and 1984, Massachusetts had an Interstate 86, which ran from Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to Hartford, Connecticut. The construction of I-86 prompted Massachusetts Route 86 to be renumbered to "286" because, according to Massachusetts Highway Department (MassHighway) protocol, a state highway and an Interstate Highway may not share the same number. (The only exception to this rule is Massachusetts Route 295 and I-295, which are on opposite ends of the state.) When Massachusetts renumbered Route 86 to 286, New Hampshire matched the change on its section.

In 1984, plans to connect I-84 along the present day I-384/US 6 corridor from Hartford to Providence were scuttled for environmental reasons. As a result, I-84 was rerouted onto the completed I-86 freeway. The existing section of the old I-84 became I-384. The Massachusetts State Route has kept the 286 number, and by extension the New Hampshire road has as well.

Today I-86 is the former Southern Tier Expressway/NY-17 in New York State as that road is upgraded to Interstate Highway standards. Modern I-86 is unrelated to the I-86 that existed in Massachusetts.

Junction list

Mileposts reset at the state line.

State	County	Location	Mile	km	Destinations	Notes
Massachusetts	Essex	Salisbury	0.00	0.00	I-95	Western terminus of Route 286; road continues west as Main Street I-95 Exit 60
			1.00	1.61	US 1
State line			1.40 0.00	2.25 0.00	Route 286 becomes NH 286
New Hampshire	Rockingham	Seabrook	2.30	3.70	NH 1A	Eastern terminus of NH 286 To Route 1A, via NH 1A south
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References