New Hampshire Route 101

NH 101 between New Hampshire Route 108 in Stratham, just east of the Exeter town line, to New Hampshire Route 1A in Hampton Beach was opened in 1963 as the Exeter-Hampton Expressway.[6][7] It was marked with seemingly unique round shields featuring the highway's name, and was later designated New Hampshire Route 51 during the 1980s until October 1994.[8]

During this time, NH 101 exited the expressway at NH 108 (exit 11) and formed a concurrency with NH 108 north to the community of Stratham.[9] After traversing a traffic circle, NH 101 split from NH 108 and followed the current alignment of New Hampshire Route 33 into downtown Portsmouth, where NH 101 terminated at U.S. Route 1.

On NH 51, there were two traffic lights located on the limited access two-lane highway: the east-end lights at the terminus of New Hampshire Route 88 southeast of exit 11 and the west-end lights west of the Newfields (then-New Hampshire Route 85) exit with what is now New Hampshire Route 27. While NH 88 was rerouted on a new stretch of road to intersect with NH 108 just south of the NH 101/108 SPUI interchange at exit 11, the Newfields exit was upgraded to a full diamond interchange. NH 27 west of Stratham was formerly NH 101 prior to the completion of the four-lane bypass.

In the fall of 1994, the eastern terminus of NH 101 was shifted eight miles (13 km) south from Portsmouth to its current terminus in Hampton Beach, replacing NH 51 along the Super-2 between Exeter and Hampton Beach.[10] Old NH 101 between Stratham and downtown Portsmouth became NH 33 and the NH 51 designation was eliminated.

New Hampshire Route 101A (abbreviated NH 101A) is a 13.819-mile-long (22.240 km) east–west highway in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, connecting Milford and Nashua. It also runs through Merrimack and Amherst, and very briefly touches Hollis.

The western terminus of NH 101A is in western Milford at the intersection with NH 101. The eastern terminus is in the center of Nashua, when it meets New Hampshire Route 111 at the Merrimack River. Most of it is two lanes in each direction, sometimes with a central turning lane.

Route 101A is quite busy by southern New Hampshire standards, with traffic ranging from 26,000 vehicles per weekday in Nashua to 9,000 in western Milford.

The road carries a number of names. In Milford it is Elm Street and then Nashua Street; in Amherst and Merrimack it is the Milford Road or, more commonly, just 101A; in Nashua it is Amherst Street. There is some confusion over the eastern terminus; Google Maps shows the route continuing to the Taylor Falls Bridge and ending at the bridge, while the Official New Hampshire Route Map shows the route ending at the eastern terminus of Amherst Street, where it meets Main Street and Concord Street.[12]. Local signage also stops at the end of Amherst Street.

New Hampshire Route 101B was a designation once held by two separate state highways in New Hampshire. Although the two segments did not directly connect, they were linked at the time by their parent route, New Hampshire Route 101.

The western segment of NH 101B was a roughly 8.5-mile-long (13.7 km) east–west road in the Manchester area. The western terminus of the route was at U.S. Route 3 and New Hampshire Route 28 in Hooksett, the current western terminus of New Hampshire Route 27. The eastern terminus was at NH 101 near Candia.

All of the western segment of NH 101B was renumbered NH 27 at an unknown time.[13]

The eastern segment of NH 101B was a short east–west road in downtown Portsmouth. The western terminus was at the intersection of Islington Street and Middle Road, where NH 101, which followed the present alignment of New Hampshire Route 33 into Portsmouth, departed the routing of NH 33 and followed Islington Street to U.S. Route 1. NH 101B continued east on Middle Road and South Street, following the modern alignment of NH 33 to the present eastern terminus of NH 33 at US 1. At US 1, NH 101B continued east on South Street, running along the local street to its eastern terminus at New Hampshire Route 1B.

Prior to 1971, NH 101B from Islington Street east to US 1 became NH 101 while Islington Street and the portion of NH101B east of US 1 reverted to city maintenance. This section of NH 101 was renumbered to NH 33 in 1994.[13]

New Hampshire Route 101C ran from NH 108 east along what is now NH 27 to NH 1A in Hampton Beach.

The portion of NH 111 between New Hampshire Route 27 in Hampton and NH 1A in Hampton Beach was once designated New Hampshire Route 101D.[13]

New Hampshire Route 101E is a short stretch of urban road 2.357 miles (3.793 km) in length in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. This road connects Lafayette Road (U.S. Route 1) with Ocean Boulevard (New Hampshire Route 1A). NH 101E is locally named Winnacunnet Road. Oddly, this highway has never connected with NH 101, its "parent", or any of its spurs. The entire route is maintained by the town of Hampton.

NH 101E is very poorly signed. There exist guide signs at the eastern terminus at NH 1A, but along the road itself, there is no signage to indicate the route's number. It is not known as "Route 101E" to local residents; they refer to it as "Winnacunnet Road."