Interstate 293 begins at a directional T interchange in the southeast of Manchester, where NH 101 West leaves I-93. I-293 is signed as a north-south road, but along the section concurrent with NH 101, the road travels in an entirely westerly direction. Exits 1 and 2 provide access to the Mall of New Hampshire area and the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport respectively. After crossing the Merrimack River, I-293 enters the modified cloverleaf exit 3 interchange where I-293, NH 101, and the Everett Turnpike intersect. At exit 3, NH 101 leaves I-293 and continues west as a four-lane freeway to its junction with NH 114. I-293 makes a nearly 90-degree turn here, joining the Everett Turnpike and traveling north along the west bank of the Merrimack. The I-293/Everett Turnpike concurrency heads in to downtown Manchester, and is joined by NH 3A at exit 4. Exits 5 and 6 intersect local roads near bridges across the Merrimack, allowing travelers access to both east and west sides of Manchester. At exit 7, NH 3A leaves the concurrency, while I-293 and the Turnpike continue north to the end of I-293 at another interchange with I-93, just south of the Hooksett barrier toll plaza. From here I-93 and the Everett Turnpike are concurrent to the Turnpike's northern end in Concord. As of June 16, 2008, the project to complete Exit 5 as a full interchange was complete. Drivers are now able to exit and enter Exit 5 both southbound and northbound. This exit is a single-point urban interchange, the third in New Hampshire. Like Interstate 393, the other auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Hampshire, I-293 is signed in concurrency with other routes along its entire length, and never runs alone other than on transition ramps between Route 101 and the Everett Turnpike. This is due to the I-293 designation having been added to already existing routes, Route 101 and the Everett Turnpike.
History
Before the portion of the Everett Turnpike that completed the I-293 loop was accepted into the Interstate Highway System, the east-west freeway between I-93 and the Turnpike was designated as Interstate 193. This image, from the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways book published by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads in 1955, also known as the Yellow Book, shows I-93's proposed route to have been west of where it was eventually built, more closely paralleling US 3 and very similar to the actual route of the Everett Turnpike. It also shows a spur which would have likely been designated I-193. This spur is further north than the I-193 that was eventually built, and was probably intended to link the proposed I-93 to downtown Manchester via the QueenCity Bridge or a new river crossing in that area.
