Massachusetts Route 140

I-95 in Foxborough Route 9 in Shrewsbury US 20 in Shrewsbury I-290 in Shrewsbury I-190 in Sterling Route 2 in Westminster
North end	Route 12 in Winchendon
Location
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
Counties	Bristol, Plymouth, Norfolk, Worcester
Highway system
Massachusetts State Highway System Interstate US State
← Route 139 → Route 141
← Route 63 → Route 66

Route 140 is a 107.76-mile-long (173.42 km) north—south state highway which passes through Bristol, Norfolk and Worcester counties in Massachusetts. The highway follows a southeast-northwest trajectory, running from U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in New Bedford just north of Buzzards Bay northwest to an intersection with Route 12 in Winchendon, a few miles south of the border with New Hampshire.^[2]

The southern 19 miles (30 km) of Route 140 between New Bedford and Taunton is a freeway known as the Alfred M. Bessette Memorial Highway, or more commonly, the Taunton-New Bedford Expressway.

Route description

New Bedford to Taunton

Route 140 begins at an intersection with

Route 140 runs partially concurrent with Route 79 Truck in order to bypass certain sections of Route 79 proper. The two designations are concurrent from exit 16 (Route 79) (old exit 10) to exit 20 (Route 24). At exit 20, Route 79 Truck leaves Route 140 for Route 24, where the truck route meets its parent at exit 11 (formerly 9) on MA-24.

Taunton to Wrentham

From the final interchange with

Franklin to Upton

Route 140 enters Franklin from Wrentham, passing through Franklin Center and

As Route 140 enters Sterling, it encounters an interchange with Interstate 190, which connects Worcester to the south with Leominster and Fitchburg to the north. Route 140 travels northwest to an intersection with Route 62 right before entering Princeton. Route 140 then joins Route 31 in East Princeton. The two routes run concurrently for 1.6 miles (2.6 km), after which Route 140 continues northwest into Westminster, passing between Wachusett Lake and Wyman Pond north of Mount Wachusett. Route 140 runs north from the mountain until meeting Route 2, a controlled-access highway, and the parallel surface road Route 2A at an interchange. Route 140 runs northwest concurrently with Route 2, bypassing the Westminster town center, before leaving the highway at the following interchange. From Route 2, Route 140 continues northwest into Gardner, running northeast of the city center, during which it intersects Route 101. The route turns north upon entering Winchendon where Route 140 ends at an intersection with Route 12. Route 12 continues northwest into the town center, crossing U.S. Route 202 before proceeding to the New Hampshire border.

History

Previous designation

The section of modern Route 140 from West Boylston to Gardner was numbered Route 64 when it was first commissioned by 1933. By 1939, the entirety of the route was redesignated as Route 140, effectively extending existing Route 140 northwest, which had previously ended in Grafton.^[3]

In 1947, the Massachusetts Department of Public Works announced plans for a "Relocated Route 140", one of the first steps as part of its statewide expressway program. Between 1955–1970 the current route was widened and straightened, while the section south of Taunton, which runs to New Bedford, was built as an expressway. The New Bedford Expressway was to serve as a spur from the Fall River Expressway, connecting to points in the Boston metropolitan area. The creation of this spur was considered a key component of revitalizing the old port city of New Bedford.^[4]

Prior to the building of the freeway section, County Street (the section of road beginning at the Taunton River, and also known as County Road) brought the road southward through East Taunton, Berkley, Lakeville and East Freetown. The road, which runs parallel to the freeway and crosses it in Lakeville, merged with Route 18 in East Freetown, just north of the New Bedford city limits. The old alignment begins in front of the Silver City Galleria in Taunton.

Highway improvements

A section of Route 140 in Franklin was widened from two to four lanes wide. The $22 million project began in 2003 and was completed in 2007.^[5]

In Fall 2013, the ramp from Route 140 to I-495 south at Exit 11 (now Exit 30) in Mansfield was completed.^[6] This ramp removed the need for traffic exiting the Xfinity Center in Mansfield to use a significant two-lane portion of Route 140.^[7]

Major intersections

County	Location[8]	mi[8]	km	Old exit[9]	New exit[10]	Destinations	Notes
at-grade intersection ; continues south as Brownell Avenue
	1.2	1.9	2E-W I-195 – Fall River, Cape Cod	Signed as exits 2A (east) and 2B (west);[10] exits 24A-B on I-195
	1.5	2.4		3	Hathaway Road	To New Bedford Airport
	3.2	5.1		4	Mount Pleasant Street / Kings Highway – Acushnet
	5.0	8.0		5	Phillips Road / Church Street – Freetown
	5.7	9.2		6	Route 18 (Ashley Boulevard)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	6.8	10.9		7	Braley Road
	Freetown	9.8	15.8	8	10	Chace Road – East Freetown, Assonet
Plymouth	Lakeville	12.2	19.6	9	12	County Road – Lakeville
Bristol	Taunton	16.0	25.7	10	16	Route 79 – Lakeville, Myricks
		18.7	30.1	11	19	Stevens Street / County Street – East Taunton	Signed as exits 19A (Stevens Street) and 19B (County Street) southbound;[10] until 2020, also provided access to the former Galleria Mall
		19.2	30.9	12	20	Boston	Northern terminus of freeway; signed as exits 20A (south) and 20B (north)[10][11] exit 17 on Route 24
		22.0	35.4			Cape Cod	Southern terminus of US 44 concurrency
		22.3	35.9			US 44 west / Route 138 – Providence RI, Raynham, Somerset	Northern terminus of US 44 concurrency; brief concurrency with Route 138
	Norton	29.9	48.1			Route 123 – Brockton, Attleboro	Brief concurrency with Route 123
	Mansfield	33.4	53.8	11	30	I-495 south – Taunton, Cape Cod	Southern terminus of I-495 concurrency; no direct southbound access from I-495 north
				12	31	Marlboro	Northern terminus of I-495 concurrency
		35.4	57.0			Route 106 – Plainville, Mansfield
Boston, Providence RI	Exits 13A-B on I-95
	40.0	64.4	N. Attleboro, Providence RI			Access via local roads
	40.3	64.9	Route 115 north – Norfolk, Millis			Southern terminus of Route 115
	Wrentham	43.0	69.2			Route 1A – Plainville, Woonsocket RI, Walpole, Dedham
	Cape Cod	Exit 43 on I-495
	Bellingham	51.6	83.0			Route 126 south – Woonsocket RI	Southern end of concurrency with Route 126
						Route 126 north – Holliston	Northern end of concurrency with Route 126
Worcester	Milford	56.4	90.8			Route 16 – Milford, Holliston, Mendon
	Grafton	67.8	109.1			Route 122 south – Northbridge, Providence RI	Southern terminus of Route 122 concurrency
		69.2	111.4			I-90 (Mass Pike) – Worcester Route 30 east	Northern terminus of Route 122 concurrency; western terminus of Route 30; southern terminus of Route 30 concurrency
		69.5	111.8			Route 30 east – Westboro	Northern terminus of Route 30 concurrency
	Marlboro, Worcester, Auburn	Interchange
		72.7	117.0			Boston, Worcester, Leicester	Access via local roads
		75.9	122.1			Marlboro, Worcester	Exits 26A-B on I-290
	Boylston	77.8	125.2			Route 70 – Boylston Center, Clinton, Worcester
	West Boylston	80.7	129.9			Route 12 south – Worcester	Southern terminus of Route 12 concurrency
		81.5	131.2			Route 12 north to Route 110 – Clinton, Fitchburg	Northern terminus of Route 12 concurrency
	Sterling	83.9	135.0			I-190 – Leominster, Fitchburg, Worcester	Exit 9 on I-190
		86.2	138.7			Route 62 – Princeton, Sterling
	Princeton	89.7	144.4			Route 31 south – Princeton	Southern terminus of Route 31 concurrency
		91.4	147.1			Route 31 north – Fitchburg, Ashby	Northern terminus of Route 31 concurrency
	Boston, Westminster, Fitchburg	Southern terminus of Route 2 concurrency
		97.5	156.9	24	90	Route 2 west / West Main Street south – Athol, Greenfield, Westminster	Northern terminus of Route 2 concurrency
	Gardner	100.3	161.4			Route 101 – Gardner, Templeton, Ashburnham
	Winchendon	107.76	173.42			Route 12 – Fitchburg, Winchendon	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References