Massachusetts State Highway System

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Massachusetts State Highway System
Highway markers for Interstate 90, U.S. Route 20 and Route 28
System information
NotesRoutes are not always state-maintained, and not all state highways are Routes.
Highway names
InterstatesRoute I-X or Route X
US HighwaysRoute US X or Route X
StateRoute X
System links

The Massachusetts State Highway System in the U.S. Commonwealth of

Interstate 295, shared with Rhode Island, and Route 295, shared with New York State. A state highway
in Massachusetts is a road maintained by the state, which may or may not have a number. Not all numbered routes are maintained or owned by the state.

History

The

right-of-way is still owned by MassDOT under the original layout.[3][4]

Massachusetts first gained numbered routes in 1922, with the formation of the

New England Interstate Highways. Three-digit numbers were reserved for shorter routes. Route 138 and Route 140 were designated by 1925, and by 1926 the numbers from Route 101 to Route 142 (except Route 136
) had been assigned.

The establishment of the

Route 109A
ca. 1933, new routes were given two-digit numbers for a while. Larger three-digit numbers were eventually assigned.

Over the years, most of the state's highways have been maintained by a varied list of agencies, including the

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
's Bureau of Engineering still manages and/or operates a number of parkways across the Commonwealth.

All routes that end at a state border and continue as a numbered route on the other side have been renumbered on one side of the border to match. Except for

Interstate Highways
were renumbered, mostly in 1959 when the Interstate numbers were assigned.

There are no state highways of any kind in the island counties,

Nantucket or Dukes. There are eight mainland towns which have no state highway routes: Mount Washington and Tyringham in Berkshire County, Hampden in Hampden County, Middlefield in Hampshire County, Leyden, Monroe and Rowe in Franklin County, and Nahant in Essex County. Other than Nahant, which is a peninsula town just south of the city of Lynn, the towns are mostly isolated rural communities in the western half of the state. Additionally, there are seven other towns which have Interstates or US Routes, but do not have any Massachusetts state highways: Chester, Holland, Mattapoisett, Montgomery, New Ashford, Shutesbury and Wilbraham. Wellfleet does not have any signed state highways but includes the silent concurrency of Route 6A with U.S. Route 6
. Several other towns have less than a mile of state highway.

Signage practices

Shields for Interstate 93, U.S. 1 and Route 3

State routes

Main article: List of numbered routes in Massachusetts

Massachusetts uses a simple design for its state route shields. Black numerals are displayed on a plain white shield, usually with a black border near the edge of the sign, although this differs from sign to sign, especially on highway overheads. Single- and double-digit state highway numbers are posted on standard square sign panels, while three-digit (and three- and four-character alternate such as

28A) numbers are displayed on elongated panels. State route shields on freeways, such as Route 24 and Route 128
have the same design, but are usually much larger in size for easier viewing at highway speeds.

U.S. Routes

Main article: List of U.S. Highways in Massachusetts

Massachusetts uses the standard white-shield on black background design for its U.S. Routes, used in all states except for California. Signs for U.S. Routes on green highway signs generally omit the black background, but some older signs still have them. A number of signs installed on the U.S. Route 3 expressway are of a cut-out design, without the black background. U.S. Routes on freeways usually have extra-large sign panels posted.
NOTE: Alternates of U.S. routes in Massachusetts are signed as state highways (Routes 1A, 3A (northern), 6A, 7A, and 20A).

Interstate Highways

Main article: List of Interstate Highways in Massachusetts

Massachusetts uses standard Interstate highway shields without the state name on the shield, although a small number of very old signs do exist with the state name. Interstate shields are usually of the extra-large variety, with the exception of the Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90), which uses standard shields.

Auxiliary routes

UK "Worboys" style road sign in Boston showing former C routes

Massachusetts does not use auxiliary tabs for route signage, and as such contains no bypass or business routes. Massachusetts formerly had "city routes", which were signed

Route 38
).

The

Interstate 495 Business Spur
in the 1960s.

Exit numbering

Massachusetts converted from sequential to mileage-marker

Interstate Highways, as well as other major freeways in the state, including the freeway portions of Route 2, the Pilgrims Highway (part of Route 3), the Northwest Expressway (part of US 3), Route 24, Route 25, Route 128, the southern portion of Route 140, Route 213, and most recently, Route 146
.

The state completed its renumbering of Interstate Highways to use the mileage-marker system in September 2021.[8]

Prior to renumbering, five freeways in Massachusetts contained irregular exit numbering patterns:

  • On Route 2, exit numbers started at 14 and increased to 43, with a gap in the freeway between Acton and Concord, then resumed with Exit 50, then stopped before resuming at 52 and ending at 60.
  • The Northwest Expressway (US 3) is the one freeway in Massachusetts that still used the "25 is 128" system. As such, its exit numbering scheme started at 25 (at Route 128/I-95) and went up to 36.
  • Route 128 has reversed exit numbering; that is, exit numbers increase going north-to-south. Exit numbers start at 29 and end at 10. There are no exits 1-9, there is no exit 11, and exit 27 was removed. Route 128 has always had this system; however most of its exit numbering was replaced by the standard south-to-north of I-93 and I-95 south of Peabody.
  • I-93 in Boston has gone under many exit numbering changes since the Big Dig project was completed, and many old interchanges were closed or reconfigured. Numbering on the Interstate went from 1 to 48, but several exit numbers (17, 19, 21, 22, and 25) had been removed.
  • Numbering on the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) increased from 1 to 26; however, exits 11 and 11A were almost 10 miles apart, exits 14 and 15 were the same exit, exit 15B was a westbound only off ramp, exits 18 and 20 were the same exit, exit 19 was a mainline toll plaza until 2016, and exits 21 and 23 were westbound on-ramps only.

See also

References

  1. Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, History of the Massachusetts License Plate. "Massachusetts RMV - History of the License Plate". Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link
    )    .
  2. ^ "Journey by Land: Automobiles & Highways". Pilgrim Hall Museum. May 18, 2005. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012.
  3. ^ MassDOT state highway layout plan 1 (August 15, 1894). "74.8.145.17 - /Layoutsimages/Ashby/Layouts/1/". Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
  4. MassDOT state highway layout plans"About page". Archived from the original
    on July 8, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015..
  5. ^ Highway Division (2012). "Section 2E.31: Interchange Exit Numbering". The Massachusetts Amendments to the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the Standard Municipal Traffic Code (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. p. 62. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  6. ^ "Exit Signage Conversion to Milepost-Based Numbering System along Various Interstates, Routes and the Lowell Connector". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 12, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  7. ^ Malme, Robert H. (February 9, 2017). "Interstate Exits in Massachusetts". Retrieved March 3, 2017.[self-published source]
  8. ^ "Massachusetts highway exit renumbering complete". MassLive. September 7, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.

External links

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