The official Massachusetts Route 2 improvement project thread

[pderocco]

Indeed, by the end of 2016 many roads should have mileage based numbers, and by the end of 2017 most roads will have them. The Mass Pike should be the first road to get them, as they are the first road to have mileage based numbers written into current re-signing plans which should have construction begin soon.

This being a really long thread, I didn't read all of it, so I don't know if anyone already mentioned that there was a time in the past, perhaps back in the 70s, when some freeways (certainly 128) had both consecutive numbers and mile numbers at each ramp. As I recall, they increased in opposite direction on 128. I think the idea was to let people get used to the mile numbers (which actually said "MILE" before them), and then take down the consecutive numbers. They eventually took the mile numbers back down instead.

[PHLBOS]

This being a really long thread, I didn't read all of it, so I don't know if anyone already mentioned that there was a time in the past, perhaps back in the 70s, when some freeways (certainly 128) had both consecutive numbers and mile numbers at each ramp. As I recall, they increased in opposite direction on 128. I think the idea was to let people get used to the mile numbers (which actually said "MILE" before them), and then take down the consecutive numbers. They eventually took the mile numbers back down instead.

I-93 north of Boston had both mile numbers and exit number tabs from the 1970s until 1986-87 when the exit number changed to its current numbers.

Scroll down to see 1977 vintage photo showing the dual mile/exit number tabs

I-295 in RI at the time also had similar.

128 never had mile number/exit number tabs regardless of its past exit numbering system(s).

[noelbotevera]

Not sure why MA decided to nuke the dual milage tabs and just go to mile based in the 80s.

[PHLBOS]

Not sure why MA decided to nuke the dual milage tabs and just go to mile based in the 80s.

The dual-mileage/exit tab was only an experimental/trial basis; which explains why just a handful of Interstate highways (I-95 in ME just south of the Maine Turnpike had such as well) in New England had them.  FHWA and/or MUTCD either dropped such requirements (if any) or never officially adopted such on a permanent basis.

The reason why MA didn't adopt mile-marker based exit numbering earlier was simply, they didn't have to.  Plus, MA had already changed exit numbers on several of its highways during the 70s (mainly ones that used the Exit 25 = Route 128 philosophy; I-93, 95 (Canton and south), MA 3 & 24). 

At present, I-93 north of Boston has had its interchanges renumbered three times since it was built.  It first had the Exit 25 = Route 128 approach then it switched to Exit 1 = Northeast Expressway/Central Artery (originally I-95, current US 1) in the early 70s (such had the dual mile/exit tabs) and it again switched to its current sequential numbering circa 1986-87.

IMHO, I-93 should've switched to mile-marker exit numbering immediately after the O'Neill Tunnel (part of the Big Dig) was fully opened to traffic due to the new tunnel having less interchanges than the old Central Artery.

[roadman]

Not sure why MA decided to nuke the dual milage tabs and just go to mile based in the 80s.The dual-mileage/exit tab was only an experimental/trial basis; which explains why just a handful of Interstate highways (I-95 in ME just south of the Maine Turnpike had such as well) in New England had them.  FHWA and/or MUTCD either dropped such requirements (if any) or never officially adopted such on a permanent basis.

The dual posting (sequenital and milepost) exit tabs were referenced in the 1971 MUTCD as an option.  From Section 2F-20:

Consistent with the AASHO action to adopt the consecutive numbering system for the Interstate System and with the Federal requirement
for a milepost numbering system, the two systems may be combined by displaying an auxiliary panel with a single line
legend "MILE (number)-EXIT (number) " in conjunction with the advance guide, exit clirection and overhead gore signs. For the
ground-mounted EXIT gore sign that already displays a consecutive number, the auxiliary panel will read only "MILE (number)"

This language was removed from the 1978 MUTCD.

[ne11931]

So, this will be the official thread for all MA Route 2 improvements. From Crosby's Corner to the Concord Rotary, if anyone has any pictures that they would like to post, they can do so here.

It's also a place to talk about what should be done. Particularly with the route 2, 3, and 16 intersection at Alewife Brook Parkway. Any suggestions and updates regarding Alewife and Fresh Pond Parkway would be welcome. I know that the Alewife intersection was slated for an improvement in 2015 through the TIGER grant, but I'm not sure if anything is going to come about that (This is Massachusetts after all). I still see the ARRA signs on the islands posted.

The project at the Alewife intersection is in its final stages. I can't see much change although the Mass DOT project description states elimination of a merge and additional room for vehicles to queue.Curbing has been realigned, drainage redone but for 3.8 million you aren't going to do much to help that huge bottleneck.

I remember back in the early 80's after the Alewife station was built and the rotary eliminated it was widely publicized that the intersection was temporary and would be replaced because they knew it was inadequate.

[AMLNet49]

Will the brand new Exit 50 be renumbered or will it be a sequential outlier in the new mileage-number contract? Because when I reviewed the MA-2 section of the contract, it skipped this exit in the plans. I feel like it would be awkward to have one sequential exit amidst the rest of the mileage numbers.

[Pete from Boston]

So, this will be the official thread for all MA Route 2 improvements. From Crosby's Corner to the Concord Rotary, if anyone has any pictures that they would like to post, they can do so here.

It's also a place to talk about what should be done. Particularly with the route 2, 3, and 16 intersection at Alewife Brook Parkway. Any suggestions and updates regarding Alewife and Fresh Pond Parkway would be welcome. I know that the Alewife intersection was slated for an improvement in 2015 through the TIGER grant, but I'm not sure if anything is going to come about that (This is Massachusetts after all). I still see the ARRA signs on the islands posted.

The project at the Alewife intersection is in its final stages. I can't see much change although the Mass DOT project description states elimination of a merge and additional room for vehicles to queue.Curbing has been realigned, drainage redone but for 3.8 million you aren't going to do much to help that huge bottleneck.

I remember back in the early 80's after the Alewife station was built and the rotary eliminated it was widely publicized that the intersection was temporary and would be replaced because they knew it was inadequate.

I drive through this intersection frequently and the improvements will at least eliminate some of the guessing (one lane or two?) that has caused a lot of friction in some of the movements to date. 

One disappointment is that traffic leaving Alewife Station for Route 2 still faces a difficult merge with traffic coming from Alewife Brook Parkway north/eastbound.  I'm hoping there's still some final detail that will improve this.  It was my understanding this was a project goal.

Footings are in place presumably for new traffic signals, but could be for guide signs.  We'll see.

You really can't eliminate the bottleneck here because a major expressway ends at a parkway/boulevard with traffic lights.  All the flyovers in the world are just going to funnel cars more quickly to the stoplights at Mass. Ave. and Cambridgepark Drive, presumably backing up onto those same ramps (much as it backs up to the Alewife "rotary" (people still call it that) today.  The long-awaited Crosby's Corner light elimination, for comparison, has just pushed the backups elsewhere.   

[Alps]

So, this will be the official thread for all MA Route 2 improvements. From Crosby's Corner to the Concord Rotary, if anyone has any pictures that they would like to post, they can do so here.

It's also a place to talk about what should be done. Particularly with the route 2, 3, and 16 intersection at Alewife Brook Parkway. Any suggestions and updates regarding Alewife and Fresh Pond Parkway would be welcome. I know that the Alewife intersection was slated for an improvement in 2015 through the TIGER grant, but I'm not sure if anything is going to come about that (This is Massachusetts after all). I still see the ARRA signs on the islands posted.

The project at the Alewife intersection is in its final stages. I can't see much change although the Mass DOT project description states elimination of a merge and additional room for vehicles to queue.Curbing has been realigned, drainage redone but for 3.8 million you aren't going to do much to help that huge bottleneck.

I remember back in the early 80's after the Alewife station was built and the rotary eliminated it was widely publicized that the intersection was temporary and would be replaced because they knew it was inadequate.

Major changes at first blush: longer division of 3S-2W ramp from the 2W mainline, hence the more room to queue. Alewife station exit now adds a lane onto 3N, hence the elimination of a merge. Not much else except some general geometric improvements.

[ne11931]

[/quote]
Major changes at first blush: longer division of 3S-2W ramp from the 2W mainline, hence the more room to queue. Alewife station exit now adds a lane onto 3N, hence the elimination of a merge. Not much else except some general geometric improvements.
[/quote]

Are you saying the Alewife exit has been widened from one lane to two to add a turn lane to 3N/16E ?

[Alps]

Major changes at first blush: longer division of 3S-2W ramp from the 2W mainline, hence the more room to queue. Alewife station exit now adds a lane onto 3N, hence the elimination of a merge. Not much else except some general geometric improvements.

Are you saying the Alewife exit has been widened from one lane to two to add a turn lane to 3N/16E ?

http://arlingtonma.gov/home/showdocument?id=25508

[Pete from Boston]

It takes the current "sometimes one lane, but often two" scenario and makes it firmly two. 

That document confirms what I thought I'd heard, that the road from Alewife Station will get its own, albeit short lane, hopefully improving the merge.

[ne11931]

Major changes at first blush: longer division of 3S-2W ramp from the 2W mainline, hence the more room to queue. Alewife station exit now adds a lane onto 3N, hence the elimination of a merge. Not much else except some general geometric improvements.

Are you saying the Alewife exit has been widened from one lane to two to add a turn lane to 3N/16E ?

http://arlingtonma.gov/home/showdocument?id=25508

Thanks, I wish I knew about that document before.

[ne11931]

Will the brand new Exit 50 be renumbered or will it be a sequential outlier in the new mileage-number contract? Because when I reviewed the MA-2 section of the contract, it skipped this exit in the plans. I feel like it would be awkward to have one sequential exit amidst the rest of the mileage numbers.

The new signs are up today, they are  Exit 50 signs. The contractor was probably instructed to somehow provide a mileage  exit number when needed.

[bob7374]

Will the brand new Exit 50 be renumbered or will it be a sequential outlier in the new mileage-number contract? Because when I reviewed the MA-2 section of the contract, it skipped this exit in the plans. I feel like it would be awkward to have one sequential exit amidst the rest of the mileage numbers.

The new signs are up today, they are  Exit 50 signs. The contractor was probably instructed to somehow provide a mileage  exit number when needed.

The Crosby's Corner exit is at mile 124.8, which means it will probably be Exit 124, since the I-95/128 exit 3.7 miles to the east at mile 128.5 and will be numbered 128.

[spooky]

Will the brand new Exit 50 be renumbered or will it be a sequential outlier in the new mileage-number contract? Because when I reviewed the MA-2 section of the contract, it skipped this exit in the plans. I feel like it would be awkward to have one sequential exit amidst the rest of the mileage numbers.

The new signs are up today, they are  Exit 50 signs. The contractor was probably instructed to somehow provide a mileage  exit number when needed.

More likely would be that it will added to the mile marker sign contract as a change order.

[SectorZ]

While this is more of an improvement to the highway going over it, I guess it involves improvements to Route 2. The junction with I-495 in Littleton appears to be more or less done, with the northbound c/d ramp in use and northbound 495 shifted back to the right. Outside of some landscaping and cleanup, it looks done.

[roadman]

Drove Route 2 through the Crosby's Corner interchange yesterday.  All the BGSes on the mainline are now in.  However, the eastbound ground mounted signs need some serious clearing and grubbing.  They also need to remove the temporary signs on the mainline, as they are no longer necessary.

[AMLNet49]

Drove Route 2 through the Crosby's Corner interchange yesterday.  All the BGSes on the mainline are now in.  However, the eastbound ground mounted signs need some serious clearing and grubbing.  They also need to remove the temporary signs on the mainline, as they are no longer necessary.

GSV hasn't updated yet and I haven't driven through there in a while; are there exit tabs on the BGSs or is the new number just on the gore point sign?

[roadman]

Drove Route 2 through the Crosby's Corner interchange yesterday.  All the BGSes on the mainline are now in.  However, the eastbound ground mounted signs need some serious clearing and grubbing.  They also need to remove the temporary signs on the mainline, as they are no longer necessary.

GSV hasn't updated yet and I haven't driven through there in a while; are there exit tabs on the BGSs or is the new number just on the gore point sign?

All the new BGSes for Route 2A have Exit 50 tabs, and the new ground mount signs also reference Exit 50.

[bob7374]

Drove Route 2 through the Crosby's Corner interchange yesterday.  All the BGSes on the mainline are now in.  However, the eastbound ground mounted signs need some serious clearing and grubbing.  They also need to remove the temporary signs on the mainline, as they are no longer necessary.

GSV hasn't updated yet and I haven't driven through there in a while; are there exit tabs on the BGSs or is the new number just on the gore point sign?

All the new BGSes for Route 2A have Exit 50 tabs, and the new ground mount signs also reference Exit 50.

Finally got a chance to drive through there yesterday (4/2) here's the westbound BGS for the MA 2A exit:


All the photos I took, both westbound and eastbound back to I-95/128 are available here:
http://www.gribblenation.net/mass21/miscsigns.html#mass2

[Pete from Boston]

Outside the stated scope of this thread, but it looks like they are down to just very basic tidying up at the Routes 2/128/95 interchange rebuild project. They did a nice job, only took about two years.

[ne11931]

Outside the stated scope of this thread, but it looks like they are down to just very basic tidying up at the Routes 2/128/95 interchange rebuild project. They did a nice job, only took about two years.

I agree they did do a nice job. The only thing I wish they had addressed was that driveway on Route 2 westbound in to a tree nursery - landscape business. It occurs right where it goes from three
lanes to two and the 95 south to 2 westbound ramp merges. I cringe when I see trucks slow way down to make that turn.

[Stephane Dumas]

Outside the stated scope of this thread, but it looks like they are down to just very basic tidying up at the Routes 2/128/95 interchange rebuild project. They did a nice job, only took about two years.

I agree they did do a nice job. The only thing I wish they had addressed was that driveway on Route 2 westbound in to a tree nursery - landscape business. It occurs right where it goes from three
lanes to two and the 95 south to 2 westbound ramp merges. I cringe when I see trucks slow way down to make that turn.

MassDOT had posted some photos on Flickr about that interchange. https://www.flickr.com/photos/massdot/sets/72157650800347207/with/28748407892/

[roadman]

And, just when you thought the new Crosby's Corner interchange was substantially completed:

http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/massdot-highway/lincolnconcord-route-2crosbys-corner-lane-closures/