Massachusetts

[kramie13]

While we're on the topic of exit numbers, why did Cape Cod residents oppose the exit renumbering on US 6?  Does it really make a difference if the exits are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. vs 55, 59, 61, etc?  Yes, starting the exit numbers at 55 seems weird but if you pass by exit 61 and know you're getting off at exit 72, you're 11 miles away!

[RyanB06]

I found a video on YouTube of someone driving from Foxborough to Malden along US 1, I-95, and I-93 in May 1989.  You can see the old Foxboro Stadium, the old elevated Central Artery, and even some old highway signs!  You can even see a "128 South Boston" pull-through around where I-93 meets MA 24!  I wonder if that confused any drivers back then...

At the time, US 1 had not been rerouted off the VFW Parkway, and MA 128 had not yet been truncated to Canton, since there were no US 1 reassurance shields along I-93 between Canton and Storrow Drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3B_ylLdgc4

This video also confirmed a *very* fuzzy memory of mine from my childhood: the sign for Route 37 at 7:20 with the big-ass route marker on the left-hand side, the right-justified control cities and the standard-sized arrow. I'm glad I wasn't imagining it!

[Rothman]

While we're on the topic of exit numbers, why did Cape Cod residents oppose the exit renumbering on US 6?  Does it really make a difference if the exits are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. vs 55, 59, 61, etc?  Yes, starting the exit numbers at 55 seems weird but if you pass by exit 61 and know you're getting off at exit 72, you're 11 miles away!

Because of tradition and marketing.  They didn't see the value added.

My mother has complained about her I-91 exit number change after decades of it being just fine.

But, for me and my house, we want the change.

[Ted$8roadFan]

While we're on the topic of exit numbers, why did Cape Cod residents oppose the exit renumbering on US 6?  Does it really make a difference if the exits are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. vs 55, 59, 61, etc?  Yes, starting the exit numbers at 55 seems weird but if you pass by exit 61 and know you're getting off at exit 72, you're 11 miles away!

Not to

While we're on the topic of exit numbers, why did Cape Cod residents oppose the exit renumbering on US 6?  Does it really make a difference if the exits are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. vs 55, 59, 61, etc?  Yes, starting the exit numbers at 55 seems weird but if you pass by exit 61 and know you're getting off at exit 72, you're 11 miles away!

Because of tradition and marketing.  They didn't see the value added.

My mother has complained about her I-91 exit number change after decades of it being just fine.

But, for me and my house, we want the change.

Not to mention good old-fashioned New England parochialism.

[bob7374]

MassDOT has advertised the MA 3 Braintree to Bourne sign replacement project. The winning bid will be announced on Jan. 7, 2025:
Here's the basic info from the Project Bidding info page:
Location: BOURNE - BRAINTREE - DUXBURY - HANOVER - HINGHAM - KINGSTON - MARSHFIELD - NORWELL - PEMBROKE - PLYMOUTH - ROCKLAND - WEYMOUTH
Description: Guide and Traffic Sign Replacement on a Section of Route 3
District: 5 Ad Date: 11/16/2024 Section Response: Const Project Value: $3,525,307.50
CDs, Plans & Specs Available: No
Federal Aid No.: HSI-003S(804)X Project Number: 610714 Project Type: Signing - Structural

I am hoping they at least update the I-93 exit signage northbound in Braintree to include US 1 which is on the other overhead signs approaching the MA 3 exit on I-93.

[southshore720]

MassDOT has advertised the MA 3 Braintree to Bourne sign replacement project. The winning bid will be announced on Jan. 7, 2025:
Here's the basic info from the Project Bidding info page:
Location: BOURNE - BRAINTREE - DUXBURY - HANOVER - HINGHAM - KINGSTON - MARSHFIELD - NORWELL - PEMBROKE - PLYMOUTH - ROCKLAND - WEYMOUTH
Description: Guide and Traffic Sign Replacement on a Section of Route 3
District: 5 Ad Date: 11/16/2024 Section Response: Const Project Value: $3,525,307.50
CDs, Plans & Specs Available: No
Federal Aid No.: HSI-003S(804)X Project Number: 610714 Project Type: Signing - Structural

I am hoping they at least update the I-93 exit signage northbound in Braintree to include US 1 which is on the other overhead signs approaching the MA 3 exit on I-93.

I wonder if they will be getting rid of ground-mounted BGSs.  They were a holdout when MA switched to all-overhead.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Per the Boston Globe, Mass DOT is soliciting bids for what is promised to be total reconstruction of all of the state's rest areas, on the Mass Pike (part of MassDOT since 2009) and on other highways. They are debating whether to have the same company manage fuel and food, the charging stations/green infrastructure, how much to make them beacons of the Commonwealth, and perhaps most Importantly, how to handle all of the commercial vehicle traffic and parking for our just-in-time trucks. There's no telling what they will end up becoming, but it's plausible they will follow the NY/NJ Applegreen route.

As someone who thinks our rest areas pale in comparison with other states, and our welcome centers not anywhere close to living up to their names, this is good news. For the last few years our motto could well have been "Welcome to Massachusetts - rest area at Dunkins ". They certainly didn't reflect our elevated sense of self, and the ones that are open send bad vibes for the unfamiliar. The biggest question to me is how they will address truck parking within the existing footprint. The existing rest areas are highly constrained with insufficient accel/decel lanes, and expanding the footprint will likely run into significant local/environmental opposition.

[Rothman]

Heh.  "...this is good news" he says.

Given the mixed reaction to the Thruway update, be careful what you get excited for.

(I do like the new bathroom sinks and updated vendors, but a little more space would have been welcome in a few of the buildings...although there is plenty at others).

[Ted$8roadFan]

My expectations are managed by the fact that, knowing how this state functions, the final product won't be as good as it could be. But given the dingy nature of the existing facilities - especially the non-Pike ones - any improvement is a moral victory.

[Plutonic Panda]

Heh.  "...this is good news" he says.

Given the mixed reaction to the Thruway update, be careful what you get excited for.

(I do like the new bathroom sinks and updated vendors, but a little more space would have been welcome in a few of the buildings...although there is plenty at others).

Just curious what your personal opinion is of the new New York rest areas... from the pictures that I've seen they look pretty nice.

[Rothman]

Heh.  "...this is good news" he says.

Given the mixed reaction to the Thruway update, be careful what you get excited for.

(I do like the new bathroom sinks and updated vendors, but a little more space would have been welcome in a few of the buildings...although there is plenty at others).

Just curious what your personal opinion is of the new New York rest areas... from the pictures that I've seen they look pretty nice.

Just what I said.  The one that has a Shake Shack westbound by Manchester/Junius especially feels too small.  But, a bunch of others are just fine and the new vendors are great.  I also like the bathroom sink set up with the faucet, soap and dryer all at individual stations, essentially.

[bob7374]

I've posted photos of the new signs placed along MA 25 East between Wareham and Bourne, such as at the US 6/MA 28 exit:


to my Misc. Massachusetts Signs Gallery

[Roadgeekteen]

Wonder if the Cape would have been more fine with mileage based if they measured from the Sagamore Bridge instead of Rhode Island.

[SectorZ]

Wonder if the Cape would have been more fine with mileage based if they measured from the Sagamore Bridge instead of Rhode Island.

That was one of their complaints about it.

[Roadgeekteen]

Wonder if the Cape would have been more fine with mileage based if they measured from the Sagamore Bridge instead of Rhode Island.

That was one of their complaints about it.

That used to always puzzle me. It's one continous highway from Braintree to the cape but 3 suddenly becomes 6.

[RobbieL2415]

Wonder if the Cape would have been more fine with mileage based if they measured from the Sagamore Bridge instead of Rhode Island.

Fair enough, but then give it a new number starting there and put US 6 back on MA 6A.

[shadyjay]

I would've extended I-195 east of I-495 and replaced MA 25 to the Bourne Bridge approach.  Then used the MA 25 number for the Mid Cape Highway.  Then the exit changes wouldn't have been so drastic.  But, its a moot point... its ancient history.

Yes, MA 3->Mid Cape is one continuous highway, but then again, so is "Route 128" from Braintree to Gloucester, and that has 3 different sets of exit numbers. 

[The Ghostbuster]

Perhaps the Interstate 93/MA 3 interchange in Braintree could have been Mile 0 and the exit numbers and mileposts could have rose as one continued southward (and later eastward). Then, when MA 3 ended in Sagamore and became part of US 6, the mileposts and exit numbers could have continued, and not reset at Exit 1 or Mile 0 (or going from Exit 1AB to Exit 55).

[Roadgeekteen]

Getting into fictional territory here but I could vibe with extending US 3 to Provincetown over MA 3 and US 6 and terminating 6 in Bourne.

[pderocco]

Wonder if the Cape would have been more fine with mileage based if they measured from the Sagamore Bridge instead of Rhode Island.

That was one of their complaints about it.

That used to always puzzle me. It's one continous highway from Braintree to the cape but 3 suddenly becomes 6.

It wasn't always a continuous highway. There was a rotary at the bridge until 2007, and the route 3 that fed into it was a dinky 2-lane road until the late 50s. So it's not surprising that US-6 goes over the bridge (and the EB side actually went over the Bourne bridge for a while), since it was a more major road than route 3.

US-6 was shortened by a few hundred miles in 1964, and to add insult to injury, lost a few more miles about 15 years ago when the portion in P'town was relinquished and signed as an historic route. It's suffered enough. Leave it alone.

[webny99]

A major accident has led to a full closure of the EB Mass Turnpike at Exit 90 (Auburn): https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/traffic-alert-crash-involving-multiple-tractor-trailers-shuts-down-part-mass-pike/Y5PEKXCLIBAVTKJOMMPOEB5JDU/

As of around 3PM, there's a 4 hour 38 minute EB delay (per Google Maps), plus significant delays WB and on other area highways.

[Roadgeekteen]

A major accident has led to a full closure of the EB Mass Turnpike at Exit 90 (Auburn): https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/traffic-alert-crash-involving-multiple-tractor-trailers-shuts-down-part-mass-pike/Y5PEKXCLIBAVTKJOMMPOEB5JDU/

As of around 3PM, there's a 4 hour 38 minute EB delay (per Google Maps), plus significant delays WB and on other area highways.

Dang, glad everyone is ok.

[RobbieL2415]

A major accident has led to a full closure of the EB Mass Turnpike at Exit 90 (Auburn): https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/traffic-alert-crash-involving-multiple-tractor-trailers-shuts-down-part-mass-pike/Y5PEKXCLIBAVTKJOMMPOEB5JDU/

As of around 3PM, there's a 4 hour 38 minute EB delay (per Google Maps), plus significant delays WB and on other area highways.

It must be clear now, if Google Maps traffic is to be believed.

With a delay that long, I bet it spilled over well onto I-84 EB.

[webny99]

With a delay that long, I bet it spilled over well onto I-84 EB.

Actually no, the backup peaked at about 9.5 miles, so it got to the EB Charlton Service Plaza... but not quite enough to reach I-84.

At that point I'm sure the majority of I-84 traffic wasn't even getting to that point, instead exiting at one of the Sturbridge exits or even sooner. There were even notable slowdowns on CT 171 and CT/MA 197, so it's likely that some traffic was exiting I-84 at Union and using those routes to reach I-395.

[roadman65]

Was the Massachusetts Avenue Connector in Boston from Exit 15 on I-93 the location where the unbuilt I-95 would have connected to the Central Artery?

I have a map showing Boston in the early seventies of where the Southeast and Fitzgerald Expressways met at a three wye, but today's Google maps don't show such an exchange exists. Naturally the highway was upgraded ( I'm guessing with the Big Dig) and tore out the former leg that was the Fitzgerald extension dead ending at Mass Ave.