395/290

[bluecountry]

Is there any reason why this isn't just one interstate since it is virtually contagious?

[hbelkins]

Is there any reason why this isn't just one interstate since it is virtually contagious?

Can roads catch C0VID? 

[Alps]

*contiguous
290 came first well before 395 was finalized, let alone constructed. While they are functionally different, there is a fair amount of traffic continuing from one to the other (since it's a good way south from the Wista area). I wouldn't call it all 290 and I wouldn't call it all 395, though. I-695 maybe (CT and MA do not have one of those) since it's a loop from 95 to 495.

[Ted$8roadFan]

695 actually would make sense for the entire length of 290/395 from Waterford, Ct to Marlboro, MA. Of course, such a change would require two state approvals and the acceptance of folks for whom change does not come easily. Connecticut is after all known as the land of steady habits. Not sure if Worcester will want its main route to be designated as 695.

[MATraveler128]

I-395 and I-290 have never bothered me. They function well as separate highways. I-290 is a connector between I-90 and I-495 and I-395 is the major north-south route in Eastern Connecticut. When I-395 was being planned in Connecticut, there was a brief idea to extend I-290 down to New London. An x95 makes more sense than an x90 which doesn't even enter the state.

[roadman65]

Remember we're talking Massachusetts here, the state that still won't inform its residents that Route 128 is shared with I-95 or replaced by I-93 in part.

If it were NC I-93 would replace all of MA 3 and MA 24 would be an x95 or x93.  Plus I-195 or I-495 would run east to the Bourne Bridge. They would not hesitate to combine, though, both I-395 and I-290.


IMO I-395 should take over I-190 and go from East Lyme to Leominster as one number.

[kurumi]

There's some good background in a May 1983 letter from the CT highway commissioner to AASHTO:

Some previous correspondence has referred to the possibility of this Route being designated as Interstate 290; however, the State of Massachusetts feels that such a number would be misleading since it indicates a closed loop off I-90 under AASHTO guidelines. Although the proposed Interstate connects two major Interstate routes, FHWA officials in Washington were not receptive to a two digit number being used when the two states first approached them about designating route 52 as an Interstate highway. I-99 may be the only available two digit number which substantially meets AASHTO guidelines, but its use would require renumbering Connecticut 99 which traverses six towns in this state and is of considerable length. Connecticut would not accept this number. While I-395 would normally describe a spur connecting with I-95, in balance it appears to be the best choice of the available numbers.

* MA: extending I-290 that far south dilutes the meaning of the number. (agreed)
* FHWA: should be a 3di instead of 2di (but AASHTO handles numbering)
* AASHTO: I-99 might be OK (that would have been cool. CT 99 mainly goes through 3 towns (Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield) and could have been a good sacrifice). Although: was the I-99 number more of a CT/MA notion rather than something AASHTO offered?

[jp the roadgeek]

*contiguous
290 came first well before 395 was finalized, let alone constructed. While they are functionally different, there is a fair amount of traffic continuing from one to the other (since it's a good way south from the Wista area). I wouldn't call it all 290 and I wouldn't call it all 395, though. I-695 maybe (CT and MA do not have one of those) since it's a loop from 95 to 495.

Only thing it would require is for CT to renumber the CT Turnpike stub, as it is currently SR 695. 

[The Ghostbuster]

If Interstate 395/290 were one number, the 3di would be 86.76 miles long. Not the longest 3di, but a lengthly one at that. I would have prefered 395 to have been numbered 695 or 895, since the routes that would have bore those numbers were canceled by that point. However, the 395 designation was chosen to replace the CT/MA 52 designation, so that is the number it will always be.

[Rothman]

* MA: extending I-290 that far south dilutes the meaning of the number. (agreed)

CT: Extending I-395 that far north dilutes the meaning of the number.

[RobbieL2415]

395 makes me believe that it's meant to be an outer bypass of Providence, which in reality it very much isn't.

I'm in the minority in believing that it should have always stayed CT/MA 52.

[hotdogPi]

395 makes me believe that it's meant to be an outer bypass of Providence, which in reality it very much isn't.

I'm in the minority in believing that it should have always stayed CT/MA 52.

If it was meant as an outer bypass of Providence, it would have an even first digit.

[shadyjay]

The combination of 395/290/495 makes for a pseudo-bypass of Providence and Boston.  My parents always took that way to get from CT to NH and Maine.  Its still the quickest way to get there from the shoreline, no doubt.  Plus you get a good 40 miles of I-395 in CT which very rarely (if ever) is congested. 

[SectorZ]

The combination of 395/290/495 makes for a pseudo-bypass of Providence and Boston.  My parents always took that way to get from CT to NH and Maine.  Its still the quickest way to get there from the shoreline, no doubt.  Plus you get a good 40 miles of I-395 in CT which very rarely (if ever) is congested.

As someone who lives two miles from 495, I can't believe the percentage of out-of-state plates on weekends in the summer. I wish the feds would pitch in something to get it widened to 8 lanes from 90 to 95 in Salisbury, but I don't think that will ever happen.

[Ted$8roadFan]

The combination of 395/290/495 makes for a pseudo-bypass of Providence and Boston.  My parents always took that way to get from CT to NH and Maine.  Its still the quickest way to get there from the shoreline, no doubt.  Plus you get a good 40 miles of I-395 in CT which very rarely (if ever) is congested.

As someone who lives two miles from 495, I can't believe the percentage of out-of-state plates on weekends in the summer. I wish the feds would pitch in something to get it widened to 8 lanes from 90 to 95 in Salisbury, but I don't think that will ever happen.

The out-of-state plates are all those heading to NH/Maine or The Cape and Islands. While 495 won't be widened in my lifetime, the state could make things better by reconstructing some interchanges (as they will for the Mass. Pike Old Exit 11A), and especially by improving accel./decel. lanes on most other interchanges.

[SectorZ]

The combination of 395/290/495 makes for a pseudo-bypass of Providence and Boston.  My parents always took that way to get from CT to NH and Maine.  Its still the quickest way to get there from the shoreline, no doubt.  Plus you get a good 40 miles of I-395 in CT which very rarely (if ever) is congested.

As someone who lives two miles from 495, I can't believe the percentage of out-of-state plates on weekends in the summer. I wish the feds would pitch in something to get it widened to 8 lanes from 90 to 95 in Salisbury, but I don't think that will ever happen.

The out-of-state plates are all those heading to NH/Maine or The Cape and Islands. While 495 won't be widened in my lifetime, the state could make things better by reconstructing some interchanges (as they will for the Mass. Pike Old Exit 11A), and especially by improving accel./decel. lanes on most other interchanges.

That's my point, it's just a pass-through for people getting to other states. It is as, if not important, than many mainline interstate stretches.

[webny99]

The combination of 395/290/495 makes for a pseudo-bypass of Providence and Boston.  My parents always took that way to get from CT to NH and Maine.  Its still the quickest way to get there from the shoreline, no doubt.  Plus you get a good 40 miles of I-395 in CT which very rarely (if ever) is congested.

As someone who lives two miles from 495, I can't believe the percentage of out-of-state plates on weekends in the summer. I wish the feds would pitch in something to get it widened to 8 lanes from 90 to 95 in Salisbury, but I don't think that will ever happen.

The out-of-state plates are all those heading to NH/Maine or The Cape and Islands. While 495 won't be widened in my lifetime, the state could make things better by reconstructing some interchanges (as they will for the Mass. Pike Old Exit 11A), and especially by improving accel./decel. lanes on most other interchanges.

That's my point, it's just a pass-through for people getting to other states. It is as, if not important, than many mainline interstate stretches.

Definitely agreed, and I'm a case in point: I used the entirety of I-495 last summer on separate trips to Maine and Cape Cod.

However, as for widening, I think MA's #1 priority should be the Mass Pike between Worcester and the I-84/I-90 split at Sturbridge. That stretch desperately needs 8 lanes, and that was only confirmed for me last weekend when it was still a slog at 8PM. You get two trucks side by side and it's game over with only one passing lane.

[Ted$8roadFan]

The entire Mass. Pike from Exit 9 (78) to 14 (123) needs to be widened, tho the 290 to 84 section is really bad.

[bluecountry]

* MA: extending I-290 that far south dilutes the meaning of the number. (agreed)

CT: Extending I-395 that far north dilutes the meaning of the number.

It makes no sense to have one route terminate at another route's beginning when they run on the same line.
I agree it should be I-695 or even better given the length, I-97/99...if not I-93...with current I-93 being I-97/99.
So dumb that I-97/99 are where they are.

[bluecountry]

The entire Mass. Pike from Exit 9 (78) to 14 (123) needs to be widened, tho the 290 to 84 section is really bad.

I've asked before, what the ADT is on the Mass Pike, I am curious the volume from 84 to 290/495 then 128?

[Rothman]

The entire Mass. Pike from Exit 9 (78) to 14 (123) needs to be widened, tho the 290 to 84 section is really bad.

I've asked before, what the ADT is on the Mass Pike, I am curious the volume from 84 to 290/495 then 128?

Perhaps asking the respective DOTs would be more effective.

[bluecountry]

Nobody has those figures or knows where to get?

[odditude]

Nobody has those figures or knows where to get?

Perhaps asking the respective DOTs would be more effective.

pretty sure this qualifies as "where to get"

[Ted$8roadFan]

Here's a place to start.

https://www.mass.gov/traffic-volume-and-classification-in-massachusetts

[PurdueBill]

* MA: extending I-290 that far south dilutes the meaning of the number. (agreed)

CT: Extending I-395 that far north dilutes the meaning of the number.

It makes no sense to have one route terminate at another route's beginning when they run on the same line.
I agree it should be I-695 or even better given the length, I-97/99...if not I-93...with current I-93 being I-97/99.
So dumb that I-97/99 are where they are.

99 being assigned thanks to Bud Shuster was and is infuriating.
97 at least kinda fits the grid and serves a state capital.
With 97 and 99 taken, how about I-101 for 395/290? 

(190 being orphaned from another x90 is bothersome if 290 were renumbered. Would it need to become an x95? Probably not necessarily, but it would be more consistent--if they are that worried about 290 vs. 295, then they should be worried about an orphan x90 too.)