Massachusetts

[jp the roadgeek]

Was looking at GSV to see how the tolls were collected at the I-90 and I-95 connection. I see that going EB from I-95 you paid cash on the ramp at a separate plaza  adjacent to the mainline east ticket terminus plaza.  However, I see that that the current Exits 123 A and 123B lie west of of the former eastern ticket plaza, so I assume sure that WB I-90 to I-95 had you obtain a ticket, then exit to surrender it similar to the Delaware Valley Interchange on the PA Turnpike from New Jersey where you got your ticket at the eastern plaza and then proceeded right to Exit 359 to pay your toll.

Unfortunately GSV from 2007 is no help there, but interesting enough I see some old grading near Park Road from Satellite imagery, so it suggests that the original WB ramp might of been elsewhere.

I just looked at the 2013 GSV.  The original interchange was a single ramp and had cash and EZPass lanes adjacent to the ticket barrier on the mainline, so there was no take/immediately surrender the ticket.

[roadman65]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Weston,+MA+02493/@42.3398402,-71.2730902,223m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e3848889e85687:0xd3d2228281df7282!8m2!3d42.3667625!4d-71.3031132

I also see that there is an asphalt area next to the ramp onto the WB Turnpike from I-95 as well.  It's highly noticeable in the above link, but I assume that was the original Turnpike Mainline and the former Exit 15 plaza was the East Terminus defaulting into a trumpet with Route 128 in the early sixties.


https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3391025,-71.265175,3a,43.7y,329.05h,91.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2YsKHeXznbEyGqwNhuprjQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Now I see it.  I was looking at the former ramp imagery which wasn't that good over time to show it.
https://goo.gl/maps/EZrqCQB7YRfFTveZ6 This must be the demolition of the former ramp then.

[kramie13]

but I assume that was the original Turnpike Mainline and the former Exit 15 plaza was the East Terminus defaulting into a trumpet with Route 128 in the early sixties.

Actually, the old Exit 14 plaza was the original East Terminus of the Mass. Pike.  Traffic getting on the turnpike from Rte. 128 would get a ticket, and the ticket had "Exit 14" written on it.  Traffic going west through the mainline toll plaza in this area would get an "Exit 15" ticket (and pay a higher toll upon exiting).  Conversely, traffic exiting the Pike EB onto I-95/Rte. 128 would pay the Exit 14 toll, but traffic continuing into Boston would pay the higher Exit 15 toll in the mainline plaza.

Thankfully electronic tolling and mile-based exits have cleaned up this mess.  You had 2 different exit numbers for the same highway which made no sense, now they're both exit 123.  You also have all electronic tolling so all traffic is now tolled at the gantry in Weston, and you pay the same amount there regardless of whether you got on at 128 or in Newton.

The electronic tolling system also eliminated the free ride between Rte. 16 and Newton Corner, but now there's no toll through parts of Worcester and Springfield.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Was looking at GSV to see how the tolls were collected at the I-90 and I-95 connection. I see that going EB from I-95 you paid cash on the ramp at a separate plaza  adjacent to the mainline east ticket terminus plaza.  However, I see that that the current Exits 123 A and 123B lie west of of the former eastern ticket plaza, so I assume sure that WB I-90 to I-95 had you obtain a ticket, then exit to surrender it similar to the Delaware Valley Interchange on the PA Turnpike from New Jersey where you got your ticket at the eastern plaza and then proceeded right to Exit 359 to pay your toll.

Unfortunately GSV from 2007 is no help there, but interesting enough I see some old grading near Park Road from Satellite imagery, so it suggests that the original WB ramp might of been elsewhere.

I just looked at the 2013 GSV.  The original interchange was a single ramp and had cash and EZPass lanes adjacent to the ticket barrier on the mainline, so there was no take/immediately surrender the ticket.

Prior to the toll plazas closing in 2016, I think drivers heading to I-95 from WB I-90 paid a cash toll instead of a ticket. The original ramp led to a horrible merge with the eastbound I-90 traffic heading to I-95. That has been rectified.

[roadman65]

What is the purpose of the WB UTurn at Exit 133? I see all guides WB read " U Turn To Boston"  underneath the control cities for Cambridge and such. Also why are trucks prohibited from using the u turn as white warning signs are at the actual u turn on the ramp?

[bjcolby50]

What is the purpose of the WB UTurn at Exit 133? I see all guides WB read "U Turn To Boston"  underneath the control cities for Cambridge and such. Also why are trucks prohibited from using the u turn as white warning signs are at the actual u turn on the ramp?

This is actually Exit 131, not 133.  Exit 133 is the eastbound exit for Back Bay and the Prudential Center.

If you're heading from the Airport and need to go to Back Bay, for example, you could get off at I-93 and weave through the streets of Back Bay and Chinatown to get there - if you know the city.  If you don't, you would likely get lost.  Also, there are no westbound exits at Back Bay, only westbound entrances (Arlington Street, Back Bay and Mass Ave), so the solution was to build a U-Turn near Brighton (Exit 131) to help drivers get to Back Bay. 

I think it's the height of the trucks and the length of the trailers that are the reason why trucks are banned from the U-Turn (except buses are allowed - this U-turn is most often used by the Logan Airport shuttles to return to Back Bay; since COVID, this shuttle has been suspended).

[MATraveler128]

Yes. Without the U turn, you would either have to get off at Exit 127 in Newton, or navigate down Soldiers Field Road, which becomes Storrow Drive. Because trucks aren’t allowed on Storrow Drive, the U turn is mainly used by trucks or just people who don’t want to get lost.

[SectorZ]

https://www.wcvb.com/article/wilmington-massachusetts-railroad-crossing-safety-gates-fail/39139822

I guess this could be Massachusetts and/or a mass transit failure thread.

Last month, the crossing of the Haverhill MBTA line at MA 62 in Wilmington failed to activate in a timely manner, and a train struck and killed a crossing driver. It happened after Keolis (the company that maintains the lines) did work on the crossing and failed to return the crossing to its normal operating mode.

Fast forward a month, and in the middle of the night the crossing activates and stays stuck on. Keolis comes and fixes it, and six hours later it repeats the process of not activating promptly when a train crossed.

[roadman65]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

[Rothman]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

So much for access to downtown Worcester?  I-290 is hardly just a pass-through route.

[MATraveler128]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

So much for access to downtown Worcester?  I-290 is hardly just a pass-through route.

I-290 is 20 miles long. There's usually a very heavy amount of long distance and commuter traffic using it, especially during holiday weekends. How is that just a ramp?

[roadman65]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

So much for access to downtown Worcester?  I-290 is hardly just a pass-through route.

I-290 is 20 miles long. There's usually a very heavy amount of long distance and commuter traffic using it, especially during holiday weekends. How is that just a ramp?

Didn't say it was a ramp.  I said it was a glorified ramp meaning it connects two major routes just as a simple normal ramp would.

Also to Rothman's response, I did not say it was solely a through route either.  Of course it would be localized too, but that doesn't mean it can't be used otherwise.

A few weeks ago in another post someone posted that I-290 was something (I can't remember what) but another responded to the fact that the interstate does serve long distance needs. I was inspired by that post.  When I get home later from work and have the time I will look up when and where and what was said.

[Alps]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

So much for access to downtown Worcester?  I-290 is hardly just a pass-through route.

I-290 is 20 miles long. There's usually a very heavy amount of long distance and commuter traffic using it, especially during holiday weekends. How is that just a ramp?

Didn't say it was a ramp.  I said it was a glorified ramp meaning it connects two major routes just as a simple normal ramp would.

Also to Rothman's response, I did not say it was solely a through route either.  Of course it would be localized too, but that doesn't mean it can't be used otherwise.

A few weeks ago in another post someone posted that I-290 was something (I can't remember what) but another responded to the fact that the interstate does serve long distance needs. I was inspired by that post.  When I get home later from work and have the time I will look up when and where and what was said.

It's a loop not a ramp

[Rothman]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

So much for access to downtown Worcester?  I-290 is hardly just a pass-through route.

I-290 is 20 miles long. There's usually a very heavy amount of long distance and commuter traffic using it, especially during holiday weekends. How is that just a ramp?

Didn't say it was a ramp.  I said it was a glorified ramp meaning it connects two major routes just as a simple normal ramp would.

Also to Rothman's response, I did not say it was solely a through route either.  Of course it would be localized too, but that doesn't mean it can't be used otherwise.

A few weeks ago in another post someone posted that I-290 was something (I can't remember what) but another responded to the fact that the interstate does serve long distance needs. I was inspired by that post.  When I get home later from work and have the time I will look up when and where and what was said.

"[You] have become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal..."

[Old Dominionite]

When I was growing up in CT in the 80s and taking annual family trips to Bar Harbor, my family always took the Mass. Pike to 495. We never took 290 through Worcester.

[Alps]

When I was growing up in CT in the 80s and taking annual family trips to Bar Harbor, my family always took the Mass. Pike to 495. We never took 290 through Worcester.

I use I-290 because I'm cheap (:

[cl94]

The Google-recommended route from the 395 corridor in Connecticut (or anywhere west of Worcester, really) to 495 north of Boston...is 290. Not only is it 5 miles shorter, you avoid the toll and the mess known as the 90/495 interchange.

[PHLBOS]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

FWIW, an earlier-planned routing of I-290 had the eastern end arc south back to I-90 near where I-495 would ultimately be built.  The below is from a scan of an early-60s vintage Rand McNally (RMN) map


Note how RMN jumped the gun, so to speak by several decades with showing MA 146 as an expressway with an interchange with I-90.

[roadman65]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

FWIW, an earlier-planned routing of I-290 had the eastern end arc south back to I-90 near where I-495 would ultimately be built.  The below is from a scan of an early-60s vintage Rand McNally (RMN) map


Note how RMN jumped the gun, so to speak by several decades with showing MA 146 as an expressway with an interchange with I-90.

Isn't Marlboro supposed to be Marlborough?

[Alps]

I was noticing how I-290 is basically a glorified ramp between I-90 and I-495. In addition to it being a local freeway I can see it gets people from Springfield and Upstate NY to the NH SeaCoast and all points in ME.

Even in the old map planning days ( when you had to send away for planned routes as who once heard of GPS once upon a time) I remember my dad sent away to Exxon for a trip from Clark, NJ to Bar Harbor, ME, the routing consultant sent us up the GSP, to I-287 East, then I-684 North, to I-84 East.  Then from Sturbridge it sent us I-90 East to I-290 before sending us the rest of the way to I-495 to I-95 and US 1.

It makes sense and I'm sure if it weren't there problems would have occurred at the I-90 and I-495 exchange especially in the ticket toll days.

FWIW, an earlier-planned routing of I-290 had the eastern end arc south back to I-90 near where I-495 would ultimately be built.  The below is from a scan of an early-60s vintage Rand McNally (RMN) map


Note how RMN jumped the gun, so to speak by several decades with showing MA 146 as an expressway with an interchange with I-90.

All that and no jumping the gun on freeways near or inside 128.

[empirestate]

Isn't Marlboro supposed to be Marlborough?

As I recall, the full-length spelling was officialized relatively recently. Before then, it was considered always acceptable to abbreviate "-borough" to "-boro". (See also Pittsburg, PA.)

[roadman65]

Interesting to see I-190 isn't proposed on here either.

[MATraveler128]

Interesting to see I-190 isn't proposed on here either.

I-190 wasn't built until 1983 due to environmental concerns. Interesting to note also that it was once part of MA 52 as was I-395.

[kernals12]

Imagine what the Pike/495/290 interchange would've looked like considering it would've needed to accommodate the Pike's toll booths.

[roadman]

Isn't Marlboro supposed to be Marlborough?

As I recall, the full-length spelling was officialized relatively recently. Before then, it was considered always acceptable to abbreviate "-borough" to "-boro". (See also Pittsburg, PA.)

The "-boro" abbreviation has long been used on highway signs in Massachusetts, with I-90/MassPike being the last holdout prior to the sign replacements of 2018-2019.  It makes sense that a road atlas would also use those abbreviations on their maps.