Massachusetts

[Ted$8roadFan]

Where is the official end ( southern terminus) of US 3?


The Boston University Bridge or Harvard Bridge?

Not surprisingly, there's a conflict between Internet sources.  Google Maps says it's the BU bridge, whereas Wikipedia states it;s actually at the Longfellow Bridge. It's probably somewhere in between. The Commonwealth itself isn't clear, at least from the signage on Memorial Drive.

According to the MassDOT GIS Route Log, it ends (and MA 3 begins) at the Harvard Bridge intersection on Memorial Drive.

Check the logs here
https://gis.massdot.state.ma.us/mrla/

SM-A515U

Now if only the signage would reflect that.......

[Ted$8roadFan]

I don't even think MA 2 is even well signed as it does use the BU Bridge and end at some place in Boston.

That's the confusing part, is signage in Boston is terrible.

The signage on Memorial/Storrow Drive/Soldiers Field Road is lackluster in general. For a long time, there were still signs for US 1 on Storrow long after it had been rerouted to I-93.

[roadman65]

I remember in 2003 the left exit on Storrow for Fenway and Kenmore still had US 1 signed. I thought that was very odd considering how long ago at the time that US 1 was moved to I-93.

[SectorZ]

I remember in 2003 the left exit on Storrow for Fenway and Kenmore still had US 1 signed. I thought that was very odd considering how long ago at the time that US 1 was moved to I-93.

That signage remained into the 2010's as well. GSV goes back to 2013 and the new signage is there, but I know that signage was pretty new at that point.

[5foot14]

I don't even think MA 2 is even well signed as it does use the BU Bridge and end at some place in Boston.

That's the confusing part, is signage in Boston is terrible.

The signage on Memorial/Storrow Drive/Soldiers Field Road is lackluster in general. For a long time, there were still signs for US 1 on Storrow long after it had been rerouted to I-93.

That's what happens when you have a non-roadway agency maintaining a roadway...

SM-A515U

[Ted$8roadFan]

I don't even think MA 2 is even well signed as it does use the BU Bridge and end at some place in Boston.

That's the confusing part, is signage in Boston is terrible.

The signage on Memorial/Storrow Drive/Soldiers Field Road is lackluster in general. For a long time, there were still signs for US 1 on Storrow long after it had been rerouted to I-93.

That's what happens when you have a non-roadway agency maintaining a roadway...

SM-A515U

Yes, the MDC/DCR.

[roadman65]

Most signs in Boston use tiny shields an either N-S or E-W next to them with either the control city or street name with it.

I am though surprised that Fenway is used over Park Drive on Storrow Drive for the old US 1 exit.  Being Fenway is one way with Park Drive being it's SB counterpart, it should be used over that.

[SectorZ]

Discussing the old US 1 signage along Storrow Dr, last night I realized there is new signage approaching Storrow Dr still referencing US 1

https://goo.gl/maps/LofsX7CD4vMBpEYt9

[bob7374]

Discussing the old US 1 signage along Storrow Dr, last night I realized there is new signage approaching Storrow Dr still referencing US 1

https://goo.gl/maps/LofsX7CD4vMBpEYt9

At least going the other way there is no reference to US 1 for Park Drive. I did find another signing problem in the area. This is on Commonwealth Ave at the Charlesgate intersection heading east, notice the East MA 2 trailblazer? The problem is you are already on MA 2 East, which goes straight. I'm assuming the directional banner was meant to say West:
https://goo.gl/maps/X6D69ZmazfwdHAMaA

Hopefully someone has notice since the image was taken last September. There is no corresponding trailblazer at Comm. Ave. after you turn (surprise). At least this new paddle sign on Beacon Street for Storrow Drive has no reference to US 1:
https://goo.gl/maps/NC3QUeYm3kWgykWn8

[PurdueBill]

Discussing the old US 1 signage along Storrow Dr, last night I realized there is new signage approaching Storrow Dr still referencing US 1

https://goo.gl/maps/LofsX7CD4vMBpEYt9

Those 2020 replacements of 1981 signs (the new ones have the date on the back; the old on the face) are faithful carbon copies.  If only they would consider revising the signs to reflect reality instead of just carbon-copying them every 39 years!

[Ted$8roadFan]

Discussing the old US 1 signage along Storrow Dr, last night I realized there is new signage approaching Storrow Dr still referencing US 1

https://goo.gl/maps/LofsX7CD4vMBpEYt9

Those 2020 replacements of 1981 signs (the new ones have the date on the back; the old on the face) are faithful carbon copies.  If only they would consider revising the signs to reflect reality instead of just carbon-copying them every 39 years!

It makes sense to someone deep within the DCR bureaucracy who probably last read a map in 1981, or a map from 1981.

[storm2k]

Discussing the old US 1 signage along Storrow Dr, last night I realized there is new signage approaching Storrow Dr still referencing US 1

https://goo.gl/maps/LofsX7CD4vMBpEYt9

Those 2020 replacements of 1981 signs (the new ones have the date on the back; the old on the face) are faithful carbon copies.  If only they would consider revising the signs to reflect reality instead of just carbon-copying them every 39 years!

For better or worse, replace in kind signage contracts are highly common amongst a lot of agencies. I'm sure DCR is no different.

[bob7374]

Discussing the old US 1 signage along Storrow Dr, last night I realized there is new signage approaching Storrow Dr still referencing US 1

https://goo.gl/maps/LofsX7CD4vMBpEYt9

Not to mention the ones on Storrow Drive East for the Fenway exit:
https://goo.gl/maps/KbMPuGvzdFk9nbYk8

At least going the other way there is no reference to US 1 for Park Drive. I did find another signing problem in the area. This is on Commonwealth Ave at the Charlesgate intersection heading east, notice the East MA 2 trailblazer? The problem is you are already on MA 2 East, which goes straight. I'm assuming the directional banner was meant to say West:
https://goo.gl/maps/X6D69ZmazfwdHAMaA

Hopefully someone has notice since the image was taken last September. There is no corresponding trailblazer at Comm. Ave. after you turn (surprise). At least this new paddle sign on Beacon Street for Storrow Drive has no reference to US 1:
https://goo.gl/maps/NC3QUeYm3kWgykWn8

Route signage along Memorial Drive is almost non-existent approaching and east of the BU Bridge. They at least have this 1 sign that references MA 2A East approaching Mass. Ave heading east, but no mention at the split of ramps itself or of the upcoming end of US 3 and beginning of MA 3: https://goo.gl/maps/YFJLxDtADikZF7QZ7 (Notice how even Google Maps is confused, labelling the road as MA 3). Heading west approaching the BU bridge, you do get a mention of MA 2 West, but nothing about MA 2 East or US 3 North: https://goo.gl/maps/BZC7Uh4yhWKNbxV87

[kramie13]

I primarily work remotely but I usually commute once a week to my work office, usually on Tuesdays.  My commute has me traveling up I-495 west of Boston.  For weeks my drive into Boston was a breeze, but since mid-October, I've been regularly hitting traffic jams NOT caused by an accident, usually in Hopkinton and Westborough.

In the mornings around 7:30 AM, I find myself hitting the brakes between Exit 50 and Exit 54, and this continues up until I pass the Mass Pike.  In the evenings around 5:30 PM, I find myself hitting the brakes around the Rte. 9 exit, and this continues until about halfway between the Mass Pike and Exit 54.

What's so bewitching about this part of 495 now?  And why does someone going south on I-495 in the mornings then north in the evenings never runs into traffic?  It's like they get to laugh at the people traveling in the opposite direction.

[Roadgeekteen]

That is a sign from above that US 1 should have never been put on I-93. That was an awful idea that makes no sense.

[SectorZ]

That is a sign from above that US 1 should have never been put on I-93. That was an awful idea that makes no sense.

I understand the rationale of not wanting trucks to follow it when a significant part is closed to trucks, even if it's possible no trucker ever did. Plenty of trucks do get Storrowed but I doubt due to 1 being it's prior designation.

1A should have been re-routed on it I feel, instead of 1A having a silent concurrency with the US 1 freeway stretch.

[Ted$8roadFan]

I primarily work remotely but I usually commute once a week to my work office, usually on Tuesdays.  My commute has me traveling up I-495 west of Boston.  For weeks my drive into Boston was a breeze, but since mid-October, I've been regularly hitting traffic jams NOT caused by an accident, usually in Hopkinton and Westborough.

In the mornings around 7:30 AM, I find myself hitting the brakes between Exit 50 and Exit 54, and this continues up until I pass the Mass Pike.  In the evenings around 5:30 PM, I find myself hitting the brakes around the Rte. 9 exit, and this continues until about halfway between the Mass Pike and Exit 54.

What's so bewitching about this part of 495 now?  And why does someone going south on I-495 in the mornings then north in the evenings never runs into traffic?  It's like they get to laugh at the people traveling in the opposite direction.

I'm guessing that there are a number of reasons.  The I-495/Mass Pike exit is becoming a choke point between exurban commuters and out-of-state travelers that causes slowdowns on 495. A lot of people use MA-9 to I-495 to the Pike as an alternate route between Worcester and Boston. Also, there are a lot of employers on I-495 in that area. All of the 495 interchanges in that area are underdesigned and need to be reformed to meet modern traffic demands.

[Roadgeekteen]

That is a sign from above that US 1 should have never been put on I-93. That was an awful idea that makes no sense.

I understand the rationale of not wanting trucks to follow it when a significant part is closed to trucks, even if it's possible no trucker ever did. Plenty of trucks do get Storrowed but I doubt due to 1 being it's prior designation.

1A should have been re-routed on it I feel, instead of 1A having a silent concurrency with the US 1 freeway stretch.

Nowadays trucks should use their own gps devices that avoids those roads. I just hate the awkward I-95 wrong way multiplex.

[SectorZ]

That is a sign from above that US 1 should have never been put on I-93. That was an awful idea that makes no sense.

I understand the rationale of not wanting trucks to follow it when a significant part is closed to trucks, even if it's possible no trucker ever did. Plenty of trucks do get Storrowed but I doubt due to 1 being it's prior designation.

1A should have been re-routed on it I feel, instead of 1A having a silent concurrency with the US 1 freeway stretch.

Nowadays trucks should use their own gps devices that avoids those roads. I just hate the awkward I-95 wrong way multiplex.

You would think, yet three times alone this year I've encountered a truck stuck under this bridge in Billerica, MA.

https://goo.gl/maps/HXDb7ZyGCzVuoh638

[Ted$8roadFan]

That is a sign from above that US 1 should have never been put on I-93. That was an awful idea that makes no sense.

I understand the rationale of not wanting trucks to follow it when a significant part is closed to trucks, even if it's possible no trucker ever did. Plenty of trucks do get Storrowed but I doubt due to 1 being it's prior designation.

1A should have been re-routed on it I feel, instead of 1A having a silent concurrency with the US 1 freeway stretch.

Nowadays trucks should use their own gps devices that avoids those roads. I just hate the awkward I-95 wrong way multiplex.

You would think, yet three times alone this year I've encountered a truck stuck under this bridge in Billerica, MA.

https://goo.gl/maps/HXDb7ZyGCzVuoh638

And, of course, there is the annual tradition in Boston known as Storrowing.

https://www.universalhub.com/storrowed

[ixnay]

On another thread someone recalled that I-93 north of Boston was opened early "reluctantly" in 1973 because of the gravel truck accident that damaged the Tobin Bridge.   Ninety-three was already finished.   What had been preventing it from being opened as soon as it was finished?

[SectorZ]

On another thread someone recalled that I-93 north of Boston was opened early "reluctantly" in 1973 because of the gravel truck accident that damaged the Tobin Bridge.   Ninety-three was already finished.   What had been preventing it from being opened as soon as it was finished?

The governor thought opening it was going to cause a massive traffic jam, though I still consider it was much more stupid to build something and just let it rot but that was the thought process back then.

[bob7374]

On another thread someone recalled that I-93 north of Boston was opened early "reluctantly" in 1973 because of the gravel truck accident that damaged the Tobin Bridge.   Ninety-three was already finished.   What had been preventing it from being opened as soon as it was finished?

The governor thought opening it was going to cause a massive traffic jam, though I still consider it was much more stupid to build something and just let it rot but that was the thought process back then.

From Steve Anderson's Boston Roads site (bostonroads.com):
"STALLED AT SOMERVILLE: In 1965, after two years of planning, MassDPW commissioner Francis Sargent announced plans to construct the final three miles of the Northern Expressway through Somerville and Charlestown. The $100 million elevated section was to provide connections to the Central Artery (I-93), the Northeast Expressway (US 1) and the unbuilt Inner Belt Expressway (I-695). He pledged at the time that the construction of I-93 would [not] require the razing of any homes. However, more than 300 families and 90 businesses had to be relocated for the highway.

With construction of I-93 well underway by 1970, and with political sentiment growing against new highways, Sargent - now Massachusetts Governor - declared a moratorium on building new highways within MA 128 (Yankee Division Highway). However, the governor made an exception for the final three miles of I-93. According to highway officials, since the final link was being built with 90 percent Federal funds, it appeared less expensive to complete the project for $4 million in state funds than to forfeit the contracts for $10 million.

The final three-mile section of I-93 was completed on February 1, 1973 to little fanfare, but plenty of derision. Initially, full use of the highway was delayed because of an apparent engineering oversight that created a potentially hazardous situation where drivers from right-hand lanes sought to make left-hand exits. Taking advantage of the situation, House Democrats in Massachusetts passed a resolution naming the link the "Honorable Francis W. Sargent Highway," in honor of the Republican governor who initiated the project.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Speaking of which, it was 50 years ago that Gov. Sargent scrapped the I-95 extension. 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiinJWXle37AhUshXIEHVrlDoEQxfQBKAB6BAgHEAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonglobe.com%2F2022%2F12%2F05%2Fmetro%2Ftransformative-decision-half-century-ago-scrap-i-95-extension-still-resonates-boston-today%2F&usg=AOvVaw3OQXV8XmYqHlwnNJLaP95A

[shadyjay]

Speaking of which, it was 50 years ago that Gov. Sargent scrapped the I-95 extension. 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiinJWXle37AhUshXIEHVrlDoEQxfQBKAB6BAgHEAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonglobe.com%2F2022%2F12%2F05%2Fmetro%2Ftransformative-decision-half-century-ago-scrap-i-95-extension-still-resonates-boston-today%2F&usg=AOvVaw3OQXV8XmYqHlwnNJLaP95A

I have to laugh at the "it would have brought more cars into the center of Boston" line a little bit.  So where do all those cars go today?  They take the Southeast Expressway, of course.  The only route into the city from the south.  If I-95 was built, it would have displaced some of that traffic from the SE Expy today no doubt.

What it did do was to displace the thru traffic from points south to go around.  How many drivers just stay on I-95 when there is a suitable bypass?  Would thru drivers have known to take 128 to get to NH-Maine and other points n/w of the hub?  Us "road enthusiasts" know that if we see an even "X-95", its a bypass, but how much of the public knows this? 

Regardless, one has to wonder how different traffic would be had these roads been built... maybe the "inner belt" wasn't needed, but I-95 through the city could've been useful.  I can think of a half dozen roads around Hartford, CT that if they were built, traffic would be more dispersed than it is today.