Massachusetts

[Rothman]

I saw then MA-116 bypass partially the town of Amherst and that bypass ended at MA-9. Did MASS Dot have some plans to extent that bypass once and being cancelled by Nimbys and/or lack of funds?

No.

IIRC, the MA-116 bypass was actually constructed before the anti-highway backlash of the late-1960s, I think even before UMass's massive expansion. So if MassDOT actually had expansion plans, they could have done so with impunity.

Meh.  It was built to try to get UMass traffic to quit clogging up University Drive and downtown Amherst by providing another way into campus.  Still mixed results on that one, especially with the parclo. 

[Ted$8roadFan]

I saw then MA-116 bypass partially the town of Amherst and that bypass ended at MA-9. Did MASS Dot have some plans to extent that bypass once and being cancelled by Nimbys and/or lack of funds?

No.

IIRC, the MA-116 bypass was actually constructed before the anti-highway backlash of the late-1960s, I think even before UMass's massive expansion. So if MassDOT actually had expansion plans, they could have done so with impunity.

Meh.  It was built to try to get UMass traffic to quit clogging up University Drive and downtown Amherst by providing another way into campus.  Still mixed results on that one, especially with the parclo. 

Indeed. As a UMass alum, I always found the 116 didn't really prevent congestion in and around Amherst and even on MA-9. Knowing the back roads in Hadley and Amherst were key to getting around, especially during moving days and big events.

[Rothman]

The 116?

But yeah, everyone knows the Rocky Hill route.

At least the Coolidge Bridge isn't the bottleneck it used to be and Route 9 has more lanes between it and Hadley Center.