Massachusetts milepost exit numbering conversion contract

[bob7374]

Why start with MA 140? I would have started with Interstates 91, 84 and 395/290.

MA 24 and MA 140 share an exit 12 in Taunton, so to eliminate that confusion, MA 140 will have their numbers changed first (MA 140's Exit 12 will be Exit 20, whereas MA 24's Exit 12 will become Exit 17).

On a related note, MassDOT advertised a couple weeks ago a project that will replace the MA 24 bridge over MA 140. The description of the project includes traffic signal improvements, so apparently the project will not upgrade the current MA 140 'exits' to MA 24.

The scope of work of the project from Addenda 2 of the contract documents:
"Improvements proposed as part of the Project include:
- New Route 24 Southbound Ramp to Route 140 Northbound/Industrial Drive (Exit 12B);
- Widening of Route 24 to three travel lanes in each travel direction, plus acceleration and
deceleration lanes at interchange ramps;
- Reconstruction of interchange ramps between Routes 24 and 140, including two lane
entrance ramps from Route 140;
- Replacement of three bridges: T-01-045 (Rt 24 over MBTA / Keolis Commuter Rail), T01-046 (Rt 24 over Rt 140) and T-01-047 (Rt 24 over Railroad) and the extension of the
Cotley River Culvert (T-01-054).
- New bypass lane on Route 140 southbound, between the Route 24 northbound and
southbound ramps;
- Widening of Route 140 to accommodate additional turning lanes and the bypass lane.

Notice the scope of project list, the project name, nor the sign plans recognize the upcoming changes in MA 24 exit numbers:
"Federal Aid Project Nos. HIP(BR)-003S(398), HIP(NI)-003S(398),
HPP-003S(398), HPP1-003S(398) & NHP(BR-ON)-003S(398)
3 Bridge Replacements and Related Work (Including Signals & Wall Structures) along a
Section of Route 24 Br. Nos. T-01-045 & T-01-047 (Steel) and Br. No. T-01-046 (Steel) at
Interchange 12, over Route 140"

The project documents can be found at: https://www.commbuys.com/bso/external/bidDetail.sdo?docId=BD-21-1030-0H100-0H002-53893&external=true&parentUrl=bid

[bob7374]

I drove part of I-195 East and all on I-195 West to document the new exit numbers on Sunday. All the numbers had been changed except those at the eastern end for I-495/MA 25 in Wareham.

The photos from the trip are at:
http://malmeroads.net/mass21c/neexitrenumbering.html#photos

It appears the work to renumber MA 25 is complete as of last night. Not surprising since there's only 2 exits to change (and perhaps the work to complete I-195).

[bob7374]

MassDOT's Exit renumbering page has been revised with new dates for the next two scheduled routes:
MA 25 November 15
MA 3 November 17

and their Twitter account has new information about the next route to be scheduled in December:
"ADVISORY: Sign installations scheduled to begin Sunday, Dec. 6 on Route 6 on Cape Cod for the Statewide Exit Renumbering Project. The construction duration is approximately two weeks, ending in mid-December."

Based on comments to the post it appears some people on the Cape still hadn't heard about the US exit renumbering.

[abqtraveler]

MassDOT's Exit renumbering page has been revised with new dates for the next two scheduled routes:
MA 25 November 15
MA 3 November 17

and their Twitter account has new information about the next route to be scheduled in December:
"ADVISORY: Sign installations scheduled to begin Sunday, Dec. 6 on Route 6 on Cape Cod for the Statewide Exit Renumbering Project. The construction duration is approximately two weeks, ending in mid-December."

Based on comments to the post it appears some people on the Cape still hadn't heard about the US exit renumbering.

Will US-3's exit number's be a continuation of MA-3's numbering, given that US-3 mileage is a continuation of MA-3 mileage?

[hotdogPi]

MassDOT's Exit renumbering page has been revised with new dates for the next two scheduled routes:
MA 25 November 15
MA 3 November 17

and their Twitter account has new information about the next route to be scheduled in December:
"ADVISORY: Sign installations scheduled to begin Sunday, Dec. 6 on Route 6 on Cape Cod for the Statewide Exit Renumbering Project. The construction duration is approximately two weeks, ending in mid-December."

Based on comments to the post it appears some people on the Cape still hadn't heard about the US exit renumbering.

Will US-3's exit number's be a continuation of MA-3's numbering, given that US-3 mileage is a continuation of MA-3 mileage?

It will be the same as the mile markers, so the numbers won't reset, but they will also skip some numbers to represent the section between Braintree and Burlington.

[bob7374]

MassDOT is holding another virtual public meeting about the Exit Renumbering Project, this one covering the western contract and the Mass Pike:
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is announcing an upcoming virtual Public Information Meeting for MassDOT's Statewide Exit Renumbering Project on Tuesday, December 1 from 6:30 p.m., to 7:30 p.m. This project is converting all existing exit numbers on freeways to a milepost-based numbering system, per Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements.

The public meeting will cover information about the project and the upcoming construction schedule. Members of the project team will be available to answer questions. The meeting link is available through registration at this site.

Construction began on this project in mid-October of this year and is anticipated to end in the Summer of 2021. This is a statewide project; however, this public meeting will be focused on the scope and schedule of the following corridor:
Interstate 90
As well as:
Route 2
Route 146
Interstate 84
Interstate 91
Interstate 190
Interstate 290
Interstate 395
Interstate 495

Meanwhile the eastern project contractors are supposed to start renumbering exits along MA 3 tonight, if they have completed work on MA 25, which was to start Sunday but it was stormy that night, so it may have been postponed.

[yakra]

Eastbound, can we confirm the new exits 15, 25 & 27 are signed?

[bob7374]

Received an email from MassDOT this morning, apparently renumbering of MA 3 exits is now to begin next week:
"The following corridor will begin conversion in approximately a week:   
Corridor: Route 3
Approximate start date: Nov. 30
Approximate construction duration: 3 weeks
Location: Braintree to Bourne
Hours of operation: 8:00 PM - 5:00 AM"

It appears, based on Waze reports, that the last exit on I-195 East at I-495/MA 25 was renumbered last night. (Reports indicated alternative left and right lane closures on I-195 East, necessary since tabs on both sides of the diagrammatic signs needed to be changed) starting before the MA 28 exit and moving east. I am presuming then that work on MA 25, to be completed before MA 3, will be done over the next 2 nights before Thanksgiving. No word yet on a new date for US 6 which was supposed to start on Dec. 6. Perhaps they will wait until after the start of 2021.

Update:The MassDOT New Exits site was updated after I originally posted this. It now says I-195 is complete, and as I thought, the MA 25 work is to start (and maybe conclude, since there are only 2 exits) tonight. Word came out later about the rescheduling of US 6. See the next post.

[fwydriver405]

I got this email about Route 6 just now:

Exit numbering conversion will begin on Route 6 on December 13, 2020. The construction duration is approximately two weeks. Work will typically be completed during the overnight hours. Construction details are as follows:
Corridor: Route 6
Location:
Eastbound construction: Beginning in Bourne and ending in Orleans
Westbound construction: Beginning in Orleans and ending in Bourne
Start date: Dec. 13
Hours of operation: 8:00 PM - 5:00 AM

[The Ghostbuster]

They're doing US 6 now? I thought US 6 was planned to be converted last since Cape Coders bitched about the new numbers, both when they were first proposed, and when the renumbering hiatus ended. I actually fully support not renumbering US 6 last, not as a way to "own" the Cape Coders, but to show them that converting the exits from 1-12 to 55-89 will not bring on the apocalypse.

[DJ Particle]

I actually fully support not renumbering US 6 last, not as a way to "own" the Cape Codders, but to show them that converting the exits from 1-12 to 55-89 will not bring on the apocalypse.

I, however, fully support doing it to "own" the Codders!   

[SectorZ]

They're doing US 6 now? I thought US 6 was planned to be converted last since Cape Coders bitched about the new numbers, both when they were first proposed, and when the renumbering hiatus ended. I actually fully support not renumbering US 6 last, not as a way to "own" the Cape Coders, but to show them that converting the exits from 1-12 to 55-89 will not bring on the apocalypse.

I think they realized it would be smarter to do it not during tourist season.

[bob7374]

Took a road trip yesterday to check out the completed exit renumbering at the east end of I-195 and along MA 25:


And the last newly numbered exit sign on MA 25 East:


For those who can't see the images, and for the rest of the photos from yesterday, they are available at:
http://malmeroads.net/mass21c/neexitrenumbering.html#photos

[bob7374]

Just attended MassDOT's virtual public meeting about the upcoming work on exit renumbering contracts 1 (Western MA) and 3 (Mass Pike). The renumbering of the Mass Pike is to start Dec. 13, the same day as renumbering is to begin on US 6. Work is to start in Boston and move west and they are allowing for it to take 4 weeks to complete. Work on the first contract is to start last, after the Pike is completed. They would not provide any information as to the first route to be renumbered or date, only that that the contractor (Liddell Bros.) is working hard to produce the overlays needed to begin renumbering. They will look at how hard a winter it is to decide whether work should start in January or later in the winter, not wanting to complete only a part of a route then be shut down for a long time. Work is still scheduled to be completed next summer. Work on MA 3 under the second contract was supposed to start last night but was postponed due to the weather, the contractors are prepared to start work at 8PM tonight (and I will check out any renumbering that has taken place tomorrow).

Not too many questions. One was asked about why weren't exit numbers added to the ends of several routes such as I-84 in Sturbridge, I-190 at I-290, and I-90 in East Boston. The MassDOT response was they decided not to add numbers where there historically have not been any. Adding exit numbers for the Mass Pike on I-84 was complicated by the additional wind load caused by the new exit tabs on the large arrow-per-lane signs that would exceed design specs, though IMO you could post the exit numbers elsewhere if that was truly a problem. Not having consistent signing practices at the end of Interstates within a state can be problematic too. Another person asked whether the FHWA could reverse their policy against sequential numbering and the need for the state to continue with exit renumbering, officials did not see this happening.

[bob7374]

The contractors started renumbering MA 3 last night. The first 3 exits in Braintree were renumbered southbound starting with the signs along I-93/US 1 North approaching the MA 3 exit:


I had assumed the MA project would be like RI's in that the exit renumbering would happen exit by exit on both directions of the route east to west or north to south, but it appears, both from the observations of MA 3 and news articles I've seen about renumbering of US 6 ("Exit numbering conversion will begin on the eastbound side of the highway in Bourne and proceed to Orleans before work shifts to the westbound side.") and I-90 ("Work is scheduled to begin in Boston on Dec. 13 and proceed westbound for about two weeks before the crews turn around and replace the eastbound signs.") it seems that only exits on one direction will be changed before moving to the next. Is this way going to be more or less confusing to drivers of the route undergoing renumbering?

The remaining photos from MA 3 are at:
http://malmeroads.net/mass21c/neexitrenumbering.html#photos

[kramie13]

It's nice to see the exit renumbering come closer to Boston now, but I have some questions:

-Why are old exits 19-18 now exits 42-41 instead of exits 42B-A?  The exits in question share a common off ramp from Rte. 3 south, so they don't need different whole numbers.
-As a result of this, old exit 17 is exit 40 when it should be exit 41.  Nobody's perfect, but, come on!

[Ben114]

Why are old exits 19-18 now exits 42-41 instead of exits 42B-A?  The exits in question share a common off ramp from Rte. 3 south, so they don't need different whole numbers.

As far as I know, MassDOT did not want to add extra suffixes to previously unsuffixed exits, so its 42 and 41 now because it was 19 and 18 before.

As a result of this, old exit 17 is exit 40 when it should be exit 41.  Nobody's perfect, but, come on!

41 was already taken by (old) exit 18, so 40 was the most logical choice. If MassDOT chose to renumber 19-18 and 42B-A, 17 would probably be 41.

[bob7374]

Former exits 16 to 14 were renumbered last night, so far 13 and 12 tonight. If they get to 11 they will be halfway done on the southbound side. Here's one of the photos I got today:


The rest are at: http://malmeroads.net/mass21c/neexitrenumbering.html#photos

[spooky]

Just navigated through 100+ comments on my town's Facebook forum about why Exit 12 is now Exit 27, as you might guess the average doofus isn't in favor.

[abqtraveler]

Just navigated through 100+ comments on my town's Facebook forum about why Exit 12 is now Exit 27, as you might guess the average doofus isn't in favor.

Not surprising, given that New Englanders are naturally very resistant to change.

[The Ghostbuster]

Could you post a link to those Facebook forum comments, spooky? I would be interested to see what they say.

[bob7374]

Just navigated through 100+ comments on my town's Facebook forum about why Exit 12 is now Exit 27, as you might guess the average doofus isn't in favor.

Not surprising, given that New Englanders are naturally very resistant to change.

Here's one of the signs for the newly renumbered, former Exit 12:


Others on my exit renumbering site photo section:
http://malmeroads.net/mass21c/neexitrenumbering.html#photos

[yakra]

Has the 20A/B (NB) -> 43A/B (NB) renumbering taken place?

[bob7374]

Has the 20A/B (NB) -> 43A/B (NB) renumbering taken place?

That will presumably be the last exit renumbered when the contractor completes the MA 3 exits heading north next week.
http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/massdot-highway/federally-required-statewide-exit-renumbering-starting-on-route-3-nb-from-bourne-to-braintree

[yakra]

Oh yes. They're just doing SB now. Doy!