Interstate 495 (Massachusetts)

Interstate 495 (Massachusetts)

Interstate 495 marker

Interstate 495
Route information
Length: 120.74 mi[1] (194.31 km)
Existed: 1957 – present
Major junctions
South end: I-195 / Route 25 in Wareham
 

US 44 in Middleborough
Route 24 in Bridgewater
I-95 in Foxborough
US 1 in Plainville
I-90 (Mass Pike) in Hopkinton
US 20 in Marlborough
I-290 in Hudson
Route 2 in Littleton
US 3 in Chelmsford

I-93 in Andover
North end: I-95 in Salisbury
Location
Counties: Plymouth, Bristol, Norfolk, Worcester, Middlesex, Essex
Highway system

Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

Massachusetts State Highway Routes

I-395 I-695

Interstate 495 (abbreviated I-495) is the designation of an Interstate Highway half-beltway in Massachusetts. It was the longest auxiliary Interstate Highway of its kind—measuring 120.74 miles (194.40 kilometers)—until 1996, when the PA Route 9 section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was redesignated as Interstate 476, making it about 11 miles (18 km) longer than I-495.[2][3][4] I-495 has its northern terminus at Interstate 95 in Salisbury. The highway, forming an arc approximately 30 miles (48 km) from Boston, intersects eight major radial expressways along its route: Interstate 93, U.S. Route 3, Route 2, Interstate 290, Interstate 90 (The Massachusetts Turnpike), Route 24 and Interstate 95 (twice). It has its southern terminus in Wareham, where Interstate 195 and Route 25 meet. Originally, the stretch from Route 24 to Interstate 195 was signed as Route 25; that status now only begins south of I-195.

I-495 is often regarded as the outermost boundary of the Greater Boston region: its northern segment parallels the border with New Hampshire, at one point coming as close as 400 feet; its southern end is just north of Cape Cod; west of I-495 is the Worcester area and Central Massachusetts. In a more restricted sense, The Yankee Division Highway (Route 128 and the first 6.5 miles (10.5 km) of Interstate 93), which is parallel to I-495 but closer to the city, is sometimes regarded as the outer boundary of Boston's immediate suburbs.

The stretch of 495 north and east of Route 2 until its terminus at Interstate 95 in Salisbury is also the main limited access highway connecting the communities of the more urbanized Merrimack Valley region, separate from its purpose as a beltway for Boston.

Contents

Route description

Interstate 495 begins as the direct continuation of Route 25 at the intersection with Interstate 195 in West Wareham. The junction includes the unusual transition of shrinking from the six-lane Route 25 to the four-lane interstate, due to the third lane of Route 25 joining to and from I-195. The road heads roughly northwest, passing through the towns of Rochester and Middleborough (where the road meets U.S. Route 44) as a four lane highway before entering Bristol County at Raynham. There, it becomes a six-lane highway just southeast of the Route 24 interchange (which is actually in neighboring Bridgewater).

The road continues northwest through Taunton and Norton before entering Mansfield, where there is a short exit lane concurrency with Route 140. Interstate 495 makes its southern junction with its parent route, Interstate 95 on the border between Mansfield in Bristol County and Foxborough in Norfolk County. The road continues through Plainville (where there is a junction with U.S. Route 1, a popular exit for those heading to Gillette Stadium) and Wrentham (where the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets lie beside the highway at Route 1A) before beginning to turn to a more northerly direction through Franklin and Bellingham.

Interstate 495 then begins to weave between far eastern Worcester County and western Middlesex County, passing through Milford in Worcester County, to Hopkinton in Middlesex County (where the junction with the Massachusetts Turnpike, or Interstate 90, is located). It then passes back into Worcester County a second time, going through Westborough (where the road meets Route 9) and Southborough. It then returns to Middlesex County briefly in the towns of Marlborough (where the road meets U.S. Route 20 and Interstate 290) and Hudson before making its final pass through Worcester County in the towns of Berlin, Bolton (where the road finally begins to turn northeasterly) and Harvard.

After weaving through the edge of Worcester County, the road finally re-enters Middlesex County, passing through Boxborough, Littleton (where there is an intersection with Route 2), Westford and Chelmsford. At the Chelmsford-Lowell line lies the intersection with U.S. Route 3 and the Lowell Connector (formerly Business Spur 495). The road continues through Lowell and Tewksbury before entering Essex County at Andover.

In Andover, the road has a junction with Interstate 93. It then enters the city of Lawrence, where the road turns due north, crossing the Shawsheen River into North Andover before crossing the Merrimack River at the O'Reilly Bridge back into Lawrence. It then heads into Methuen, where the road turns back to a northeasterly route after the junction with the Loop Connector (Rte. 213). The road heads into Haverhill, crossing the Merrimack twice more at a bend in the Bradford section of town. It passes north of downtown Haverhill, coming within 150 yards of the New Hampshire state line, the closest the road comes to leaving the state. Interstate 495 then passes through the towns of Merrimac and Amesbury before finally terminating as it merges with Interstate 95 in Salisbury, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of where that interstate enters New Hampshire.

Throughout its path, the road passes closely to several existing state highways. From Wareham through to the Middleborough Rotary, it parallels Route 28. For much of the stretch between Norton and Milford, the road is within a few miles of Route 140, with two junctions of that highway in Mansfield and Franklin. From Milford to Bolton, the road passes just west of Route 85. Much of the northern third of the route also roughly parallels Massachusetts Route 110.[5]

Possible Improvements

Some improvements expected to come to I-495 in the next few years include a project that will install fiber optic cable, traffic cameras & VMS Signs on I-495 from I-90 (Hopkinton) to I-93 (Andover). The new ITS system will help commuters and the state better understand the traffic congestion on I-495.

Exit list

County Location Mile[6] Exit # Destinations Notes
Plymouth Wareham 0.00 Route 25 east – Cape Cod
0.02 1 I-195 west – New Bedford, Providence, RI Mainline continues as Route 25
2.49 2 Route 58 – Carver, Plymouth Signed on overhead signs as Route 58 North; Route 58 South not marked on signs at end of either off-ramp, but actually ends just .45 miles (0.72 km) south at Route 28
Middleborough 7.60 3 MA Route 28.svg MA-28 – Rock Village, South Middleborough
12.07 4 MA Route 105.svg MA-105 – Middleborough Center, Lakeville
14.31 5 MA Route 18.svg MA-18 – NB: Bridgewater, Plymouth; SB: Lakeville, New Bedford Route 18 North to US 44 East
14.73 6 US 44 – Taunton, Middleborough, Plymouth, Providence, RI
Bridgewater 19.08 7 Route 24 – Boston, Fall River Split into 7A and 7B
Bristol Raynham 21.68 8 MA Route 138.svg MA-138 – Stoughton, Taunton
Taunton 24.51 9 Bay Street – Taunton, Easton
Norton 26.91 10 MA Route 123.svg MA-123 – Norton, East Mansfield, Easton To Route 140 South; main northbound access route to the Comcast Center
Mansfield 29.9 11 Route 140 south – Norton Partial interchange: SB exit/NB entrance only; main southbound access route to the Comcast Center
30.71 12 Route 140 north – Mansfield
Norfolk Foxborough 32.89 13 I-95 – Boston, Providence, RI Split into 13A and 13B
Plainville 35.57 14 US 1 – Wrentham, North Attleborough Split into 14A and 14B; main access route from I-495 to Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place
Wrentham 37.56 15 MA Route 1A.svg MA-1A – Wrentham, Plainville
Franklin 40.95 16 King Street – Franklin, Woonsocket, RI
43.18 17 MA Route 140.svg MA-140 – Franklin, Bellingham
Bellingham 45.82 18 MA Route 126.svg MA-126 – Medway, Bellingham
Worcester Milford 48.32 19 MA Route 109.svg MA-109 – Milford, Medway, Uxbridge
50.25 20 MA Route 85.svg MA-85 – Milford, Hopkinton, Uxbridge
Middlesex Hopkinton 54.15 21 West Main Street – Hopkinton, Upton, Northbridge Split into 21A and 21B
57.89 22 I-90 (Mass Pike) – Boston, Albany, NY
Worcester Westborough 59.41 23 MA Route 9.svg MA-9 – Framingham, Worcester Split into 23A and 23B
Middlesex Marlborough 61.71 23C Simarano Drive – Marlborough, Southborough Interchange constructed in 2000.
63.11 24 US 20 – Marlborough, Northborough Split into 24A and 24B
64.86 25A To MA Route 85.svg MA-85 – Hudson Connection via unnumbered connector road
64.86 25B I-290 west – Worcester
Worcester Berlin 67.24 26 MA Route 62.svg MA-62 – Berlin, Hudson
Bolton 69.93 27 MA Route 117.svg MA-117 – Bolton, Stow
Middlesex Boxborough 74.56 28 MA Route 111.svg MA-111 – Boxborough, Harvard
Littleton 77.56 29 MA Route 2.svg MA-2 – Leominster, Boston Split into 29A and 29B.
79.09 30 MA Route 2A.svg MA Route 110.svg MA-2A, MA-110 – Littleton, Ayer
80.10 31 MA Route 119.svg MA-119 – Groton, Acton
Westford 83.17 32 Boston Road – Westford To Route 225
Chelmsford
87.56 33 MA Route 4.svg MA-4 – North Chelmsford Partial interchange: NB exit/SB entrance only
88.05 34 MA Route 110.svg MA-110 – Chelmsford, Lowell Route 110 west to Route 4
89.04 35 US 3 – Burlington, Nashua, NH Split into 35A and 35B
Lowell 89.31 35C Lowell Connector – Lowell Former exit 36
91.07 37 Woburn Street – South Lowell, North Billerica
Tewksbury 92.16 38 MA Route 38.svg MA-38 – Lowell, Tewksbury
94.49 39 MA Route 133.svg MA-133 – Dracut, Andover
Essex Andover 96.91 40 I-93 – Boston, Concord, NH Split into 40A and 40B
99.31 41 MA Route 28.svg MA-28 – Lawrence, Andover Split northbound into 41A and 41B.
Lawrence 100.03 42 MA Route 114.svg MA-114 – Middleton, South Lawrence Split into 42A and 42B.
North Andover 100.83 43 Massachusetts Avenue Also signed northbound for Commonwealth Avenue.
101.27 44 Merrimack Street
Lawrence 101.82 45 Marston Street – Lawrence
Methuen 103.00 46 MA Route 110.svg MA-110 (Merrimac Street) – Pleasant Valley
103.93 47 MA Route 213.svg MA-213 (Loop Connector) Exit 5 from route 213
Haverhill 105.66 48 To MA Route 125.svg MA-125 – Ward Hill, Bradford Via unnumbered connector road.
106.50 49 Route 110 / Route 113 (River Street)
107.18 50 MA Route 97.svg MA-97 – Haverhill, Salem, NH
108.85 51 Route 125 – Haverhill, Plaistow, NH Split into 51A and 51B
111.04 52 MA Route 110.svg MA-110 – Haverhill, Merrimac
Merrimac 114.75 53 Broad Street – Merrimac, Merrimacport
Amesbury 117.71 54 Route 150 – Amesbury
118.74 55 Route 110 to I-95 south – Salisbury, Boston Partial interchange: NB exit/SB entrance only. Entrance from 110 WB only.
Salisbury 120.74 (56) I-95 north - Portsmouth, NH Northbound I-495.svg I-495 merges onto northbound I-95.svg I-95.
Access to southbound I-495 from southbound I-95 only.[7]

References

  1. ^ Executive Office of Transportation - Office of Transportation Planning Roads GIS Data
  2. ^ Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, November 1, 1996.
  3. ^ Interstate 476, pahighways.com.
  4. ^ Shortest and Longest 3-digit interstates, kurumi.com. Note the discrepancy between the mileage listed on kurumi.com and the actual mileage indicated by the exit list from Interstate 476. Google Maps lists the distance as 130 miles (210 km).
  5. ^ BostonRoads.com, Outer Circumferential Highway: Historical Overview Retrieved Jan. 24, 2010[self-published source?]
  6. ^ Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. 2007. "Interchange Exit Lists (I-495)". Downloaded from: http://www.eot.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=planning/disc/interchanges&sid=dtable August 7, 2011.
  7. ^ Mass 25 & Interstate 495 – shadyjay.com

External links


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