Interstate 495 (Massachusetts)
Blue Star Memorial Highway | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by MassDOT | ||||
Length: | 120.74 mi[1] (194.31 km) | |||
Existed: | 1957 – present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end: |
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North end: |
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Location | ||||
Counties: | Plymouth, Bristol, Norfolk, Worcester, Middlesex, Essex | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Interstate 495 (abbreviated I-495) is the designation of an Interstate Highway half-beltway in Massachusetts. It is the second longest auxiliary Interstate Highway, at 120.74 miles (194.40 kilometers), second only to Interstate 476 in Pennsylvania, which is 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 east of I-195.
I-495 and areas to its immediate west are 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.
Route description
Interstate 495 begins as the direct continuation of Route 25 at the intersection with Interstate 195 in West Wareham. It starts as a two-lane highway in both directions. It gets the third lane during the interchange with Route 24. 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 Middleboro (where the road meets U.S. Route 44) as a four-lane highway before entering Bristol County, crossing the Taunton River 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 Foxboro 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). The highway comes within 2 miles of the Rhode Island state line before turning in 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 Westboro (where the road meets Route 9) and Southboro. It then returns to Middlesex County briefly in the towns of Marlboro (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 Boxboro, 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, directly at exit 39.
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 entering Salisbury where it immediately meets Interstate 95 and ends 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 Middleboro 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]
Future improvements
In 2014 a new ITS system was installed to help commuters and the state better understand the traffic congestion on I-495.[6] Some improvements expected to come to I-495 in the next few years include a project that will install fiber optic cable, traffic cameras and VMS Signs on I-495 from I-90 (Hopkinton) to I-93 (Andover).
In 2015 the state pledged $165–285 million for improvements to the Interstate 495-Massachusetts Turnpike intersection, and is considering three different plans. The work is expected to begin in 2021 and be completed in 2025.[7] Improvements to the 495-Route 9 intersection will commence at the same duration, with a different budget.[8]
Exit list
Interchanges were to be renumbered to mileage-based numbers under a project scheduled to start in 2016, however this project has been indefinitely postponed by MassDOT.[9][10]
County | Location[11] | mi[11] | km | Exit[12] | Destinations[12] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plymouth | Wareham | 0.000 | 0.000 | – | ![]() | Southern terminus; continuation from Route 25 |
0.012 | 0.019 | 1 | ![]() | Eastern terminus of I-195 | ||
2.487 | 4.002 | 2 | ![]() | No signage for Route 58 south, which ends .45 miles (0.72 km) to the south | ||
Middleborough | 7.600 | 12.231 | 3 | ![]() | ||
12.068 | 19.422 | 4 | ![]() | |||
14.304 | 23.020 | 5 | ![]() ![]() | US 44 only appears on northbound signage | ||
14.722 | 23.693 | 6 | ![]() | |||
Bridgewater | 18.962 | 30.516 | 7A | ![]() | ||
19.200 | 30.899 | 7B | ![]() | |||
Bristol | Raynham | 21.681 | 34.892 | 8 | ![]() | |
Taunton | 24.508 | 39.442 | 9 | Bay Street – Taunton, Easton | ||
Norton | 26.906 | 43.301 | 10 | ![]() ![]() | No signage for Route 140 southbound | |
Mansfield | 29.875 | 48.079 | 11 | ![]() | No northbound exit | |
29.913 | 48.140 | 12 | ![]() | |||
32.859 | 52.881 | 13A | ![]() | |||
Norfolk | Foxborough | 32.935 | 53.004 | 13B | ![]() | |
Plainville | 35.554 | 57.219 | 14A | ![]() | ||
35.605 | 57.301 | 14B | ![]() | |||
Wrentham | 37.565 | 60.455 | 15 | ![]() | ||
Franklin | 40.954 | 65.909 | 16 | King Street – Franklin, Woonsocket, RI | ||
43.183 | 69.496 | 17 | ![]() | |||
Bellingham | 45.820 | 73.740 | 18 | ![]() | ||
Worcester | Milford | 48.318 | 77.760 | 19 | ![]() | |
50.245 | 80.861 | 20 | ![]() | To Route 16 | ||
Middlesex | Hopkinton | 54.151 | 87.148 | 21 | West Main Street – Hopkinton, Upton | Split into exits 21A (Hopkinton) and 21B (Upton) |
57.928 | 93.226 | 22 | ![]() | Exit 11A on I-90 | ||
Worcester | Westborough | 59.414 | 95.618 | 23A | ![]() | |
59.472 | 95.711 | 23B | ![]() | |||
Middlesex | Marlborough | 61.758 | 99.390 | 23C | Simarano Drive – Marlboro, Southboro | Interchange constructed in 2000 |
63.155 | 101.638 | 24 | ![]() | Split into exits 24A (east) and 24B (west) | ||
64.895 | 104.438 | 25A | ![]() | Connection to Route 85 via unnumbered connector road | ||
64.951 | 104.529 | 25B | ![]() | Eastern terminus of I-290 | ||
Worcester | Berlin | 67.314 | 108.331 | 26 | ![]() | |
Bolton | 70.006 | 112.664 | 27 | ![]() | ||
Middlesex | Boxborough | 74.652 | 120.141 | 28 | ![]() | |
Littleton | 77.641 | 124.951 | 29 | ![]() | Split into exits 29A (east) and 29B (west); Exits 40A-B on Route 2 | |
79.176 | 127.421 | 30 | ![]() ![]() | |||
80.209 | 129.084 | 31 | ![]() | |||
Westford | 83.297 | 134.054 | 32 | Boston Road – Westford | To Route 225 | |
Chelmsford | 87.328 | 140.541 | 33 | ![]() | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
88.175 | 141.904 | 34 | ![]() ![]() | No signage for Route 4 northbound | ||
89.143 | 143.462 | 35 A-B | ![]() | Split into exits 35A (south) and 35B (north) | ||
Lowell | 89.425 | 143.916 | 35C | Lowell Connector | Formerly Exit 36 | |
91.192 | 146.759 | 37 | Woburn Street – South Lowell, North Billerica | |||
Tewksbury | 92.284 | 148.517 | 38 | ![]() | ||
94.613 | 152.265 | 39 | ![]() | Southbound offramp begins in Essex County | ||
Essex | Andover | 97.000 | 156.106 | 40A | ![]() | |
97.045 | 156.179 | 40B | ![]() | |||
99.411 | 159.986 | 41 | ![]() | Split into exits 41A (south) and 41B (north) northbound | ||
Lawrence | 100.149 | 161.174 | 42 | ![]() | Split into exits 42A (east) and 42B (west) | |
North Andover | 100.953 | 162.468 | 43 | Massachusetts Avenue – North Andover | ||
101.370 | 163.139 | 44 | Merrimack Street | |||
Lawrence | 101.938 | 164.053 | 45 | Commonwealth Drive / Marston Street – Lawrence, Methuen | Split into exits 45A (Commonwealth Dr) and 45B (Marston St) | |
Methuen | 103.121 | 165.957 | 46 | ![]() | ||
104.057 | 167.464 | 47 | ![]() | Exit 5 on the Loop Connector; Eastern end of the Loop Connector | ||
Haverhill | 105.788 | 170.249 | 48 | ![]() | ||
106.624 | 171.595 | 49 | ![]() ![]() | |||
107.303 | 172.687 | 50 | ![]() | |||
108.997 | 175.414 | 51 | ![]() | Split into exits 51A (south) and 51B (north) | ||
111.182 | 178.930 | 52 | ![]() | |||
Merrimac | 114.894 | 184.904 | 53 | Broad Street – Merrimac, Merrimacport | ||
Amesbury | 117.854 | 189.668 | 54 | ![]() | ||
118.880 | 191.319 | 55 | ![]() ![]() | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
Salisbury | 120.95 | 194.65 | – | ![]() | Northern terminus | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ↑ Executive Office of Transportation - Office of Transportation Planning Roads GIS Data
- ↑ Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, November 1, 1996.
- ↑ "Interstate 476, pahighways.com.". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ BostonRoads.com, Outer Circumferential Highway: Historical Overview Retrieved Jan. 24, 2010
- ↑ MassDOT (April 2014). "A 2014 Synthesis; the Status of Intelligent Transportation Systems Deployment" (PDF). http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 6, 2016. External link in
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(help) - ↑ Worcester Telegram (March 29, 2015). "State outlines improvements to congested I-495-Mass Pike interchange". http://www.telegram.com/. Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved January 6, 2016. External link in
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(help) - ↑ MassDOT (November 7, 2012). "Interstate 495/Route 9 Interchange Improvement Study". http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 6, 2016. External link in
|website=
(help) - ↑ Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2015). "COMMBUYS - Bid Solicitation FAP# HSIP-002S(874) Exit Signage Conversion to Milepost-Based Numbering System along Various Interstates, Routes and the Lowell Connector". Retrieved January 6, 2016.
- ↑ Bob Malme (2016). "Massachusetts Interstate Highways Exit Lists". Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- 1 2 MassDOT Planning Division. "Massachusetts Route Log Application". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
- 1 2 Massachusetts Department of Transportation. "Exit Numbers and Names: Route I-495 (Wareham to Salisbury)". Retrieved August 21, 2014.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 495 (Massachusetts). |
- Interstate 495 at Steve Anderson's Boston Roads site
- Mass. I-495 Current and Speculative Future Exit Numbers List