Massachusetts Route 24

Route 24
AMVETS Memorial Highway Fall River Expressway
Route information
Length:	40.91 mi[1] (65.84 km)
Existed:	1951 – present
Major junctions
South end:	Route 24 in Tiverton, RI
	I‑195 / Route 79 in Fall River Route 140 in Taunton I‑495 in Bridgewater
North end:	I‑93 / US 1 in Randolph
Location
Counties:	Bristol, Plymouth, Norfolk
Highway system
Massachusetts State Highway System Interstate US State ← Route 23 Route 25 →

View of Route 24 from Stafford Road overpass, Fall River, Massachusetts

Route 24 is a freeway south of I-93 in southeastern Massachusetts, linking Fall River with the Boston metropolitan area. It begins in the south in Fall River at the border with Tiverton, Rhode Island where it connects with Rhode Island Route 24, and runs north to an interchange with Interstate 93/U.S. Route 1 in Randolph. Route 24 is also known as the Fall River Expressway, and officially as the Amvets Highway. Route 24 has a total of 21 interchanges (including the split at its northern terminus with Interstate 93.)

Route 24 connects many of the major cities of Southeastern Massachusetts with Boston: Brockton, Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford (via the junction with Route 140).

Route description

The highway continues at the Rhode Island border at Rhode Island Route 24 and meets Interstate 195 in Fall River. It briefly runs concurrently with I-195 east (for less than a mile), then exits the interstate and travels north, merging with Route 79 at Exit 7 in northern Fall River. Routes 24 and 79 run concurrently northward until Exit 9 (Assonet). At this point, Route 79 exits the freeway and heads northeast. Route 24 continues north, intersecting the northern end of the Taunton-New Bedford Expressway (Route 140) in Taunton, and Interstate 495 in Raynham. The highway continues north through the city of Brockton and into Randolph, where Route 24 ends at a split junction with Interstate 93. This section of I-93 from Braintree to its junction with I-95 is frequently referred to by its former designation of Route 128. This designation was removed from I-93 in 1989, when the roadway obtained the additional designation of U.S. Route 1, although this is not shown on exit signs from Route 24. The route is officially 40.9 miles in length, however, mileposts continue up to 41.2 on the Exit 21B ramp to I-93 south.

The speed limit on Route 24 is 55 mph (89 km/h) from the Rhode Island border to the exit from Interstate 195. North of I-195, the speed limit is 65 mph (105 km/h).

Service plazas are located on either side of Route 24 in Bridgewater.

History

Route 24, along with Route 138, are both built parallel to an old Indian trail that went along the same north/south route from south of the Boston area into Boston. Route 124 on Cape Cod was originally designated Route 24 before 1951, and its number was changed to 124 upon the completion of the initial stretch of the Route 24 freeway.

The original portion of Route 24 opened in 1951, and brought commuters from Exit 10 in Assonet to Raynham. Route 24 is currently 40 miles (65 km) in length and has 21 interchanges from Fall River to Randolph.

Efforts to upgrade to Interstate standards

There have been calls over the years for Route 24 to be upgraded to an interstate highway. In 1997, a study was initiated by the Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD) and the SRPEDD on what improvements were necessary in order to convert the route to an Interstate highway. The project would require major upgrades to 11 interchanges and minor work on 6 others, and the plan was halted due to high costs. In April 2007 the Old Colony Regional Planning Council included this proposal in its 25-year regional transportation plan draft. The Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) endorsed a similar proposal the month before which if built, according to a MassHighway official, would have been signed as an extension of I-93. The portion south of I-195 would have remained MA-24 and then RI-24.^[2] This proposal too was eventually tabled due to high costs, especially those projected for reconstruction of part of the highway south of Interstate 495. Here were the early cost estimates for the Interstate upgrade project: Phase I: Randolph I-93 Interchange Reconstruction ($30 million), Phase II: Randolph to Stoughton ($56 million), Phase III: Canton to Bridgewater ($224 million), Phase IV: Bridgewater to I-495 ($175 million), Phase V: I-495 to US 44 ($35 million), and Phase VI: US 44 to Fall River ($357 million). The total cost was expected to be $877 million. There are currently no proposals in the MassDOT highway listings to upgrade MA 24 to an interstate. The only projects that may relate to this happening in the future are reconstruction of three bridges starting in 2015, which include the one for US 44 in Middleboro.^[3]

Exit list

All interchanges were to be renumbered to mileage-based numbers under a project scheduled to start in 2016. However, this project has now been indefinitely postponed by MassDOT.^[4][5]

County	Location[6]	mi[6]	km	Exit[7]	Destinations[7]	Notes
Bristol	Fall River	0.000	0.000	–	Route 24 south – Tiverton RI, Newport RI[8]	Continuation from Rhode Island
		0.213	0.343	1	Route 81 – Adamsville RI, Fall River	Signed as Exits 1A (south) and 1B (north)
		1.711	2.754	2	Brayton Avenue / Eastern Avenue
		1.892	3.045	3	I‑195 west – Providence RI	Left exit; southern end of concurrency with I-195
		3.228	5.195	4	I‑195 east – New Bedford	Left exit southbound; northern end of concurrency with I-195
		5.434	8.745	5	US 6 (President Avenue / Eastern Avenue)
		7.726	12.434	6	Highland Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		7.943	12.783	7	Route 79 south – North Fall River, Somerset	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern end of concurrency with Route 79
		8.331	13.407	8A	Airport Road / North Main Street
	Freetown	9.6	15.4	8B	Innovation Way – Fall River, Freetown	Formerly Executive Park Drive; opened in January 2012
		11.265	18.129	9	Route 79 north – Freetown, Middleboro	Northern end of concurrency with Route 79
		12.594	20.268	10	North Main Street – Assonet, Dighton
	Berkley	15.729	25.313	11	Padelford Street – Berkley, Dighton
	Taunton	17.395	27.995	12	Route 140 – Lakeville, Taunton, New Bedford	Signed as Exits 12A (south) and 12B (north) northbound
	Raynham	19.871	31.979	13	US 44 – Middleboro, Taunton	Signed as Exits 13A (east) and 13B (west)
Plymouth	Bridgewater	22.864	36.796	14A	I‑495 south – Cape Cod	Exits 7A-B on I-495
		22.917	36.881	14B	I‑495 north – Worcester
		23.6	38.0	Service Area
		24.282	39.078	15	Route 104 – Bridgewater, Raynham
	West Bridgewater	27.849	44.819	16	Route 106 – West Bridgewater, Mansfield	Signed as Exits 16A (east) and 16B (west)
	Brockton	31.249	50.290	17	Route 123 – Brockton, Easton	Signed as Exits 17A (east) and 17B (west)
		33.477	53.876	18	Route 27 – Brockton, Stoughton	Signed as Exits 18A (south) and 18B (north)
Norfolk	Avon	35.668	57.402	19A	Harrison Boulevard
				19B	Central Street
	Stoughton	37.895	60.986	20	Route 139 – Randolph, Stoughton	Signed as Exits 20A (east) and 20B (west)
	Randolph	40.803	65.666	21A	I‑93 / US 1 north – Boston	Northern terminus; Exit 4 on I-93 / US 1.
				21B	I‑93 / US 1 south to I‑95
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. "Office of Transportation Planning - 2005 Road Inventory". Executive Office of Transportation. 2005.
2. Timmins, Steve. "personal correspondence" (Microsoft Word DOC). Mass Highway.
3. "MassDOT Highway Division, Project Information". MassDOT. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
4. 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.
5. "Massachusetts Highways Exit Lists". Robert H. Malme. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
6. MassDOT Planning Division. "Massachusetts Route Log Application". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
7. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. "Exit Numbers and Names: Route 24 (Fall River to Randolph)". Retrieved January 27, 2015.
8. Google Maps (October 2012). "Street View". Google. Retrieved January 27, 2015.

• "Fall River Expressway (Amvets Highway)". The Roads of Metro Boston. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
• Coleman, Sandy (October 15, 2006). "Route 24 Crashes Raise Call for Study". The Boston Globe.
• Tocci, Kevin (April 17, 2007). "Old Colony Planning Council Backs Interstate Status for Route 24". The Brockton Enterprise.

External links

• MA 24 Current and Speculative Future Exit Numbers List