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Interstate 495 (Massachusetts)

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Interstate 495 marker
Interstate 495
Blue Star Memorial Highway
Map
I-495 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-95
Maintained by MassDOT
Length121.56 mi[1] (195.63 km)
Existed1957–present
NHSEntire route
Major junctions
South end I-195 / Route 25 in Wareham
Major intersections
North end I-95 in Salisbury
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMassachusetts
CountiesPlymouth, Bristol, Norfolk, Worcester, Middlesex, Essex
Highway system
← I-395→ I-695

Interstate 495 (I-495) is an auxiliary route of I-95 in the US state of Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning 121.56 miles (195.63 km), it is the second-longest auxiliary route in the Interstate Highway System, being roughly 11 miles (18 km) shorter than I-476 in Pennsylvania.[2]

Serving as one of two beltways (the other being Route 128) that forms a semicircle around Boston, and being the "outer" beltway, I-495 has its northern terminus in Salisbury, where it splits from I-95. Its route forms an arc with an approximately 30-mile (48 km) radius around the city and intersects seven additional radial expressways: I-93, US Route 3 (US 3), Route 2, I-290, I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike), Route 24, and I-95 once more. I-495 has its southern terminus in Wareham, at the meeting of I-195 and Route 25. Originally, the stretch from Route 24 to I-195 was signed as Route 25, that status now only begins east of I-195.

I-495 and areas to its immediate east are often regarded as the inner ring of Greater Boston. The freeway's northern segment parallels the New Hampshire border, at one point coming as close as 400 feet (120 m) to the boundary, and its southern end is roughly 10 miles (16 km) north of Cape Cod. West of I-495 is the Worcester area and Central Massachusetts. I-495 is a heavily traveled route serving communities in Plymouth, Bristol, Norfolk, Worcester, Essex, and Middlesex counties.

Route description

[edit]
I-495 bridge over the Merrimack River in Lawrence

I-495 begins as the direct continuation of Route 25 at the intersection with I-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 Middleborough (where the road meets US 44) as a four-lane highway before entering Bristol County, crossing the Taunton River at Raynham. I-495 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 collector–distributor road concurrency with Route 140. I-495 makes its southern junction with its parent route, I-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 US 1). The highway comes within two miles (3.2 km) of the Rhode Island state line before turning in a more northerly direction through Franklin and Bellingham.

I-495 passes through Milford, Medway, Hopkinton (where the junction with the Massachusetts Turnpike, or I-90, is located), and Westborough (where the road meets Route 9). It then continues through Southborough, Marlborough (where the road meets US 20 and I-290), Hudson, Berlin, Bolton (where the road finally begins to turn northeasterly), and Harvard. The Harold E. Brown Jr. Memorial Bridge on I-495 over Massachusetts Route 117 in Bolton was dedicated in October 2012 in honor of Brown Jr, a CIA officer who was killed in the 2009 Camp Chapman attack.[3][4]

Continuing to turn to a more easterly direction, the road passes through Boxborough, Littleton (where there is an intersection with Route 2), Westford and Chelmsford. At the Chelmsford–Lowell line lies the intersection with US 3 and the Lowell Connector (formerly I-495 Business). The road continues through Lowell and Tewksbury before entering Essex County at Andover, directly at exit 94 (formerly exit 39).

In Andover, the road has a junction with I-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 Route 213 (Loop Connector). 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 (140 m) of the New Hampshire state line, the closest the road comes to leaving the state. I-495 then passes through the towns of Merrimac and Amesbury before entering Salisbury where it immediately meets I-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 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 Route 110.[citation needed]

History

[edit]

As early as the late 1940s, a plan was developing for an "outer circumferential highway" around Boston, a limited-access freeway meant to have an approximate 30-mile (48 km) radius from the Boston city center. A portion of this new "outer circumferential highway" southeast of the US 1 junction in Foxborough was meant to be a "relocation" of the existing Route 28, which was quickly changed in 1947 to a new designation of Route 25 as a full-length freeway from the Route 24 expressway in Raynham to Wareham. The section of I-495 between Route 24 in Raynham and I-95 at the Foxborough–Mansfield town line began construction at I-95 in 1976 and finished at the Route 25/Route 24 interchange in 1982. (Prior to 1982, I-495 ended at I-95; the section from Raynham to Wareham was just signed as Route 25). Route 25 was constructed in stages from the late 1950s to the late 1960s.[citation needed]

Future

[edit]

In 2014, a new intelligent transportation system was installed to help commuters and the state better understand the traffic congestion on I-495.[5] 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 variable-message signs on I-495 from I-90 (Hopkinton) to I-93 (Andover).[needs update]

In 2015, the state pledged $165 million to 285 million (equivalent to $207 million to $358 million in 2023[6]) for improvements to the I-495/Massachusetts Turnpike intersection and is considering three different plans. The work is expected to begin in 2021[needs update] and be completed in 2025.[7] Improvements to the I-495/Route 9 intersection will commence at the same duration, with a different budget.[8]

Exit list

[edit]

Interchanges were to be renumbered to mileage-based numbers under a project scheduled to start in 2016; however, this project was indefinitely postponed by MassDOT until November 18, 2019, when MassDOT confirmed that, beginning in late summer 2020, the exit renumbering project would start.[9][10] On May 7, 2021, MassDOT announced that I-495 exit numbers would get renumbered starting on or after May 16, 2021, and it would last for approximately five weeks. The project was broken down into four sections:

  • Segment 1: between Route 28 and I-95 (old exits 3–13)
  • Segment 2: between I-95 and I-90 (old exits 14–22)
  • Segment 3: between I-90 and US 3 (old exits 23–35)
  • Segment 4: between US 3 and junction Route 110/I-95 (old exits 37–55)

"OLD EXIT XX" plates will be up for 2 years.


CountyLocation[11]mi[11]kmExit[12]Destinations[12]Notes
PlymouthWareham0.0000.000—
 Route 25 east – Cape Cod		Continuation east
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
1
 I-195 west – Wareham, New Bedford, Providence, RI		Eastern terminus and exit 40B on I-195; trumpet interchange
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
2.4874.0022 Route 58 – Carver, Plymouth
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Middleborough7.60012.2318 Route 28 – Rock Village, South Middleboro
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
12.06819.42212 Route 105 – Middleboro Center, Lakeville
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
14.30423.02014
 Route 18 / US 44 east – Bridgewater, Plymouth, Lakeville, New Bedford		US 44 not signed southbound
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
14.72223.69315 US 44 – Middleboro, Plymouth, Taunton, Providence, RI
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Bridgewater19.08130.70819 Route 24 – Boston, Fall RiverSigned as exits 19A (north) and 19B (south); exit 22 on Route 24
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
BristolRaynham21.68134.89222 Route 138 – Stoughton, Taunton
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Taunton24.50839.44225Bay Street – Taunton, Easton
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Norton26.90643.30127

 Route 123 to Route 140 south – Norton, Easton		Route 140 not signed southbound
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Mansfield29.87548.07930
 Route 140 south – Norton		No northbound exit; southern end of Route 140 overlap
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
29.91348.14031
 Route 140 north – Mansfield		Northern end of Route 140 overlap
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
32.89752.94333 I-95 – Boston, Providence, RISigned as exits 33A (north) and 33B (south); exit 12 on I-95
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
NorfolkPlainville35.58057.26036 US 1 – Wrentham, North AttleboroSigned as exits 36A (north) and 36B (south); access to Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Wrentham37.56560.45538 Route 1A – Wrentham, Plainville
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Franklin40.95465.90941King Street – Franklin, Woonsocket, RI
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
43.18369.49643 Route 140 – Franklin, Bellingham
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Bellingham45.82073.74046 Route 126 – Medway, Bellingham
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
WorcesterMilford48.31877.76048 Route 109 – Milford, MedwayTo Route 16
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
50.24580.86150 Route 85 – Milford, Hopkinton
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
MiddlesexHopkinton54.15187.14854W. Main Street – Hopkinton, UptonSigned as exits 54A (east) and 54B (west)
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Middlesex–Worcester
county line		Hopkinton–Westborough line57.92893.22658 I-90 / Mass Pike – Boston, Albany, NYExit 106 on I-90 / Mass Pike
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
WorcesterWestborough59.44395.66459 Route 9 – Framingham, WorcesterSigned as exits 59A (east) and 59B (west)
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Worcester–Middlesex
county line		Southborough–Marlborough line61.75899.39062Simarano Drive – Marlboro, SouthboroInterchange constructed in 2000
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
MiddlesexMarlborough63.155101.63863 US 20 – Marlboro, NorthboroSigned as exits 63A (east) and 63B (west)
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
64.895–
64.951		104.438–
104.529		65

 I-290 west to Route 85 – Worcester, Hudson, Marlboro		Signed as exits 65A (Route 85) and 65B (I-290); access to Route 85 via Route 85 Connector
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
WorcesterBerlin67.314108.33167 Route 62 – Berlin, Hudson
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Bolton70.006112.66470 Route 117 – Bolton, Stow
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
MiddlesexBoxborough74.652120.14175 Route 111 – Boxboro, Harvard
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Littleton77.641124.95178 Route 2 – Boston, LeominsterSigned as exits 78A (east) and 78B (west); exit 113 on Route 2
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
79.176127.42179 Route 2A / Route 110 – Littleton, Ayer
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
80.209129.08480 Route 119 – Littleton, Groton
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Westford83.297134.05483
 To Route 110 (Boston Road) – Westford		To Route 225 – Carlisle
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Chelmsford87.328140.54187 Route 4 – Chelmsford, North ChelmsfordNorthbound exit and southbound entrance
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
88.175141.90488
 Route 110 to Route 4 – Chelmsford, Lowell		No signage for Route 4 northbound
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
89.143143.46289 US 3 – Burlington, Nashua, NHAccess via C/D lanes; exits 81A-B on US 3; signed as exits 89A (south) and 89B (north)
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Lowell89.425143.91689CLowell Connector northAccess via C/D lanes
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
91.192146.75991Woburn Street – South Lowell, North Billerica
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Tewksbury92.284148.51792 Route 38 – Lowell, Tewksbury
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Middlesex–Essex
county line		Tewksbury–Andover line94.613152.26594 Route 133 – Tewksbury, AndoverSouthbound off-ramp begins in Essex County
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
EssexAndover97.023156.14397 I-93 – Boston, Salem, NHSigned as exits 97A (south) and 97B (north); exit 40 on I-93
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
99.411159.98699 Route 28 – Lawrence, AndoverSigned as exits 99A (south) and 99B (north) northbound
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Lawrence100.149161.174100 Route 114 – North Andover, South LawrenceSigned as exits 100A (east) and 100B (west)
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
North Andover100.953162.468101Massachusetts Avenue – North AndoverSouthbound access from C/D lanes originating at Marston St. exit
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
North Andover–Lawrence line101.370–
101.938		163.139–
164.053		102Merrimack StreetAccess via C/D lanes; NB ramp exits onto SB C/D lanes to Merrimack St.; NB entrance includes direct entrance from Sutton Street
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Lawrence103ACommonwealth Drive
Marston Street north – Methuen		Northbound signage; accessible to and from C/D lanes
Southbound signage; accessible to and from C/D lanes
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
103BMarston Street south – LawrenceAccess to and from C/D lanes
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Methuen103.121165.957104 Route 110 (Merrimack Street) – Pleasant Valley
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
104.057167.464105


 Route 213 west (Loop Connector) to I-93 north – Methuen, Salem NH		Eastern terminus and exit 5 on Route 213
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Haverhill105.788170.249106
 To Route 125 – Ward Hill, Bradford		Access via Industrial Avenue
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
106.624171.595107 Route 110 / Route 113 (River Street)
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
107.303172.687108 Route 97 – Haverhill, Salem, NH
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
108.997175.414109 Route 125 – Haverhill, Plaistow, NHSigned as exits 109A (south) and 109B (north)
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
111.182178.930111 Route 110 – Haverhill, Merrimac
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Merrimac114.894184.904115Broad Street – Merrimac, Merrimacport
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Amesbury117.854189.668118 Route 150 – Amesbury, Seabrook, NH
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
118.880191.319119


 Route 110 east to I-95 south – Salisbury, Boston		Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
Salisbury120.95194.65—
 I-95 north – Portsmouth, NH		Northern terminus; exit 89 on I-95
Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): old
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

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  1. ^ Starks, Edward (January 27, 2022). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  2. ^ Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, November 1, 1996.
  3. ^ Nugent, Karen. "Bridge to be renamed in honor of slain CIA agent". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  4. ^ Schab, Alex. "Harold Brown Jr. remembered". Wicked Local. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  5. ^ MassDOT (April 2014). "A 2014 Synthesis; the Status of Intelligent Transportation Systems Deployment" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  6. ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  7. ^ Worcester Telegram (March 29, 2015). "State outlines improvements to congested I-495-Mass Pike interchange". telegram.com/. Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  8. ^ MassDOT (November 7, 2012). "Interstate 495/Route 9 Interchange Improvement Study". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Robert H. Malme (2017). "Massachusetts Interstate Highways Exit Lists". Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  11. ^ a b MassDOT Planning Division. "Massachusetts Route Log Application". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Massachusetts Department of Transportation. "Exit Numbers and Names: Route I-495 (Wareham to Salisbury)". Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
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