MASSACHUSETTS ROUTE 2

(Redirected from Route 2 (Massachusetts))

'Route 2' is a major east-west state highway in Massachusetts. Along with Route 9 and Route 20 to the South, these highways are the main alternatives to the Massachusetts Turnpike/I-90 toll highway. Route 2 runs the entire length of Massachusetts, beginning at the New York border, where it connects with New York State Route 2.

Contents

Route description

Planned Improvements

Towns along the route

History

Exit list

References

External links

Route description

Route 2 proceeds east from the New York state line on a winding, scenic path in Williamstown. It serves the Williams College area and North Adams. East of North Adams, Route 2 ascends via a hairpin turn into the Berkshire Mountains along the old Mohawk Trail.
It then goes from Berkshire County into Franklin County, Massachusetts, running into Interstate 91 at an interchange in Greenfield and briefly runs concurrent with the interstate highway. At this point the old Route 2 becomes Route 2A and goes through downtown Greenfield. Route 2, however, exits off I-91, becoming a freeway briefly before becoming a two-lane freeway. Outside of Greenfield, Route 2A temporarily ends and merges with Route 2. Route 2 then becomes a regular two-lane surface road in Gill and through Erving though it has some grade-separated interchanges in Millers Falls at its intersection with Route 63. There is another gap in the two-lane freeway in the Erving area.
Once the road enters the Town of Orange, Route 2A resumes and breaks off Route 2. At this point Route 2 again becomes a two-lane freeway. In Orange, Route 2 runs concurrent with US 202. The road at this point enters Worcester County, Massachusetts. After its eastern interchange in Phillipston when US 202 breaks off to the north, Route 2 becomes a full four lane freeway, though not to Interstate standards in most points. It continues through Gardner and Leominster, where Interstate 190 begins, heading south to Worcester.
Route 2 continues east to Middlesex County, Massachusetts. At this point it enters Boston's outer loop as it interchanges with Interstate 495. It continues as a freeway until it goes into Acton, where it runs into Piper Road and Taylor Road at a traffic light (Exit 44). At this point the freeway ends and Route 2 becomes a regular divided highway at most points and just a four lane highway at other points. At the Concord Rotary, a major traffic choke point, Route 2 intersects with Route 2A and the beginning of Route 119 (which is overlapped with 2A at that point). After the rotary the road loses its dividing wall as it passes past the State Police (who have an emergency-only traffic light) and over the Assabet River. Route 2A used to then break away from Route 2 at the next traffic light to go left into Concord but is now overlaid with Route 2. At Crosby's Corner, the sixth intersection after the rotary, Route 2A goes straight while Route 2 veers right (but still heads east). The highway loses its dividing wall until the Bedford St intersection in Lincoln where it becomes divided again. MassHighway currently expects to rebuild the Crosby Corner intersection and create a dividing wall from there to Bedford St in 2009-2011.
At this point Route 2 enters Lexington and still is a divided 4-lane road with surface intersections. It then heads to Boston's inner belt, crossing Interstate 95/Route 128. From there, Route 2 is a six-lane and then eight-lane limited access highway until Exit 60, where it narrows with little warning to six lanes and then to four lanes. This section of freeway actually meets the standards of an interstate highway. The final off-ramp leads directly to the large parking garage at the MBTA Alewife Station. At this point the road heads into Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The limited access freeway portion ends at a signalized intersection, where it merges with U.S. Route 3 south and Route 16 west in Cambridge and continues as a four-lane surface road to the Boston Public Garden. Route 2 follows Alewife Brook Parkway, Fresh Pond Parkway, Gerry's Landing Road, and Memorial Drive (all parkways maintained by the Department of Conservation and Recreation) through Cambridge. It crosses into Boston on the Boston University Bridge. After crossing Commonwealth Avenue (US Route 20), it follows Montfort Street and Beacon Street into Kenmore Square which is the eastern terminus of US Route 20. From Kenmore Square, Route 2 follows Commonwealth Avenue to Arlington Street. It circles the Public Gardens in Boston, using Arlington Street to Boylston Street to Charles Street.
Route 2 officially ends at Route 28 at the intersection of Charles Street and Beacon Street at the Boston Common.

Planned Improvements

At least two major improvements to Route 2 are planned for Concord MA over the next 5 of so years through the Boston regional Metropolitan Planning Organization.

★ Crosby's Corner: Current planning would eliminate the light, provide service roads and on and off ramps for the intersection.

★ Concord Rotary: Current planning would eliminate the rotary with traffic lights.

Towns along the route

★ North Adams

★ Greenfield

★ Athol

★ Leominster

★ Acton

★ Concord

★ Boston

History

In the early 1920s, Route 2 was known as 'New England Interstate Route 7' (NE-7), a major road connecting Boston with Troy, New York. NE-7 ran roughly where Route 2A (the original surface alignment of Route 2) does now except near the New York state line. NE-7 used current Route 43 (Massachusetts), New York State Route 43 and New York State Route 66 to reach Troy. Current Route 2 from Williamstown to Petersburgh was previously numbered as 'Route 96'.
Route 2 was originally planned to continue as Boston's northwest expressway (freeway) to a junction with Interstate 695, the Inner Beltway, but this, along with the Inner Beltway itself, was cancelled in 1970, accounting for the abrupt narrowing at Alewife.

Exit list

Location	Interchange	Road(s) Crossed	Milepost	Notes
Freeway begins coming off I-91.
Greenfield		I-91		Eastbound entrance, westbound exit.
		US 5/Route 10
Freeway ends at Route 2A in Greenfield, at-grade intersection.
Freeway resumes at Route 2A in Erving, at-grade intersection.
Orange	14	West River Street
	15	Route 122
	16	US 202		US 202 South only. The intersecting road continues north as the Daniel Shays Highway.
Athol	17	Route 32
Phillipston	18	Route 2A
	19	US 202/Route 2A		US 202 North only. Route 2A in both directions.
Templeton	20	Baldwinville Road
	21	Route 2A/Route 101
Gardner	22	Route 68
	23	Pearson Boulevard		Exit is signed as "Gardner/South Gardner".
Westminster	24	Route 140/West Main Street		Route 140 North only. West Main Street in both directions.
	25	Route 2A/Route 140		Route 140 South only. Route 2A in both directions.
	26	Wyman Road
	27	Depot Road/Narrows Road
Fitchburg	28	Route 31
	29	Mount Elam Road		At-grade intersection with barrier in the middle of the road. Highway not up to freeway standards (flashing light).
Leominster	30	Merriam Avenue
	31	Route 12
	32	Route 13
	33	I-190
Lancaster	34	Mechanic Street
	35	Route 70		Route 70 South only. The intersecting road continues north as Lunenburg Road.
	36	Shirley Road
	37	Jackson Road
Harvard	38	Route 110/Route 111
Littleton	39	Taylor Street
	40	I-495
Boxborough	41	Newtown Road
Acton	42	Route 27
	43	Route 111		Eastbound entrance, westbound exit. Route 111 North only.
Freeway ends at Piper Road traffic light.
Freeway begins just east of Lincoln-Lexington line.
Lexington	52	I-95/Route 128
	53	Spring Street		Eastbound exit, westbound entrance.
	54	Waltham Street		Eastbound entrance, westbound exit.
	55	Pleasant Street		Eastbound exit, westbound entrance.
	56	Route 4/Route 225/Winter Street		Route 4 North/225 West only. Winter Street continues southeast from the terminus of Routes 4 and 225 at the top of the exit ramp.
Arlington	57	Dow Avenue
Arlington/Belmont	58	Park Avenue
	59	Route 60
Arlington	60	Lake Street
Cambridge		Alewife T Station		Eastbound exit only.
Freeway ends at US 3/Route 16 in Cambridge, at-grade intersection.

References

1. Executive Office of Transportation, Office of Transportation Planning - 2005 Road Inventory

External links

★ A feasibility study of improvements to Route 2 in Concord and Acton