Massachusetts Route 2

Route 2
Length:	142.29[1] mi (228.99 km)
Formed:	1927, 1971 (current alignment)
West end:	NY Route 2 in Petersburgh, NY
Major junctions:	I-91 in Greenfield US 202 in Athol I-190 in Leominster I-495 in Littleton I-95/Route 128 in Lexington US 3/Route 16 in Cambridge US 20 in Boston
East end:	Route 28 in Boston
Massachusetts State Highway Routes < Route 1A Route 2A > < Route 6B N.E. Route 8 >

Route 2 is a major east-west state highway in Massachusetts, parts of which are sometimes known as the Cambridge and Concord Turnpike. Along with Route 9 and U.S. 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 the northern tier of Massachusetts, beginning at the New York border, where it connects with New York State Route 2, and ends at the Boston Common in Boston.

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. Recently, the road in Erving was routed to the north and straightened to avoid the paper mill next to the river. This rerouting led to the road being shortened by less than a tenth of a mile.

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 U.S. Route 202. The road at this point enters the town of Athol in 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. In Leominster, Route 2 has several at-grade intersections with Oak Hill Road, Palmer Road, Mt. Elam Road, and Abbott Avenue. At the intersection with Mt. Elam Road, a traffic light remains in use on the eastbound side.

Route 2 continues east to Middlesex County, Massachusetts. At this point it enters Boston's outer loop at the interchange with Interstate 495 in Littleton. 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.^[2]

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 (U.S. 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 Garden in Boston, using Arlington Street to Boylston Street to Charles Street. Route 2 ends at Route 28 at the intersection of Charles Street and Beacon Street at the Boston Common.

Junction list

This is a listing of Route 2's intersections with numbered highways which are not located on a freeway section.

Williamstown to Orange

County	Location	Mile	Roads Intersected	Notes
Berkshire	Williamstown	0.00	NY Route 2	Eastern terminus of NY Route 2. Western terminus of MA Route 2.
			U.S. Route 7	Southern terminus of US-7/Route 2 concurrency.
			U.S. Route 7	Northern terminus of US-7/Route 2 concurrency.
			Route 43	Northern terminus of Route 43.
	North Adams		Route 8	Western terminus of Route 2/8 concurrency.
			Route 8	Eastern terminus of Route 2/8 concurrency.
Franklin	Charlemont		Route 8A	Western terminus of Route 2/8A concurrency.
			Route 8A	Eastern terminus of Route 2/8A concurrency.
	Shelburne Falls		Route 112
	Greenfield		Interstate 91 Route 2A	Southern terminus of I-91/Route 2 concurrency (I-91 Exit 26). Western terminus of Route 2A.
			Interstate 91	Northern terminus of I-91/Route 2 concurrency (I-91 Exit 27).
			U.S. Route 5 Route 10	Interchange.
	Turners Falls		Route 2A	Western terminus of Route 2/2A concurrency.
	Millers Falls		Route 63	Interchange.
	Orange		Route 2A	Eastern terminus of Route 2/2A concurrency.
freeway begins at

Acton to Lexington

County	Location	Mile	Roads Intersected	Notes
freeway ends at Piper Road/Taylor Road in Acton (after Exit 42/43).
Middlesex	Concord	120.60	Route 2A Route 119	Western terminus of Route 2/2A concurrency. Southern terminus of Route 119.
		121.60	Route 62
		124.00	Route 126	Northern terminus of Route 126.
			Route 2A	Eastern terminus of Route 2/2A concurrency.
freeway resumes at in Lexington.

Cambridge to Boston

County	Location	Mile	Roads Intersected	Notes
freeway ends at (Alewife Brook Pkwy.).
Middlesex	Cambridge		U.S. Route 3 Route 16 Alewife Brook Pkwy.	Northern terminus of US-3/Route 2/16 concurrency.
			Route 16 Huron Avenue	Southern terminus of US-3/Route 2/16 concurrency. US-3/Route 2 concurrency continues.
			U.S. Route 3 Memorial Drive	Southern terminus of US-3/Route 2/16 concurrency. Route 2 exits Memorial Drive via the Boston University Bridge eastbound.
Suffolk	Boston		U.S. Route 20 Commonwealth Avenue	Eastern terminus of U.S. Route 20. (Kenmore Square) Route 2 leaves Beacon Street for Commonwealth Avenue eastbound.
			Route 2A Massachusetts Avenue	Eastern terminus of Route 2A.

Exit list

Exit numbering starts in Orange (the Super-2 freeway), with the first exit numbered 14. Exit numbering continues sequentially (with the exception of 29, which is an at-grade intersection not up to freeway standards), until Acton, at Exit 42 (43 westbound) where the freeway section temporarily ends. The freeway restarts at I-95, with numbering starting at 52 and continuing to 60. Exit 60 on Route 2 (Lake St.), along with Exit 60 on I-95 (Route 286), are the highest numbered exits in the state of Massachusetts.

Town	Mile	#	Destination(s)	Notes
Freeway begins at . exists west of I-91 as a surface road.
Greenfield			I-91 North – Bernardston, Brattleboro, VT I-91 South/Route 2 West – Springfield, North Adams	Eastbound entrance/westbound exit only. Route 2 joins I-91 westbound and leaves eastbound.
			US-5/Route 10 – Greenfield, Bernardston
Freeway ends at in Greenfield, at-grade intersection.
Freeway resumes at in Erving, at-grade intersection.
Orange		14	West River Street – Orange Center
		15	Route 122 – Orange, Worcester
		16	U.S. Route 202 South – Belchertown Daniel Shays Highway – Athol	U.S Route 202 joins eastbound and leaves westbound.
Athol		17	Route 32 – Athol, Petersham
Phillipston		18	Route 2A – Athol, Phillipston
		19	US-202 North/Route 2A – Phillipston, Winchendon	U.S. Route 202 leaves eastbound and joins westbound.
Templeton		20	Baldwinville Road – Templeton, Baldwinville
		21	Routes 2A/101 – Templeton, Ashburnham
Gardner		22	Route 68 – Gardner, Hubbardston
		23	Gardner, South Gardner
Westminster		24	Route 140 North/West Main Street – Ashburnham, Winchendon	Route 140 joins eastbound and leaves westbound. Split into Exits 24B-A westbound.
		25	Route 2A/Route 140 South – Fitchburg, Princeton	Route 140 leaves eastbound and joins westbound.
		26	Willard Road, Village Inn Road	Eastbound exit only.
		27	Narrows Road, Depot Road
Fitchburg		28	Route 31 – Fitchburg, Princeton
		(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/South Street – Leominster, Fitchburg
		31A-B	Route 12 – Leominster, Fitchburg
		32	Route 13 – Leominster, Lunenburg
		33	I-190 south – Leominster, Worcester	Northern terminus of I-190
Lancaster		34	Mechanic Street/Harvard Street
		35	Route 70 – Lancaster, Lunenburg	Northern terminus of Route 70.
		36	Shirley Road – Shirley
		37(B)	Jackson Road – Devens Reserve Forces Training Area	No public access to Exit 37A (westbound)
Harvard		38A-B	Route 110/Route 111 – Harvard, Worcester, Ayer, Groton
Littleton		39	Taylor Street – Littleton, Boxboro
		40A-B	I-495 – Marlboro, Worcester, Lowell, Lawrence
Boxborough		41	Newtown Road/Central Street – West Acton, Littleton
Acton		42	Route 27 – Acton, Maynard
	118.00	43	Route 111 north – West Acton	Westbound exit/eastbound entrance only. Left exit.
Freeway ends at Piper Road/Taylor Road traffic light in Acton.
Freeway resumes just east of Lincoln-Lexington line.
Lexington	128.70	52A-B	I-95/Route 128 – Attleboro, Peabody
		53	Spring Street – Lexington, Waltham	No westbound exit.
		54A-B	Waltham Street – Lexington, Waltham	Westbound exits/eastbound entrances only.
		55	Pleasant Street – Lexington, Waltham	Eastbound exit/westbound entrance only.
	131.60	56	Route 4/Route 225 – Lexington, Bedford Winter Street – Waverly	Southern terminus of Route 4. Eastern terminus of Route 225.
Arlington	131.70	57	Dow Avenue – Arlmont, Arlington, Belmont
Arlington/Belmont		58	Park Avenue – Belmont, Arlington Heights
	133.90	59	Route 60 – Arlington Center, Belmont Center
Arlington	135.00	60	Lake Street – East Arlington, Belmont
Cambridge			Alewife T Station	Eastbound exit only.
Freeway ends at (Alewife Brook Pkwy.) in Cambridge, at-grade intersection.

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.

References

1. ^ Executive Office of Transportation, Office of Transportation Planning - 2005 Road Inventory
2. ^ Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Project Information

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