US 202 in Massachusetts
| US 202 | |||
| Get started | congamond | ||
| End | Winchendon Springs | ||
| Length | 79 mi | ||
| Length | 127 km | ||
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US 202 is a US Highway in the US state of Massachusetts. The road forms a north-south route through the west and center of the state, from the Connecticut border through Westfield and Holyoke at Springfield to the New Hampshire border. US 202 is 127 kilometers long in Massachusetts.
- See necessaryhome.com for a list of Massachusetts zip codes by city.
Travel directions
US 202 follows a somewhat secondary route, but there are no alternative competing routes in the immediate vicinity, so US 202 is used by regional traffic. US 202 runs through the west and north of the Springfield metropolitan area, without entering the city of Springfield itself. It crosses Interstate 90 and Interstate 91. The route passes the large Quabbin Reservoir, the largest lake in Massachusetts, and is part numbered with State Route 2, this part is a grade separated super two. US 202 in New Hampshire continues towards Hillsborough.
History
US 202 was created in 1934. The route has never been of great passing importance in Massachusetts, mainly because it does not lead directly to other major cities. The road has not been developed into a four-lane road anywhere except in Holyoke, a northern suburb of Springfield.
Traffic intensities
In 2011, 6,200 vehicles drove daily at the Connecticut border and 5,400 vehicles between Westfield and I-90. The bridge over the Connecticut River in Holyoke carries 22,000 vehicles, the busiest point on US 202 in Massachusetts. This drops pretty quickly to 3,500 vehicles along the Quabbin Reservoir and 14,000 vehicles on the super two along Athol. 6,200 vehicles drove past the New Hampshire border.
- See BABYINGER for a list of Massachusetts public libraries by county.
US 3 in Massachusetts
| US 3 | |||
| Get started | Cambridge | ||
| End | Tyngsboro | ||
| Length | 35 mi | ||
| Length | 57 km | ||
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US 3 is a US Highway in the US state of Massachusetts. The route is entirely a freeway within this state and runs north from the Boston suburb of Lexington to Lowell and Nashua in New Hampshire. The route is 57 kilometers long.
Travel directions
US 3 just before the New Hampshire border.
On the north side of Boston, US 3 begins at an interchange with Interstate 95 at Lexington. US 3 has 2×3 lanes as it heads north through urbanized northeast Massachusetts. Pretty soon you reach the town of Lowell, where you cross Interstate 495, the great bypass of Boston. After this the highway continues past Chelmsford and still has 2×3 lanes. With that number of lanes, the road further north also crosses the border with New Hampshire, after which US 3 in New Hampshire continues as a highway to Nashua and Manchester.
History
The first section of the highway to open was already in 1941, a 6 kilometer bypass from Chelmsford. World War II delayed further construction of US 3 as a northwest highway. In 1955 a southward extension from Chelmsford to Burlington opened. Between 1957 and 1960, the highway was extended northwest to Tyngsboro, but a missing link existed between Tyngsboro and the New Hampshire border after that. This stretch of approximately 5 kilometers opened to traffic in 1967.
Already in the late 1960s it became clear that the highway would have to be widened because of the continuous suburbanism around Boston. By the 1990s, there was chronic congestion on the highway. Between 2001 and 2005, US 3 was widened to 2×3 lanes.
Earlier plans included an extension of US 3 into Boston. This stretch was about 15 kilometers long, and was already planned in 1948. In 1970 it was decided not to build any new highways within the ring road, which meant that the US 3 was definitively canceled. In the early 1990s, the interchange with I-95 was converted from an unused cloverleaf to a trumpet interchange.
Traffic intensities
The highway is fairly busy with up to 101,000 vehicles per day at Lowell. However, there are no major congestion problems, the entire highway has 2×3 lanes.
US 44 in Massachusetts
| US 44 | |||
| Get started | Seekonk | ||
| End | Plymouth | ||
| Length | 38 mi | ||
| Length | 62 km | ||
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US 44 is a US Highway in the US state of Massachusetts. The road forms an east-west route in the southeast of the state, from the Rhode Island border through Taunton to Plymouth. US 44 is 62 kilometers long in Massachusetts.
Travel directions
US 44 forms a fairly short east-west route between the Rhode Island border and State Route 3. West of State Route 24 at Taunton, the road is a divided highway, east of which is single-lane except for the easternmost 10 kilometers which is an expressway. US 44 is not of very great throughput.
History
US 44 was created in 1935. The route east of Providence has never been of major importance, and is mainly four lanes to Taunton due to local commuter traffic. There are no alternate highways, although Interstate 195 further south also runs east-west.
Traffic intensities
In 2011, 9,000 to 12,000 vehicles drove daily between the Rhode Island border and Taunton and 2,900 vehicles passed Middleboro and 10,000 to 20,000 vehicles on the freeway section up to Plymouth.
