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Interstate 495 (Massachusetts)

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Interstate 495 (abbreviated I-495) is the designation of an Interstate highway half-beltway in Massachusetts. It was the longest interstate highway of its kind – measuring in at 120.74 miles (194.40 kilometers) – until its title was taken by Interstate 476 in 1996.

I-495 has its northern terminus at Interstate 95 in Salisbury. The highway, forming an arc approximately 30 miles from Boston, intersects eight major radial expressways along its route: Interstate 93, U.S. Route 3, Route 2, Interstate 290, Interstate 90 (The Massachusetts Turnpike), Route 24 and Interstate 95 (twice). It has its southern terminus in Wareham, where Interstate 195 and Route 25 meet. Originally, the stretch from Route 24 to Interstate 195 was signed as Route 25; that status now only begins south of I-195.

I-495 is often regarded as the outermost boundary of the Greater Boston region (see the quote below): its northern extremity is close to the New Hampshire border; its southern end is just north of Cape Cod; west of 495 is the Worcester area and Central Massachusetts. In a more restricted sense, The Yankee Division Highway (Route 128 and the first 6.5 miles of Interstate 93), which is parallel to I-495 but closer to the city, is sometimes regarded as the outer boundary of Boston's immediate suburbs.

The stretch of 495 north and east of Route 2 until its terminus at Interstate 95 in Salisbury is also the main limited access highway connecting the communities of the more urbanized Merrimack Valley region, separate from its purpose as a beltway for Boston. This stretch of expressway closely follows Route 110.

Exit list

County Location Mile Exit # Destinations Notes
begins at
Plymouth Wareham 0.00 1 I-195 West – New Bedford, Providence, RI Mainline continues as MA-25
2.48 2 MA-58 – Carver, Plymouth
Middleborough 10.31 3 MA-28 – Rock Village, South Middleborough
Parking Areas
1 area NB, 2 areas SB
13.42 4 MA-105 – Middleborough Center, Lakeville
14.33 5 MA-18 – NB: Bridgewater, Plymouth; SB: Lakeville, New Bedford MA-18 North to US-44 East
14.78 6 US-44 – NB: Taunton, Providence, RI; SB: Middleborough, Plymouth
Bridgewater 19.35 7 MA-24 – Boston, Fall River Split into 7A and 7B
Bristol Raynham 21.71 8 MA-138 – Stoughton, Taunton
Taunton 24.82 9 Bay Street – Taunton, Easton
Norton 26.90 10 MA-123 – Norton, East Mansfield, Easton To Route 140 South
Mansfield 29.9 11 MA-140 South – Norton Partial interchange: SB exit/NB entrance only.
30.8 12 MA-140 North – Mansfield
Norfolk Foxborough 32.89 13 I-95 – Boston, Providence, RI Split into 13A and 13B
Plainville 35.54 14 US-1 – Wrentham, North Attleborough Split into 14A and 14B
Wrentham 37.36 15 MA-1A – Wrentham, Plainville
Franklin 41.17 16 King Street – Franklin, Woonsocket, RI
43.19 17 MA-140 – Franklin, Bellingham
Bellingham 45.79 18 MA-126 – Medway, Bellingham
Worcester Milford 48.30 19 MA-109 – Milford, Medway
50.47 20 MA-85 – Milford, Hopkinton
Middlesex Hopkinton 54.14 21 West Main Street – Hopkinton, Upton Split into 21A and 21B
57.87 22 I-90 (Mass Pike) – Boston, Albany, NY
Worcester Westborough 59.39 23AB MA-9 – Framingham, Worcester
Middlesex Marlborough 62.09 23C Simarano Drive – Marlborough, Southborough Interchange constructed in 2000.
63.11 24 US-20 – Marlborough, Northborough Split into 24A and 24B
64.87 25A To MA-85 – Hudson Connection via unnumbered connector road
64.87 25B I-290 – Worcester
Worcester Berlin 67.26 26 MA-62 – Berlin, Hudson
Bolton 69.93 27 MA-117 – Bolton, Stow
Middlesex Boxborough 74.57 28 MA-111 – Boxborough, Harvard
Littleton 77.55 29 MA-2 – Leominster, Boston Split into 29A and 29B.
79.09 30 MA-2A, MA-110 – Littleton, Ayer
80.12 31 MA-119 – Groton, Acton
Westford 83.20 32 Boston Road – Westford
Chelmsford
87.5 33 MA-4 – North Chelmsford Partial interchange: NB exit/SB entrance only
88.1 34 MA-110 – Chelmsford, Lowell Route 110 west to Route 4
89.1 35AB US-3 – Burlington, Nashua, NH
Lowell 89.3 35C Lowell Connector – Lowell Former exit 36
91.09 37 Woburn Street – South Lowell, North Billerica
Tewksbury 92.18 38 MA-38 – Lowell, Tewksbury
94.51 39 MA-133 – Dracut, Andover
Essex Andover 96.92 40 I-93 – Boston, Concord, NH Split into 40A and 40B.
99.30 41 MA-28 – Lawrence, Andover Split northbound into 41A and 41B.
Lawrence 100.06 42 MA-114 – Middleton, South Lawrence
North Andover 100.84 43 Massachusetts Avenue Also signed northbound for Commonwealth Avenue.
101.25 44 Merrimack Street
Lawrence 101.83 45 Marston Street – Lawrence
Methuen 103.00 46 MA-110 (Merrimac Street) – Pleasant Valley
103.93 47 MA-213 (Loop Connector)
Haverhill 105.66 48 To MA-125 – Ward Hill, Bradford Via unnumbered connector road.
106.52 49 MA-110/MA-113 (River Street)
107.18 50 MA-97 – Haverhill, Salem, NH
108.87 51 MA-125 – Haverhill, Plaistow, NH Split into 51A and 51B.
Parking Area
Northbound only.
111.05 52 MA-110 – Haverhill, Merrimac
Merrimac
Rest Area
Southbound only.
114.77 53 Broad Street – Merrimac, Merrimacport
Amesbury 117.72 54 MA-150 – Amesbury
118.74 55 MA-110 East To I-95 South – Salisbury, Boston Partial interchange: NB exit/SB entrance only. Entrance from 110 WB only.
Salisbury 120.74 Northbound I-495 merges onto northbound I-95.
Access to southbound I-495 from southbound I-95 only.
Source: Shadyjay.com

Quotations

"I think a Bostonian would rather go north or south than east to west. There is a sense that anything west of Route 495 needs a passport and currency control." --John Mullin, director of the University of Massachusetts' Center for Economic Development in 1998

References

External links



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