Massachusetts Route 2A

Route 2A marker

Route 2A

Map of northern Massachusetts with Route 2A highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MassDOT
Length: 98.5 mi[1][2] (158.5 km)
Major junctions
West end: I91 / Route 2 in Greenfield
  US 5 / Route 10 in Greenfield
US 202 / Route 2 in Phillipston
I495 in Littleton
I95 / Route 128 in Lexington
US 3 in Arlington
US 3 / Route 16 in Cambridge
US 3 / Route 3 in Cambridge
East end: Route 2 in Boston
Location
Counties: Franklin, Worcester, Middlesex, Suffolk
Highway system
Route 2US 3

Route 2A exists in several sections of Massachusetts, mainly as parts of former Route 2 that have been moved or upgraded. Route 2A runs from Greenfield in the west to Boston in the east. Route 2A used to extend all the way to Shelburne Falls in Buckland in the west, but as of 2007, the route now terminates at Interstate 91 in Greenfield.

Route description

Eastbound at the Garden Theater in Greenfield
Route 2A signage on Massachusetts Avenue near MIT.

Route 2A begins at the rotary intersection of Route 2 at Interstate 91 in Greenfield. It passes through downtown Greenfield before reconnecting to its parent route just west of the Greenfield-Gill town line. After a 12.6-mile silent concurrency, Route 2A leaves its parent road once more, passing through Orange and Athol. In Athol it passes the former northern terminus of Route 21, which was truncated to Belchertown after the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. From Phillipston through Westminster, Route 2A weaves around its parent route, crossing it a total of six times with five exits of access off of Route 2. In Fitchburg the road is shared with several other routes as it passes through the northern half of town. Once in Lunenburg it has another short concurrency with Route 13 just north of the former Whalom Park before crossing into Middlesex County at Shirley.

In Shirley, Route 2A passes north of Fort Devens into Ayer before heading into Littleton before crossing Interstate 495 at Exit 31. It then turns south through Acton and into Concord before Route 2A rejoins its parent route once more. As a silent concurrency it passes south of the historic center of town and north of Walden Pond before splitting again. Route 2A then passes through the Minuteman National Historical Park along the Great Road, the route taken by British troops between the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It then leaves the park, intersecting with I-95/Route 128 at Exits 30 A-B. The road passes south of Lexington's town center before winding into Arlington. In Arlington, the road begins a concurrency with U.S. Route 3 which eventually joins the route to Massachusetts Avenue. After US 3 leaves Mass Ave. at the Alewife Brook Parkway, Route 2A continues through the city of Cambridge, passing through Harvard Yard and by MIT. It intersects the junction of US 3 and Massachusetts Route 3 at Memorial Drive before crossing the Harvard Bridge (also known as the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge) before crossing into Boston, ending at Route 2 and Commonwealth Avenue.

In 2013, Route 2A signs were extended 2.2 miles further into Boston through the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods along Massachusetts Avenue, passing over the Massachusetts Turnpike/Interstate 90 by its junction with Boylston Street, rolling past Symphony Hall at Huntington Avenue at Route 2A's junction with Massachusetts Route 9, intersecting at Massachusetts Route 28 two blocks later, and ending at Melnea Cass Boulevard (which connects with Interstate 93 / US 1 / Route 3) in Roxbury. Not only did neither MassDOT, nor the Boston Transportation Department, acknowledge that Route 2A had been extended, they denied knowing who put up the signs, indicating it was the action of an unknown organization. The Route 2A signs themselves have either wrong directional banners (signed as a north-south highway at least once north of Melnea Cass Boulevard) or are signed backwards (east going west and vice versa), as it heads in a northwesterly direction towards Commonwealth Avenue beyond Tremont Street. On February 26, Boston TV station, Fox 25 aired a report 'exposing' these wrong signs and their attempt to track down the source. In the report, Boston transportation officials admitted they had paid a private firm, Jacobs Engineering, to manufacture and put up the signs. The signage errors were caused by problems with the plans given Jacobs that apparently were not checked for accuracy before they were approved. The city said they were going to take action against the firm to recoup moneys from Jacobs, and would work to fix the signs as soon as possible.[3] Meanwhile, a MassDOT official reiterated that the eastern terminus of Route 2A is at the intersection of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenue and that crews would be removing the MA 2A signs further east soon.

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[2]kmDestinationsNotes
FranklinGreenfield0.00.0 I91 / Route 2 North Adams, Boston, Springfield, Brattleboro, VTWestern terminus at a traffic circle; Exit 26 on I-91
1.11.8 US 5 / Route 10 Deerfield, BernardstonCourt Square
4.16.6 Route 2 west North Adams, WilliamstownWestern terminus of silent concurrency with Route 2
Gill8.012.9French King Bridge over the Connecticut River
Erving9.114.6 Route 63 Northfield, AmherstInterchange; connection via local roads
16.726.9 Route 2 east Athol, BostonEastern terminus of silent concurrency with Route 2
Orange18.930.4 Route 78 north Warwick, Winchester, NHSouth end of Route 78
20.232.5 Route 122 south to US 202 New Salem, WorcesterNorth end of Route 122
WorcesterAthol25.240.6 Route 32 north West RoyalstonWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 32
26.642.8 Route 32 south PetershamEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 32
27.744.6 Route 2 west / US 202 south Greenfield, BelchertownExit 18 on Route 2 / US 202
Phillipston28.445.7 Route 2 east / US 202 north Boston, WinchendonExit 18 on Route 2 / US 202
30.749.4 Route 2 / US 202 south Fitchburg, Greenfield, BelchertownExit 19 on Route 2, western terminus of concurrency with US 202
Templeton31.550.7 US 202 north BaldwinvilleEastern terminus of concurrency with US 202
34.555.5 Route 101 south Queen LakeWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 101
35.557.1 Route 2 Fitchburg, GreenfieldExit 21 on Route 2
36.258.3 Route 101 north GardnerEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 101
Gardner38.662.1 Route 68 Hubbardston, Gardner
Westminster43.870.5 Route 2 east / Route 140 south Boston, ShrewsburyWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 140
Exit 25 on Route 2
44.070.8 Route 2 west / Route 140 north Gardner, WinchendonEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 140
Exit 25 on Route 2
Fitchburg47.776.8 Route 31 south PrincetonWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 31
48.878.5 Route 12 north AshburnhamWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 12
49.679.8 Route 12 south LeominsterEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 12
50.681.4 Route 31 north AshbyEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 31
Lunenburg53.485.9 Route 13 south LeominsterWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 13
53.786.4 Route 13 north TownsendEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 13
58.093.3 Route 225 east Groton, WestfordWest end of Route 225
MiddlesexAyer63.0101.4 Route 111 north Nashua, NHWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 111
64.7104.1 Route 111 south / Route 110 west to Route 2 Harvard, WorcesterEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 111
Western terminus of concurrency with Route 110
Littleton69.2111.4 I495 Marlboro, LowellExit 30 on I-495
69.8112.3 Route 110 east / Route 119 west Chelmsford, GrotonEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 110
Western terminus of concurrency with Route 119
Acton74.8120.4 Route 27 Chelmsford, Acton
Concord77.6124.9 Route 119 east / Route 2 west / Route 111 north Fitchburg, West ActonEastern terminus of Route 119, south end of Route 111
Western terminus of silent concurrency with Route 2
78.9127.0 Route 62 West Concord, Bedford
81.1130.5 Route 126 south Walden PondNorth end of Route 126
82.2132.3 Route 2 east / Cambridge Turnpike BostonEastern terminus of silent concurrency with Route 2
Lexington85.3137.3Marrett Road  Minuteman Park
85.6137.8 I95 / Route 128 Dedham, Providence, RI, Peabody, Portsmouth, NHExit 30 on I-95 / Route 128
88.3142.1 Route 4 north / Route 225 west Bedford, CarlisleWestern terminus of concurrency with Routes 4 and 225
88.4142.3 Route 4 south / Route 225 east Belmont, CambridgeEastern terminus of concurrency with Routes 4 and 225
Arlington92.0148.1 US 3 north / Mystic Valley Parkway Arlington, WinchesterWestern terminus of concurrency with US 3
92.2148.4 Route 60 east Medford, MaldenWestern terminus of concurrency with Route 60
92.3148.5 Route 60 west (Pleasant Street) / Massachusetts AvenueEastern terminus of concurrency with Route 60, Route 2A / US 3 join Mass. Ave
Cambridge93.7150.8 US 3 south / Route 16 (Alewife Brook Parkway)Eastern terminus of concurrency with US 3
95.9154.3Harvard YardRoute 2A passes through Harvard University
97.8157.4 US 3 north / Route 3 south (Memorial Drive) to Route 2Interchange, north end of Route 3, south end of US 3
Charles RiverHarvard Bridge
SuffolkBoston98.5158.5 Route 2 (Commonwealth Avenue) Kenmore Square, Downtown BostonEastern terminus according to MassDOT
Massachusetts Avenue continues east to I90 / Mass Pike
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. Executive Office of Transportation, Office of Transportation Planning - 2007 Road Inventory
  2. 1 2 Google (January 1, 2014). "Route 2A" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  3. Fox 25 News. "Wrong way street signs send Hub drivers on roads to nowhere. February 26. Video available at http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/24833885/wrong-way-street-signs-send-hub-drivers-on-roads-to-nowhere#ixzz2v99R2qJk

External links

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