Massachusetts Route 38

Route 38
Route information
Maintained by MassDOT
Length:	27.3 mi (43.9 km)
Major junctions
North end:	NH 38 in Pelham, NH
	Interstate 495 in Tewksbury Interstate 95/Route 128 in Woburn Route 16/Mystic Valley Parkway in Medford Route 28 in Somerville Interstate 93 in Medford/Somerville
South end:	Route 99 in Boston
Location
Counties:	Suffolk, Middlesex
Highway system
Massachusetts State Highway System Interstate US State ← Route 37 Route 39 → ← Route 3A Route 4 → ← Route 6A N.E. Route 7 →

Route 38 is a state highway in Massachusetts, United States, running 27 miles (44 km.) from Sullivan Square in Boston north via Lowell to the state line in Dracut, where it continues as New Hampshire Route 38 in Pelham, New Hampshire. Its south end is at Route 99, though most signage indicates that it ends at Route 28, its former end in Somerville.

History

The majority of Route 38 was originally designated as Route 6B in the New England road marking system, an alternate to New England Interstate Route 6. It began at Route 6 somewhere in Cambridge and made its way to present Route 38 in Somerville, running north on much the same alignment as is followed now, with the only real differences in Medford (where it used High Street (Route 60) rather than the Mystic Valley Parkway) and in Winchester center (where it ran via the rotary). In Lowell, Route 6B turned west on current Route 110, ending at the corner of Appleton Street and Gorham Street. (Route 6 came from the south on Gorham and turned west on Appleton; Route 6B came from the east on Appleton.)

In 1927, Route 6 became U.S. Route 3 north of Boston, and Route 6B became Route 3B. By 1928 the alignment in Cambridge was finalized. It began at the north end of the Boston University Bridge, which carried US 3 across the Charles River, and ran east on present Memorial Drive and Land Boulevard before turning north on the Northern Artery (present Route 28) to reach present Route 38 at Mystic Avenue. The whole alignment south of Mystic Avenue was shared with U.S. Route 1 and Route 28.

Between 1929 and 1933, Route 3B was renumbered Route 38. Between 1945 and 1950, it was extended north from Lowell to cross the Merrimack River on Gorham Street, then its present alignment to the newly formed New Hampshire Route 38. The present alignment in Lowell was adopted in or after 1954, when the new bridge across the Merrimack River was built.

By 1937, the concurrency with Route 60 in Medford was removed, and Route 38 was moved to use South Street between Main Street and Winthrop Street. Later it was shifted north to the Mystic Valley Parkway (Route 16) due to South Street becoming one-way eastbound.

In the early 1970s, many routes in the Boston area were renumbered or realigned. Route 38 was simply cut back to its split with Route 28, as it was concurrent with other routes the rest of the way to its southern end, and it was no longer tied to U.S. Route 3. At some point in the 1990s, signs were installed taking Route 38 southeast from Route 28 to a new terminus at Route 99 at Sullivan Square.

By 1989, Route 38 was moved to a short bypass around the rotary in Winchester center. Prior to that, it was coextant with Main Street all the way from the Medford-Winchester line to the Tewksbury-Lowell line. Even north of the Tewksbury-Lowell line, Main Street continues as Rogers Street for exactly one mile before Route 38 splits onto Nesmith Street towards Route 110; Main Street finally ends under the mentioned Rogers Street name around 3000 feet after that split at Lawrence Street in downtown Lowell.

Junction list

Southbound entering Winchester

Northbound entering Dracut

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Suffolk	Boston	0.0	0.0	Route 99	Southern end of Route 38 at Sullivan Square, Charlestown
Middlesex	Somerville	0.6	1.0	I‑93 – Concord NH, Boston	Exit 29 on I-93
		0.9	1.4	Route 28 – Malden, Somerville	Junction of McGrath Highway & Fellsway West
		1.6	2.6	I‑93 north – Lawrence, Concord NH	Exit 30 southbound on I-93
	Medford	2.1	3.4	Route 16 east – Everett, Revere	Access from Route 38 to the Mystic Valley Parkway
		3.0	4.8	Route 16 east to I‑93 – Revere	Begin concurrency with Route 16 along the Mystic Valley Parkway
		3.4	5.5	Route 16 west – Arlington	End concurrency with Route 16/Mystic Valley Parkway
		3.6	5.8	Route 60 – Medford Square, Arlington	Rotary junction
	Woburn	9.7	15.6	I‑95 / Route 128 – Peabody, Waltham	Exit 35 on I-95/Route 128, rotary interchange under interstate
	Wilmington	13.0	20.9	Route 129 east – Reading, Wakefield	Begin concurrency with Route 129
		13.4	21.6	Route 62 – Burlington, Concord, North Reading, Beverly
		14.3	23.0	Route 129 west – Chelmsford, Lowell	End concurrency with Route 129
	Tewksbury	21.3	34.3	I‑495 – Lawrence, Haverhill, Marlboro	Exit 38 on I-495
	Lowell	23.1	37.2	Route 133 east – Andover, Gloucester Route 110 west – Chelmsford, Worcester	Western end of Route 133. Begin concurrency with Route 110.
		23.4	37.7	Hunts Falls Bridge	Routes 38 & 110 cross the Merrimack River
		23.6	38.0	Route 110 east – Lawrence, Salisbury	End concurrency with Route 110 at rotary above VFW Parkway. Route 38 joins VFW Parkway west.
		23.8	38.3	VFW Parkway— To Route 113 / Route 3A / US 3 – Tyngsboro, Pepperell	Route 38 leaves VFW Parkway at end of John E. Cox Bridge
	Dracut	25.2	40.6	Route 113 – Methuen, Haverhill, Tyngsboro
		27.3	43.9	NH 38 north – Pelham	Northern end of Massachusetts Route 38. Southern end of NH Route 38.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

Route map: Bing / Google

• Various old maps