The Berkshire Mountains are a formidable barrier to commerce westward from Boston. For most of the 20th century, crossing this range always involved either railroads, travelling waaay to the south towards New York City, or navigating narrow, winding and steep graded two lane roads. One of the greatest engineering accomplishments of the 19th century was in fact a 6+km railroad tunnel under the Berkshires that was built not far northwest of here in the 1850s, as there was no other economical routing (this tunnel is still in use).
In the mid-1950s, The Massachusetts Turnpike was constructed to provide a safe and convenient way to get between the Boston metro area (and much of the rest of New England) and the rest of the USA to the west by eliminating the need to use the older two lane roads (ie. MA 2 and US 20). The original Turnpike ended here at at trumpet interchange with what was then just MA 128 in about 1957. A few years later the turnpike was extended eastward, opening to the Alston/Brighton interchange in 1964 and the rest of the way to what is now I-93 in 1965. The Turnpike/I-90 is currently being extended eastward to the Logan Airport area via the new 'Ted Williams Tunnel', due to be completely opened in 2001. I-95 was relocated to MA 128 after its proposed routings through the city were cancelled during the 1960s 'freeway revolt'.
The extension eastward from I-95/MA 128 resulted in an interestingly 'jury-rigged' interchange. The original Turnpike (westward from here) uses a 'ticket' system for collecting tolls while the newer part to the east uses 'barriers'. The original Turnpike used the northern toll plaza, still a fully 'get ticket/pay toll' gate. The nifty SB I-95/MA 128 to I-90 ramp was built over the MA 30 interchange at that time. Also, the easternmost end of the 'trumpet' crosses the Charles River twice. When the 1964 Turnpike extension was built, the 'flyover' ramp was extended to feed into the eastbound 'barrier' tollgate. The tollgate for the highway to the east uses the 'ticket' lanes in the middle (for the I-90 'through' lanes) with 'barrier' lanes on either side (for the ramps that connect to I-95/MA 128 and the local surface streets).
A fascinating place on a transcontinental highway.
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Just follow this sign to make your OWN great signs!!!! |
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This page © Michael G. Koerner |
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