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|
 Route 128 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankee Division Highway | ||||
 Route 128 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by MassDOT | ||||
| Length | 57.5829 mi[1] (92.6707 km) | |||
| Existed | 1927–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |    I-93 / US 1 / I-95 in Canton | |||
| North end |  Route 127A in Gloucester | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Massachusetts | |||
| Counties | Norfolk, Middlesex, Essex | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route 128, known as the Yankee Division Highway, is an expressway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts maintained by the Highway Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning 57 miles (92 km), it is one of two beltways (the other being Interstate 495 [I-495]) around Boston, and is known as the "inner" beltway, especially around areas where it is 15 miles (25 km) or less outside of Boston. The route's current southern terminus is at the junction of I-95 and I-93 in Canton, and it is concurrent with I-95 around Boston for 37.5 miles (60.4 km) before it leaves the Interstate and continues on its own in a northeasterly direction towards Cape Ann. The northern terminus lies in Gloucester a few hundred feet from the Atlantic Ocean. All but the northernmost three miles (4.8 km) are a freeway, with the remainder being an expressway. Its concurrency with I-95 makes up most of its length.
Originally designated in 1927 along a series of surface streets, Route 128 provided a circumferential route around the city of Boston. The original route extended from the seaport of Gloucester, on the North Shore, to the beach resort community of Hull on the South Shore. Construction of the present circumferential highway began in Gloucester in the early 1950s and progressed southward, in part on new alignments and in part by the improvement of older roads, and came to completion with the final link into the Southeast Expressway (Route 3/John Fitzgerald Expressway/Pilgrim Highway) at a three-way flying junction known as the Braintree Split. With the completion of the final segment of the Yankee Division Highway in Braintree in 1960, the segment of Route 128 through Braintree, Weymouth and Hingham was rerouted to run concurrently with Route 3 on the Southeast Expressway/Pilgrim Highway between the Braintree Split (Route 3 exit 42 [old exit 19], Route 128 exit 67) and exit 35 (old exit 14), then along Pond Street in Norwell to Queen Anne's Corner on the Hingham–Norwell line, retaining its original route from Queen Anne's corner to its terminus in Hull. Subsequent upgrades on the northern segment in the 1960s completed a full freeway from Braintree in the south to Gloucester in the north.
In local culture, "Route 128" is generally recognized as the demarcation between the more urban inner suburbs and the less densely developed suburbs surrounding the city of Boston. It also approximately delimits the region served by the rapid transit and trolley system operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).[a] It is furthermore used to reference the high-technology industry that developed from the 1960s to the 1980s in the suburban areas along the highway.[2]
- ^ Executive Office of Transportation. "Office of Transportation Planning - 2005 Road Inventory". Archived from the original on September 27, 2006.
- ^ "MassMoments: Route 128 Opens Boston's High-Tech Age". Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. August 24, 2006. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
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