Massachusetts
Highway Photos
FEATURED GALLERY-NEW SIGNAGE ON MA 3 - PILGRIMS
HIGHWAY
MassHighway has been updating
the signage along MA 3 since 2005, they started replacing the exit signs from
south to north in 2007. The project is supposed to be completed in early Fall.
Here are photos of the new signage in place going northbound starting at
Exit 12 in early July 2008:
This is the standard signage north
of Exit 11/MA 14, the ground mounted signs were replaced with similar signage,
not with overhead signs that exist south of Exit 11. Overhead signage that previously existed
northbound for the previous exit were replaced with ground mounted signs in
anticipation of a long-discussed widening project that will increase the highway
to 3-lanes in each direction north of Exit 11.
The exception were signs at the
interchanges which went from ground mounted to a cantilevered design, here
for MA 139, Exit 12.
Similar design
for Exit 12/MA 53 (to) MA 123. The exit signs for Exit 10 were changed to
list MA 3A to MA 53, this was not done here.
Here's the signage
at Exit 14 MA 228. The control cities have changed at this exit. The former
signs listed Rockland and Nantasket as primary destinations, Hingham and Cohasset
as secondary. Now Hingham is the first listed primary destination, Nantasket
is demoted to a ground-level secondary destination and Cohasset is not mentioned
at all. The construction seen at left is what remains of a temporary bridge
used by traffic while the permanent north or southbound bridge was being
repaired. This job had been completed and they were starting to dismantle
the temporary bridge in July 2008.
Skipping a bit, there was no new
signage for MA 18/Exit 16, this is the new Exit 17 signage. This was a cantileverd
sign already, looks like they only replaced the structure holding the sign
itself.
The next exit northbound is Exit
19. The original wording, Quincy Center, MBTA Station caused some confusion
as drivers thought the wording was one destination, the Quincy Center T Station
and got confused when the got to the Quincy Adams Station. The addition of
Burgin Parkway and the line between the two are meant to help drivers differentiate
between destinations.
Now comes the most radical signing
revisions, Exit 20, Interstate 93/US 1. This is a new sign put up 2 miles
before the interchange (and is actually 1 mile north from one of the few mileage
signs put up recently by MassHighway that appears correct since it says I-93
is 3 miles away at that point). Notice it does not include the other route
designations (US 1, MA 3). More on that below.
Here's bonus signage on MA 3 southbound
showing that former Exit 18 is now Exit 19/18 since it has always incorporated
a ramp to Burgin Parkway.
Here is another bonus, showing
signage that is due to be replaced even though it reflects the route designations
accurately. The control city of Dedham will probably be changed to Canton
to reflect Exit 20 signage and the fact that I-93 has always ended there.
They may also remove the reference to Providence as well. The button copy signs will be going as
well.
New and old signage, the sign on
the right is new. Those overheads on the left still need to be replaced.
(1/3/09)
New signage further down the ramp
from Washington Street to (now just I-93), with an old MA 128 sign still
hanging on. 1/3/09.
OTHER MISC. SIGN PHOTOS
Misc. photos from
my collection going back several years...
This is the oldest 'sign' in my
collection, actually a mile marker put up by the along the Boston to Plymouth
Stage Shore Route in the early 19th Century. The sign is along MA 228 (East
Street) just to the west of the Weir River and MA 228's intersection with
MA 3A. This route largely became the route for NE 6A in the mid 1920's then
MA 3A before public works projects in the early 1930's put 3A on its current
alignment. If you have a hard time reading the sign it says it is 31 miles
to Plymouth and 16 miles to Boston.
These
first 2 (that can be seen in some browsers, but not others) were taken at
the same time in August of 1991 when they were doing sign replacement along
I-93 '128' from Canton to Braintree (17 years after the routes's I-93 designation)
the new signs also had US 1 which had been routed along this stretch of
I-93 officially since 1989. During this transition, the signs on the southbound
ramps had been changed, but not northbound, thus you could go south on both
ramps, either....
or here also...
Sorry for the state of the photos they were scanned off 3 x 5 prints
from a 20th century contraption known as a 35mm film camera.
The intersection of MA 3A
and MA 228 in Hingham, a somewhat unique 90 degree crossing of two north-south
routes (3A is actually going east/west here). Of the 4 routes that travel
through Hingham (3, 3A, 53, 228) all are signed N-S, but only 1, 228 actually
goes that direction for most of its path.
A view down South MA 3A from Kilby Street approaching the MA 228 intersection
seen above (this section would have been a multiplex of MA 3A/228 if a
plan in the mid- 1970's would have been carried out, 228 traffic would
have been re-routed on Kilby to avoid a steep curve on MA 228 then south
on MA 3A back to East Street. The thought of returning beachgoers having
to make a left here and the traffic jam it could entail, scuttled these
plans, though the multiplex appeared in some maps of the era. Route 228
was undergoing reconstruction at the time (2002), hence the construction
signs.
A rather unique, MA 3A sign, several appeared at this reconstructed
intersection of Hancock Street and the Southern Artery in Quincy in 2005.
