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 , it is the inner one of two beltways around Boston (the other being Interstate 495 [I-495]). 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 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 are a freeway, with the remainder being an expressway.
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 is furthermore used to reference the high-technology industry that developed from the 1960s to the 1980s in the suburban areas along the highway.
Route description
Concurrency with I-95 (Canton–Peabody)
Route 128 begins in the south in Norfolk County, at the interchange with I-93, I-95, and U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Canton. It immediately begins as a freeway. Until the 1990s, its southern terminus was located at the junction of I-93, US 1, and Route 3 (the Braintree Split) in Braintree. At this present-day terminus, Route 128 runs concurrently with I-95, and follows the mileage-based exit numbering scheme used by I-95 as it enters Massachusetts from Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It also begins a wrong-way concurrency with US 1; as Route 128 and I-95 are signed traveling north, US 1 is signed traveling south, and vice versa. US 1 splits onto its own roadbed at exit 29 (old exit 15) in Dedham.
The decision to route Interstate 95 through Route 128 In response to the outcome of the 1970 Boston Transportation Planning Review, Massachusetts focused federal highway funding on public mass transportation rather than building new highways through Boston and the inner suburbs ("inside of Route 128"), cancelling plans for completion of a Northeast Expressway and construction of a Southwest Expressway to carry I-95 through downtown Boston. This policy cascaded into designation of the segment of the Yankee Division Highway between the existing I-95 junction in Canton and the new I-95 junction in Peabody as I-95 rather than building a new highway to complete the connection, coupled with a decision to extend I-93 southward along the Central Artery and John Fitzgerald Expressway and onto the southern end of the Yankee Division Highway to the I-95 junction in Canton.
As a result of this political decision, about two thirds of Route 128 runs in tandem with I-95 from Canton north to Peabody, and after I-95 splits off and continues north from Peabody toward New Hampshire, Route 128 runs eastward on its own right-of-way from Peabody to Gloucester. The I-95 and I-93 signage were added in the mid-1970s when plans to construct I-95 through Boston, directly connecting the two I-95/Route 128 interchanges, were cancelled leaving a gap filled using Route 128. An unused cloverleaf in Canton, partially removed circa 1977, was one of the leftover structures from this plan as well as the existing expressway (part of US 1 since 1989).
The decision to reroute I-95 onto Route 128 rather than building a new highway inside of Route 128 has contributed to three significant problems.
At the junction in Canton, I-95 northbound uses the original cloverleaf, which is fairly tight, to transition from the southern segment to the Yankee Division Highway. More than a few unsuspecting truckers have entered the cloverleaf at full highway speed and thus managed to flip over their rigs. As a result, the cloverleaf has been referred to as "Dead Man's Curve" to locals. The I-95 overhead traffic also has become a major contributor to congestion on the segment of the highway known as I-95. The Southeast Expressway, as the only highway coming into Boston from the south, carries more than double its capacity on a daily basis. The highway is prone to some of the worst traffic in the region, as all traffic from south of the city (coming from three different highways) must merge onto this one route.
The political decision not to build new highways inside of Route 128 also led to abandonment of plans to extend the US 3 freeway from its current interchange with the Yankee Division Highway in Burlington to a junction with Route 2 in Lexington as originally planned. This decision caused a temporary reroute of US 3 onto the Yankee Division Highway, but in the opposite direction, to connect with its original route, one interchange to the north of the current junction, to become permanent.
A metropolitan planning organization for the Boston area studied the Route 128/I-95 Corridor from approximately 2005 to 2010. The study focused on the heavily congested section from I-90 (Newton) to US 3 (Burlington), and was completed in November 2010. As of 2010, the highway carried over 200,000 vehicles per day. Some possible improvements to Route 128 include HOV Lanes, reconstruction of shoulders, ramp metering, bus on shoulder, and fiber optic traffic system improvements. More studies will need to be completed before projects will begin.
Northern end (Peabody–Gloucester) The segment of the highway that still carries the sole designation as Route 128, which is a four-lane freeway for most of its length, was not originally built as a freeway. Many junctions in this segment were constructed as signaled intersections at grade in the 1950s and subsequently reconstructed with grade separation and interchanges in the 1960s—often with local streets that happened to be in convenient locations doubling as ramps for access to the highway. However, four junctions nearest the northern end in the town of Gloucester were not improved. Proceeding in the direction signed as northward beyond exit 55 (old exit 12, the interchange with Crafts Road), the route runs eastward as a four-lane undivided expressway through two rotaries, named Grant Circle (intersection with Washington Street) and Blackburn Circle (intersection with Dory Road going northward and Schoolhouse Road going southward) and another intersection at Route 127 (Eastern Avenue) to its terminus in another intersection at Route 127A (East Main Street/Bass Avenue).Google Map of this segment
Exit numbers After completion of the I-95/Route 128 interchange in Peabody in 1988, the State Highway Department changed the numbers of all exits south of the newly completed junction to those of the respective Interstate Highway designations. Since then, the highway has had three sets of exit numbers: I-93 exits 7–1 from the southern terminus to the I-95 junction in Canton, I-95 exits 26–64 (old exits 12–45) from the I-95 junction in Canton to the I-95 junction in Peabody, and Route 128 exits 37–55 (old exits 29–12) from the I-95 junction in Peabody to the northern terminus. The interchange with I-93 in Woburn, which was Route 128 exit 37 before the renumbering, became I-95 exit 37 (now exit 55) in the renumbering and thus coincidentally retained its number until the switchover with the mileage-based system in 2021. Along with other highways in the commonwealth, exits were renumbered with a mileage-based system in 2021.
History Original surface route As designated in 1927, the original Route 128, called the "Circumferential Highway", followed existing roadways from Gloucester to Hull through Boston's suburbs along local roads,1927 Rand McNally Boston and vicinity map running from Route 138 in Milton around the west side of Boston to Route 107 (Essex Street or Bridge Street) in Salem. Its route was as follows: Town/cityStreetsMiltonMilton StreetBoston Neponset Valley Parkway, Milton StreetDedhamMilton Street, High Street, Common Street, West StreetNeedhamDedham Avenue, Highland AvenueNewtonNeedham Street, Winchester Street, Centre Street, Walnut Street, Crafts Street, Waltham StreetWalthamHigh Street, Newton Street, Main Street (US 20), Lexington StreetLexingtonWaltham Street, Massachusetts Avenue (Route 2A, current Route 4/Route 225), Woburn StreetWoburnLexington Street, Pleasant Street, Montvale AvenueStonehamMontvale Avenue, Main Street (Route 28), Elm StreetWakefieldAlbion Street, North Avenue, Water Street, Vernon Street, New Salem Street, Salem StreetLynnfieldSalem StreetPeabodyLynnfield Street, Washington Street, Main StreetSalemBoston Street
By 1928, it had been extended east to Quincy from its south end along the following streets, ending at the intersection of Route 3 and Route 3A (current Route 3A and Route 53):1928 map of numbered routes in Boston and vicinity, prepared by the Massachusetts Department of Public Works for the New England Affairs Bureau, Boston Chamber of Commerce TownStreetsQuincyWashington Street, Hancock Street, Adams StreetMiltonAdams Street, Centre Street, Canton Avenue, Dollar Lane
The first section of the new Circumferential Highway, in no way the freeway that it is now, was the piece from Route 9 in Wellesley around the south side of Boston to Route 3 (current Route 53) in Hingham. Parts of this were built as new roads, but most of it was along existing roads that were improved to handle the traffic. In 1931, the Massachusetts Department of Public Works acquired a right-of-way from Route 138 in Canton through Westwood, Dedham and Needham to Route 9 in Wellesley. This was mostly wide, only shrinking to in Needham, in the area of Great Plain Avenue and the Needham Line. Much of this was along new alignment, but about half—mostly in Needham—was along existing roads: Royall Street from west of Route 138 to east of Green Street (Canton) Green Lodge Street from Royall Street (cut off by Route 128) to Route 128 Station (Canton and Westwood) Greendale Avenue from Lyons Street and Common Street just south of the Charles River to Hunting Avenue (Dedham and Needham) Fremont Street north from Highland Avenue (Needham) Reservoir Street from Central Avenue to Route 9 (Needham and Wellesley)MassHighway state highway layout plans: Canton: 2807 (July 14, 1931) Westwood: 2808 (July 14, 1931); 2831 (October 13, 1931) Dedham: 2806 (July 14, 1931); 2833 (October 13, 1931) Needham: 1832 (October 13, 1931); 2858 (December 22, 1931) Wellesley: 2857 (December 22, 1931)
From Route 138 in Canton east through the Blue Hills Reservation in Canton, Milton, Quincy and Braintree, Norfolk County acquired right-of-way in 1927MassHighway state highway layout plan 3960 and built the Blue Hill River Road. This tied into West Street in northwest Braintree, which itself had been taken over by the county in 1923.MassHighway state highway layout plan 6741
West Street led to Route 37, which ran southeast to Braintree center. This part of Route 37 had been taken over by the state in 1919 (to Braintree center)MassHighway state highway layout plan 1823 (June 24, 1919) and 1917 (in Braintree center).MassHighway state highway layout plan 1765 (September 4, 1917)
The rest of the new highway, from Route 37 east to Route 3 (now Route 53), through Braintree, Weymouth and Hingham, was taken over by the state in 1929. This was all along existing roads, except possibly the part of Park Avenue west of Route 18 in Weymouth.MassHighway state highway layout plans: Hingham: 2604 (September 3, 1929) Weymouth: plan 2603 is missing Braintree: 2602 (September 3, 1929)