The Massachusetts Turnpike (locally called the "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a toll road in Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning 138 miles (222Â km) along an west-east axis, it constitutes the easternmost portion of Interstate 90 (I-90), and is the longest Interstate Highway in Massachusetts.
Construction began in 1955, and the highway was opened in 1957; it was designated as part of the Interstate Highway System in 1959. The turnpike originally travelled from Route 102 in West Stockbridge to Route 128 in Weston. Its current western terminus was relocated at the Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway in 1959, while it was expanded easterly through Allston in 1964, downtown Boston to the Central Artery in 1965, and beyond Logan International Airport via the Ted Williams Tunnel in 2003.
Presently, the turnpike begins in the west as I-90 transitions from the Berkshire Connector in Canaan, New York into the turnpike in West Stockbridge. It intersects with several Interstate Highways as it traverses the state, including I-91 in West Springfield; I-291 in Chicopee; I-84 in Sturbridge; the junction of I-290 and I-395 in Auburn; I-495 in Hopkinton; I-95 (concurrent with Route 128) in Weston; and I-93 (concurrent with US 1 and Route 3) in Boston. The turnpike merges into Route 1A near Logan International Airport in Boston, marking its eastern terminus.
The highway was originally maintained by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which after experiencing administrative conflicts in the early 2000s, was succeeded by the newly formed MassDOT in 2009. The implementation and removal of tolls in some stretches of the turnpike have been controversial; presently, travel between most, but not all, exits require payment. The Fast Lane electronic toll collection system was introduced alongside cash payment in 1998; it was later folded into the E-ZPass branding in 2012. The original toll booths were demolished and replaced by toll gantries with the transition to open road tolling in 2016, which replaced cash payment with "pay-by-plate" billing.
Route description
The Massachusetts Turnpike is informally divided into two sections by MassDOT: the original 123-mile (198Â km) "Western Turnpike" extending from the New York state border through the interchange with I-95 and Route 128 at exits 14 and 15 in Weston, and the 15-mile (24Â km) "Boston Extension" that continues beyond exits 14 and 15 through the capital city. It is a four-lane highway from the New York state border through its interchange with I-84 at exit 9 in Sturbridge; it expands to six lanes beyond this interchange, and briefly travels with eight lanes from exit 17 in Newton through exit 22 by the Prudential Center in Boston. The .75-mile (1.21Â km) underwater section of the Ted Williams Tunnel, which carries the turnpike under Boston Harbor to its eastern terminus at Route 1A by Logan International Airport, reduces to four lanes. There are 11 service plazas along the turnpike; each include a Gulf gas station, a Gulf Express convenience store, and restrooms, with fast food offerings varying by location. Lee, Blandford, Ludlow and Charlton have service plazas in both directions, Westborough and Framingham facilities are only accessible westbound, and the Natick service plaza is only accessible eastbound.
Western Turnpike
In the west, the turnpike begins where the Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway in Canaan, New York (designated as I-90) enters Massachusetts through Berkshire County and becomes the turnpike in West Stockbridge. Most toll plazas, now demolished, were located on the entrance/exit ramps before entering the turnpike itself. An exception was the mainline West Stockbridge toll plaza, designed for toll collection from inbound traffic from New York; it existed shortly after exit 1, an eastbound-only entrance and westbound-only exit in Massachusetts. It crosses the Williams River later in West Stockbridge, and passes over the Housatonic River in Lee. The 30-mile (48Â km) gap between exit 2 to US 20 in Lee and exit 3 to US 202 and Route 10 in Westfield (the first in Hampden County) is the longest gap between exits on the turnpike, and the seventh-longest gap between exits in the entire Interstate Highway System. The highest elevation on the turnpike exists in The Berkshires, reaching 1,724 feet (525Â m) above sea level in Becket; this point is also the highest elevation on I-90 east of a 1,729-foot (527Â m) peak in Oacoma, South Dakota.
The turnpike has an interchange with I-91 and US 5 at exit 4 in West Springfield; it passes over the Chicopee River before reaching I-291 at exit 6 in Chicopee, and crosses the Quaboag River in Palmer. The turnpike first exits into Worcester County in Sturbridge, where exit 9 is the eastern terminus of I-84. In Auburn, exit 10 deposits traffic into the route transition of I-395 traveling southbound and I-290 traveling eastbound. The Blackstone River flows underneath the turnpike in Millbury, where it has an interchange with Route 146 and a second direct connection to US 20 at exit 10A. Entering Middlesex County in Hopkinton, it intersects with I-495 at exit 11A. The turnpike crosses the Sudbury River between exit 12 at Route 9 and exit 13 at Route 30, all located within Framingham. The last connection with another Interstate Highway on the Western Turnpike is located in Weston, at the I-95 and Route 128 concurrency. This multi-piece interchange is collectively referred to as the "Weston tolls". Exit 14 is an eastbound exit and westbound entrance, and exit 15 is a westbound exit and eastbound entrance; prior to demolition, a mainline toll plaza existed for through traffic. Following the removal of the toll plazas, exit 15 was reconfigured into exit 15A for I-95 and Route 128, and exit 15B towards Route 30. At this junction, the turnpike crosses over the Charles River.
Boston Extension
The first exit of the Boston Extension, exit 16 is an eastbound entrance and westbound exit at Route 16 in Newton. The turnpike enters Suffolk County in Boston before reaching the "Allstonâ€"Brighton tolls", depositing traffic towards the Boston neighborhoods of Allston and Brighton, and the nearby city of Cambridge. Exit 18 is a lefthand eastbound exit and westbound entrance, and exit 20 is a westbound exit and eastbound entrance; a mainline toll plaza was previously placed in between them for through traffic, and was classified as "exit 19". Compensating for the sparsity of eastbound entrances and westbound exits in Back Bay and Downtown Boston, a westbound U-turn ramp heading eastbound was opened in Allston in 2007; while unsigned with an exit number, it is recognized as exit 20A for administrative purposes. The turnpike crosses over the Muddy River past the Allstonâ€"Brighton tolls.
Exits 22 and 22A are located within the Prudential Tunnel, which takes the turnpike underneath the Prudential Center; the former is an eastbound exit towards the Prudential Center and Copley Square, while the latter is a westbound-only entrance from Clarendon Street. Beyond the Prudential Tunnel, exit 24 is labeled as a singular exit traveling westbound, but splits into three ramps for eastbound travel; exit 24A is a lefthand exit towards South Station, while exits 24B and 24C are directed towards I-93 northbound and southbound, respectively. The turnpike travels under the Fort Point Channel before reaching South Boston at exit 25, after which it enters the Ted Williams Tunnel to pass beneath Boston Harbor. Exit 26 to Logan International Airport is the sole exit within the Ted Williams Tunnel, before the turnpike exits the tunnel and merges into Route 1A northbound toward Revere.
Air rights
Much of the air space ("air rights") over the Boston Extension has been leased to third parties for commercial development. This concept was originally designed to "knit together communities" that were divided by the new highway, since the turnpike had been described as "wider and more divisive to the city" than the original Central Artery. More recently, the income received from the leased air rights have been used for paying off the Big Dig. Presently, there are 23 parcels of air space over the highway, the majority of which have not yet been developed. Among other objectives, guidelines established by the "Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights in Boston" in 2000 recommend that the proposed use of the parcels "[foster] increased use and capacity of public transportation" and "[reinforce] the vitality and quality of life in adjacent neighborhoods".
The Star Market (briefly renamed Shaw's Supermarket) in Newton is the earliest example of commercial construction over the turnpike. In the 1960s, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority intended to route the highway through the parking lot of the supermarket's previous location in the city; this alignment that was ultimately approved by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, under the condition that a replacement Star Market was allowed to be built over the turnpike. Other projects developed through air rights include the Crowne Plaza (a Sheraton Hotel until 2009) in Newton, the Copley Place shopping mall in Boston, and the Prudential Center in Boston. Proposals for future air rights projects include the mixed-use Fenway Center, and an extension of the Boston University campus near Boston University Bridge.
Tolls
As of 2009, toll revenue generated from the Massachusetts Turnpike is to be spent in the section in which it was collected, either the Western Turnpike or the Boston Extension (alternatively named the "Metropolitan Highway System" for administrative purposes). Tolls from exit 1 in West Stockbridge through exit 6 in Chicopee were removed by then-Governor Bill Weld in 1996, following complaints that the tolls collected in Western Massachusetts were financing the Big Dig in Boston; they were ultimately reinstated in October 2013.
At the recommendation of former Secretary of Administration and Finance Eric Kriss, who recommended that tolls be eliminated along the entire turnpike with the exception of the tunnels leading to Logan International Airport, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority voted to remove all tolls west of Route 128 in Weston in October 2006. Members of the Massachusetts Legislature Transportation Committee cited the potential need to amend state law and the uncertainty of how the turnpike would be maintained as setbacks to the toll removal, which ultimately never came to fruition.
The issue of the removal of the tolls is highly charged politically. Several members of the state Democratic Party declared this as a political maneuver to bolster the gubernatorial campaign of Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a Republican, who was behind in the polls at the time of the announcement. Also, because the MTA Board is composed of Romney appointees, Kriss's former association with the Romney administration and the ongoing election at the time, the issue was clouded by accusations of partiality and political agendas from both sides of the aisle.
In the November 9, 2006, edition of The Boston Globe, Romney announced his intention to try to remove the tolls before Governor-elect Deval Patrick, a Democrat, was inaugurated in January 2007, but this did not occur. As of November 2008, Patrick's plan was to remove all tolls west of Interstate 95, except at the West Stockbridge and Sturbridge tolls, but this also did not occur before the end of his term in January 2015. State law requires tolls to be removed west of Route 128 when its debt is paid and the road is in "good condition", but MassDOT plans to continue tolls after the bonds are paid off in January 2017, because the road will still need $135 million per year for repairs and maintenance.
Toll plazas
The turnpike traditionally utilized the ticket system for toll collection; a driver would obtain a ticket from an onramp, which they would surrender on an offramp and pay a toll based on traveled distance. While most toll plazas were located on the entrance/exit ramps by the turnpike, exceptions included the mainline toll plazas in West Stockbridge, Weston, and Allstonâ€"Brighton. Electronic toll collection was introduced as an alternative to cash payment with Fast Lane transponders in 1998; when installed in the inner windshield of a vehicle, the equipment would be recognized automatically in special lanes at toll plazas, and would withdraw the toll amount from the motorist's account. It was first sponsored by BankBoston, and later FleetBoston Financial, before sponsorship was assumed by Citizens Bank in 2003. Motorists were previously charged $27.50 for the hardware itself, although this fee has since been removed. Citing federal highway regulations that prohibit sponsorship of toll plaza signage, the contract with Citizens Bank was not renewed upon expiration; the Fast Lane name was replaced with the E-ZPass branding, with which Fast Lane was interoperable, in 2012.
Open road tolling
In 2014, Raytheon won a $130 million contract to convert the Massachusetts Turnpike to all-electronic open road tolling. The stated goal of the change was to "make vehicle travel safer and more efficient". Additional changes include the elimination of toll booths and toll booth operators, as well as the demolition of existing toll plazas and reconfiguration of surrounding roadways. Overhead gantries between most exits will read EZPass transponders. Drivers without a transponder will "pay-by-plate", having their license plate photographed and an invoice sent to the registered owner. This method of payment adds a $3 surcharge per toll transaction, with payment made online, or in cash at a local retail location with an additional $2.95 fee. Installation of gantries began in January 2016; the "Go-Live" date was October 28, 2016. The inner segments of the toll booths were demolished 30 days after this date, which allowed traffic speeds to be raised. Complete demolition of toll booths and reconstruction is expected by the end of 2017, except for the Sumner Tunnel.
As there are no gantries between exits 4 and 7, or between exits 10 and 11, the Massachusetts Turnpike will essentially be free between those pairs of exits. Otherwise the plans are for the transition to open road tolling to be revenue neutral, meaning the tolls between any other pair of exits will only see small adjustments. Tolls will be slightly higher for out-of-state residents without an EZPassMA transponder, and no-transponder tolls will be higher still.
When all-electronic tolling went live on the Mass Pike, the Tobin Bridge, Callahan Tunnel, Sumner Tunnel, and Ted Williams Tunnel joined the system and were converted to charging a single toll in both directions, rather than a double toll in one direction. The Tobin Bridge was converted to all-electronic tolling for southbound only in July 2014.
In addition to license plate information, the gantries also collect vehicle speed data, which a MassDOT spokesperson said "will not be using the AET system to issue speeding violations". Toll data is not a public record that must be disclosed by Freedom of Information Act requests, and MassDOT "All data collected will remain secure and kept confidential." Toll data can be obtained by subpeona, and law enforcement will be able to specify license-plate numbers that will generate an immediate e-mail if detected by the system.
History
Construction and opening
Plans for the Turnpike date back to at least 1948, when the Western Expressway was being planned. The original section would have connected Boston's then-proposed Inner Belt to Newton with connections with US 20 and Route 30 for traffic continuing west. Later extensions would take the road to and beyond Worcester. From the beginning, the corridor was included in federal plans for the Interstate Highway System, stretching west to the New York state line and beyond to Albany.
Also included in the route was the planned Springfield Bypass, which had been proposed to provide a bypass of US 20 in the Springfield area. Part of this route (and that of the eventual Turnpike) used the grading from the never-opened Hampden Railroad. Similarly, the West Stockbridge Bypass provided a new route of Route 102 from Route 183 in Stockbridge west to Route 102 just east of the state line in West Stockbridge; this latter route was built prior to the Turnpike.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was created in 1952 by a special act of the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) upon the recommendation of Governor Dever and his Commissioner of Public Works, William F. Callahan. (1952 Acts and Resolves chapter 354; 1952 Senate Doc. 1.) The enabling act was modeled upon that of the Mystic River Bridge Authority (1946 Acts and Resolves chapter 562), but several changes were made that would prove of great importance fifty years later. Callahan served as chairman of the Authority until his death in April 1964.
Construction began in 1955, and the whole four-lane road from Route 102 at the state line to Route 128 (now also Interstate 95 in Weston) opened on May 15, 1957.
Interstate designation and expansions
The Interstate 90 designation was assigned to the Turnpike in 1959 with the completion of plans for the Interstate Highway System. Early proposals took I-90 across the northern part of the state, along Route 2, but this was rejected as too costly. With the completion of the Boston Extension, that too was designated as I-90. The Berkshire Thruway opened on May 26, 1959, connecting the west end to the New York State Thruway mainline south of Albany. Prior to its opening, traffic used Route 22 and US 20 in New York. At the Massachusetts/New York state line, one can see where the Turnpike made an abrupt right turn before terminating at Route 102, as the old pavement still exists for Turnpike Authority and State Police vehicles to access this remote stretch of highway.
After political and legal battles related to the Boston Extension inside Route 128, construction began on March 5, 1962, with the chosen alignment running next to the Boston and Albany Railroad and reducing that line from four to two tracks. In September 1964 the part from Route 128 east to exit 18 (Allston) opened, and the rest was finished on February 18, 1965, taking it to the Central Artery.
In the 1990s, then-Governor William Weld took the decision to turn over the assets of Boston's Big Dig project to the Turnpike Authority. During this time he appointed James Kerasiotes to the Turnpike Authority to continue the authority's oversight of the Big Dig project.
In 1991, construction began on the extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike to Logan Airport, via the Ted Williams Tunnel as part of the Big Dig interstate/tunnel project. The final extension opened in 2003; the eastern end of I-90 now merges into Route 1A.
The legislature separated the Turnpike into a western portion, from the New York border to Interstate 95, and the eastern Metropolitan Highway System, which includes a 15-mile (24Â km) stretch of the Turnpike from Interstate 95 to East Boston, the Ted Williams, Sumner, and Callahan tunnels under Boston Harbor, and I-93 from Southampton Street through the Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill tunnel and the Leonard P. Zakim Bridge to the foot of the Tobin Bridge. Finances for the two parts of the Turnpike are accounted for separately.
In response to a fatality caused by the collapse of the ceiling of the eastbound I-90 connector tunnel approaching the Ted Williams Tunnel on July 10, 2006, and in response to Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew J. Amorello's refusal (at the time) to resign, Romney took legal steps to have Amorello forcibly removed as head of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. This effort culminated in Amorello's resignation on August 15, 2006. The next day, John Cogliano was sworn in as the new Chairman of the Turnpike Authority by Romney.
On November 27, 2006, departing Attorney General Tom Reilly (Democrat) announced the state will launch a civil suit over the collapse of the ceiling in the Ted Williams Tunnel. The Commonwealth will be seeking over $150 million from project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, builder Modern Continental Construction Co. and the manufacturer of the epoxy used to hold the ceiling bolts.
Planned and proposed improvements
Future plans call for the re-routing of the highway over the former Beacon Park Yard, in order to free up space and make the highway safer. As of July 2016, the project hopes to break ground in 2019.
There have been proposals to add exits in Becket, Blandford, Warren, and Oxford since the removal of the toll booths. There is a 30-mile (48 km) gap between exit 2 (Lee) and exit 3 (Westfield)â€"the longest gap between exits on the entire Pikeâ€"and a 17-mile (27 km) gap between exit 8 (Palmer) and exit 9 (Sturbridge). If a car misses the exit, it is an hour to return. If those exits were built, the distance from Blandford to Westfield would be 11 miles (18 km) and the distance from Lee to Becket would be 7 miles (11 km). The Warren exit would cut the distance in half.
The Mass Turnpike uses a system of sequentially numbered interchanges. Every interaction with the highway is numbered and named, regardless of whether an exit is available or not. All interchanges were to be renumbered to mileage-based numbers with a two sign replacement projects scheduled for 2017 to 2018, however, the project contractors were told in May 2016 that they might be asked to put up the new signs with the existing numbers. This was indeed the case when the new exit signs started going up in June 2017. The exit tabs were designed, however, to be able to hold possible larger two- and three-digit numbers some time in the future.
Government oversight
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
Since 2001, the Turnpike Authority had come under fire from state politicians in a fight for control of the quasi-state agency. Beginning in 2001, former Massachusetts acting Governor Jane Swift (Republican) attempted to fire Christy Mihos, a former Turnpike board member and Jordan Levy, the current Vice Chairman of the board.
Mihos and Levy had cast votes on the board to postpone a toll hike. Swift objected, saying such a delay was "fiscally irresponsible" and saying the two men "interfered with the effective daily management of the Authority." Mihos and Levy refused to step down and sued Swift to retain their positions. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that the Turnpike was "not part of the machinery of the government" and therefore not subject to Swift's decisions.
Governor Mitt Romney, elected in 2002 during a fiscal crisis, ran on a political platform of streamlining state government and eliminating waste. Part of this was the elimination of the Turnpike Authority. Romney wanted to fold the Turnpike into MassHighway, the state highway department, operated under the Executive Office of Transportation. A first step to this was to replace the Chairman of the Board, Matthew J. Amorello with someone loyal to the Governor. The Governor has the power to appoint members to the board, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) advised in an advisory opinion that "nothing in G. L. c. 81A explicitly provides for the removal and reassignment of the chairperson to the position of "member."
Romney put pressure on Amorello to step down. Amorello announced he would do so in 2007, after Romney would have left office. Romney continued to press the legislature to give him the power to remove members from the board, specifically the chairman, pointing to a series of financial and construction mishaps over the last several years. However, the legislature instead sought to keep Amorello on board by extending the terms of various board members to prevent Romney from removing Amorello.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
At a January 22, 2009, board meeting, the Turnpike decided to stop charging a one-time $25.95 fee for the acquisition of a Fast Lane toll transponder, replacing it with a 50-cent monthly recurring service fee. The implementation of the 50-cent monthly fee was canceled after long delays at toll plazas on Easter Sunday.
Under a plan to save state funds, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) announced plans to close eleven of its branches in leased locations and move the operations into facilities owned by MassHighway and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority located in toll plazas, visitor centers, and offices. RMV branch closings were planned for Framingham, Lowell, North Attleboro, Cambridgeside Galleria Mall in Cambridge, New Bedford, Eastfield Mall in Springfield, Southbridge, Falmouth, Eastham, Beverly, and Boston. Also, a portion of the newly increased sales tax in the state averted a planned toll increase. The MTA will receive approximately $100 million from the state general fund over the next few years, alleviating the need for the toll hike.
Under legislation signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick on June 26, 2009, the turnpike was folded into a new super-agency that controls all surface transportation in the state. The new agency, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), operates all highways formerly under MassHighway and the Turnpike Authority as well as eight urban roadways formerly owned and maintained by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). In addition, MassDOT oversees the RMV, MBTA, regional transit authorities, and the state aeronautics commission. The new Transportation Department began operations on November 1, 2009. According to MTA board member Mary Z. Connaughton's blog entry for the Boston Herald, all of the pilgrim-hat signage unique to the Turnpike will be eliminated. However, in a personal correspondence with AARoads.com's road blog, a MassDOT official said that usage of the hat would actually increase. When guide signs on Interstates 95 and 495 are replaced, the current "MassPike" signage will be replaced with pilgrim hat shields.
The Turnpike Authority also owned the Callahan Tunnel and Sumner Tunnel, the other two road connections between downtown Boston and East Boston under Boston Harbor. Upon completion of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, all tunnels constructed as part of the Big Dig, including the O'Neill Tunnel segment of I-93, were transferred to its control. The Authority received no state or federal government funding. Its revenues came from tolls, leases on air rights and service areas, and advertising. Its assets were all transferred to the new MassDOT agency as part of the restructuring of agencies.
Exit list
References
- Ingraham, Joseph C. "Boston To Chicago; New Section of Thruway Completes Express Route Between Cities Boston To Chicago". The New York Times. May 24, 1959. Resorts Travel section, page XX1.
External links
- Official Web Site
- The Roads of Metro Boston - Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90)
- Speculative List of Future I-90/Mass Pike Exit Numbers