Last week we snuck a peek at part of the busiest interchange in the U.S., the interchange of I-5/I-10. Just to be symetrical, I thought we’d jump to the opposite corner of the interstate numbering grid — the interchange of I-90 and Route 128…er, I mean I-95… outside of Boston.
This interchange I am, unfortunately, familiar with as I have to pass through it on those days where I can’t telecommute from Connecticut.
It’s a convoluted interchange, where the MassPike intersects with Route 128, complicated further with interchanges with Route 30 on the north and Recreation Road to the south, as well as the Charles River on the east.
This is the east end of the ticket-controlled portion of the Mass Pike. All traffic coming from the west must stop and pay toll (or slow down to have their FastLane/EZ-Pass transponders read). Traffic coming from the east either pays a cash toll (if exiting onto Route 128/I-95), or they pickup their ticket/have their EZ-Pass scanned before continuing westbound on the Pike.
This interchange is a royal mess during rush hours. Both 128 and the Pike are seriously underpowered here, and the delay caused by the toll booths, aggravated by the merge back into 2-3 lanes doesn’t help matters either. (And don’t get me started on Massachusetts’ drivers lack of merge-ettiquette.)
This interchange is just northwest of a site I went exploring for some family geneological research, BTW. Pictures of that expedition are available here, if you’re interested.
For more Boston-area expressway trivia, I’d recommend Steve Anderson’s bostonroads.com.