| I-93 | |||
| Get started | Canton | ||
| End | Methuen | ||
| Length | 46 mi | ||
| Length | 74 km | ||
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Interstate 93 or I -93 is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Massachusetts. The highway forms a north-south link in the east of the state and is the major transit route in the Boston Metropolitan Area. The highway begins southwest of Boston at Canton on Interstate 95 and runs east, then north through downtown Boston via the Central Artery. The highway then continues through the northern suburbs and crosses the New Hampshire border at Methuen. Interstate 93 is 74 kilometers long in Massachusetts.
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Travel directions
The southernmost part of I-93 at Milton.
The northern part of I-93 at Methuen.
The interstate begins southwest of Boston at a partially unused interchange at Clinton with Interstate 95. I-95 runs west of Boston and later crosses I-93 north of Boston again. I-93 then has 2×4 lanes and runs east through densely wooded area. This is actually a large suburban park. A few miles away begins State Route 24, a highway to Fall River and Bedford on the southern coast of the state. From here, the highway has 2×4 lanes. One then returns to the suburban area, around the suburbs of Braintree and Quincy. I-93 curves north here, while State Route 3 heads southeast to Cape Cod as a freeway.
I-93 is then called the Southeast Expressway, it runs due north and enters the city of Boston after the Milton suburb . Here is I-93 partially sunken with a city park on it. The highway then widens again to 2×4 lanes and misses an emergency lane. One then reaches downtown Boston, where a complicated interchange crosses Interstate 90, which runs east from the airport toward Worcester, Springfield and Albany. The motorway then goes underground, via the Central Artery. The entire route along the center is underground. Urban parks have been created on top of the tunnel. The road here is called the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway. On the north side of downtown, the highway immediately resurfaces to cross the 2×4 Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, a wide 2×4+2 lane cable-stayed bridge over the Charles River. Immediately after, exit onto US 1, which leads to the northeastern suburbs. The motorway then runs double-decker. One then enters the suburb of Summerville. The highway then runs 2×4 lanes through a large city park and then intersects Interstate 95 again at Woburn, which heads toward Portland, Maine.
The highway also has 2×4 lanes north of Boston, while driving through the highly urbanized north of Massachusetts. At Andover, the road narrows to 2×3 lanes and shortly after it crosses Interstate 495, Boston’s large ring road. You pass the twin town of Methuen-Lawrence, of which State Route 213 forms a northern bypass. Immediately afterwards they cross the border into New Hampshire and Interstate 93 in New Hampshire continues to the city of Manchester.
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History
Planning for the Southeast Expressway, from downtown Boston to the southern coastal cities, began in 1948. Construction began in 1954, and on June 30, 1959, the 12-mile stretch, including the Central Artery through Downtown Boston, was opened. In 1995, an alternate lane on southern I-93 was opened.
Construction of the Northern Expressway began in 1956, when the Interstate Highway system was created. The highway was subsequently opened in stages northward, extending 39 kilometers to the New Hampshire border in 1963. However, there was a missing 3 mile link between Somerville and Charlestown. This section did not begin construction until 1970 and was opened on February 1, 1973, completing I-93 through Massachusetts.
In 2012, the southernmost portion of I-93 between I-95 and MA-24 was widened from 2×3 to 2×4 lanes.
Big Dig
I-93 at Boston.
The John F. Fitzgerald Expressway runs through downtown Boston and was built in the 1950s. As early as the 1970s, major accessibility problems began to arise. The highway cut through the center on viaducts. As early as the 1970s, there were plans to replace the 2×3 highway with a wider tunnel. Construction of the tunnel began in 1994 and was completed in 2006. It was the largest and most expensive urban road project ever built in the United States. During construction, the existing highway had to be temporarily maintained, which significantly increased the costs of the project. In addition, the bridge over the Charles River also had to be replaced by a large cable-stayed bridge, which added to the costs. Many technical problems arose during construction. This project was completed in December 2007. I-93 has since gone underground in downtown Boston.
The Big Dig project consists of the following major works of art;
- Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Tunnel, the main tunnel of I-93
- Ted Williams Tunnel, the tunnel of the I-90
- Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, the cable-stayed bridge of I-93
- South Bay Interchange between I-90 and I-93
- Leverett Circle Connector Bridge next to the Bunker Hill Bridge
Traffic intensities
I-93 is a pretty busy road with lots of traffic jams. The intensities already start with 167,000 vehicles per day at Canton, and this increases to 182,000 at Quincy. At Braintree is the busiest part with 200,000 vehicles per day. About 150,000 vehicles cross Boston’s Zakim Bridge every day. In the north of the agglomeration this rises to 188,000 vehicles. Andover has 135,000 vehicles per day
