Interstate 190 (Massachusetts)


Interstate 190 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Spanning approximately along a south–north axis, it is a spur route of I-90 in Central Massachusetts. However, its southern terminus exists at its split from I-290 in Worcester, which itself splits from the turnpike in Auburn. Its northern terminus lays at an interchange with Route 2 in Leominster.

Route description

I-190 begins at a southern terminus with I-290 in Worcester. Near the Greendale Mall, there is an interchange with Route 12 before the highway passes along the eastern shore of Indian Lake and continues through the city of Worcester. In West Boylston, I-190 has another interchange with Route 12 before turning northwest into Holden and then to the north and crossing the Quinapoxet River. The freeway curves to the northeast reentering West Boylston and enters a more rural area. I-190 intersects Route 140 and Route 12 another time in Sterling. In Lancaster, I-190 has an exit for Route 117. North of Johnny Appleseed State Park and Lancaster State Forest, I-190 merges and terminates at Route 2 and Mechanic Street in the city of Leominster.
A portion of the highway was built with extra-wide shoulders, which are painted green, to prevent runoff from contaminating the nearby Wachusett Reservoir.

Exit list

All interchanges were to be renumbered to mileage-based numbers under a project scheduled to start in 2016. However, this project was indefinitely postponed until November 18, 2019, when the MassDOT confirmed that beginning in late summer 2020 the exit renumbering project will begin.