Interstate 290 (Massachusetts)


Interstate 290 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Spanning approximately, it is signed as an east-west spur route of I-90 in Central Massachusetts. The route begins in Auburn at I-90 as a northward continuation of I-395. It follows L-shaped route, the nominally western half of the route runs north into the city of Worcester, and upon leaving the city, turns to the east to its eastern terminus at I-495 in Marlborough. Past I-495, the road continues as an unnumbered 1-mile connector to the town of Hudson.

Route description

Exit numbers on I-290 are a continuation of I-395 exit numbers. I-290 begins as the continuation of I-395 in Auburn with exits to I-90, Route 12, and the Auburn Mall. 290 continues north through Worcester into Downtown, where Route 146 and I-190 split off. After 146, I-290 has exits for Route 122A, Route 122, downtown, and Route 9. After 190, 290 presumes east to a junction with Route 70, then continues over Quinsigamond Lake into Shrewsbury, where it goes northeast. 290 has a junction with Route 140 and starts east into Boylston and Northborough, where it travels northeast again. 290 enters Marlborough with an exit for Solomon Pond Mall and has its final junction with 495, where it terminates shortly after on the Route 85 Connector.

History

Originally, I-290 was to rejoin I-90 in Westborough, roughly where I-495 sits now. However, this route would have run through the town centers of Shrewsbury and Northborough. Additionally, I-290 was intended to be extended past I-495 to I-95/Route 128 in Waltham, but this was canceled under pressure from towns along the planned route. A brief two-lane connector heads to Route 85 as a result of this aborted plan. The interchange with I-495 was originally supposed to be a cloverleaf, but after the plan was canceled, it was modified with a flyover ramp onto 495-northbound. In 2004, the former exit 12 was closed when the Route 146 freeway was under construction between the Mass Pike and I-290. It was completed in 2007. The current exit 12 replaces the former one.

Future

Milepost-based exit numbering

While Massachusetts has used sequential exit numbers since 1964, the 2009 edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices required that all U.S. states submit plans to transition to milepost-based exit numbering by 2012. All interchanges were to be renumbered to milepost-based numbers under a project scheduled to start in 2016. However, this project was indefinitely postponed until November 18, 2019, when MassDOT confirmed that the exit renumbering project will begin, and "dual" mile markers with I-395 mileage will be installed, in late summer 2020. The department stated that it would consider re-designating I-290 as an extension of I-395 if the exit numbering project and dual mile markers are well-received by motorists.

Exit list

MassDOT is scheduled to replace sequential exit numbers with milepost-based exit numbers beginning in summer 2020.

Gallery