Plimoth Plantation Highway


Plimoth Plantation Highway is a short unnumbered two-lane freeway with plastic stanchions posted on a rumbled asphalt median in Plymouth in the US state of Massachusetts. The highway was created in 1951 as a segment of Massachusetts Route 3 between the modern highway and its previous alignment. The current name for the roadway was designated by the state in 1969.

Route description

The highway begins at exit 4 off Route 3, a partial interchange which is accessible only from the southbound side from which there is a left exit. Motorists on Plimoth Plantation Highway headed toward Route 3 can enter that highway northbound only. However, motorists may use exit 5 in order to reverse direction and ultimately travel southbound on Route 3. The highway proceeds east, serving Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth Beach and the village of Chiltonville. The highway ends at a special intersection in White Horse Beach and Manomet at Route 3A.

History

The first segment of Route 3 opened up in 1951 from what is now exit 9 to exit 4 and used Plimoth Plantation Highway temporarily to detour around the old Route 3 in Kingston and Plymouth, now renamed Route 3A, until 1957 when Route 3 south of exit 4 opened and assumed its current alignment. An act naming the spur Plimoth Plantation Highway was approved on April 3, 1969, 18 years after the highway had opened. The act references the highway as being exit 40, the old exit number before the Massachusetts Highway Department renumbered the exit in 1978.

Exit list