Re: Traffic and road names.

[hopfgapr@sprynet.com]

Eli, I remember the Old Exit #s on Rt 128

One of the  big WEIRD things about exit numbers is that in the days of Rt 128 starting at Exit 9 (Why?) in Gloucester to Exit 69 (no jokes here) in Braintree, all the intersecting "freeways" would be designated so that Exit 25 was ALWAYS the Rte 128 exit. Rte 3 in braintree at the Rte 128/SE X-way merge was Exit 25, Exit # desending Southbound, Rte 24 at Rt128 was Exit 25, as was (AND STILL IS!) Rte 3 in Burlington at Rte 128.

Eli, do you know why? I always found that so curious...

My 2 favorite Exits...Exit 37 (BOTH on I-93 and I-95/128 at Woburn, conincidence?) and Exit 38 off I-495 is Rte 38! (Tewskbury/Lowell)

Paul Hopfgarten
-Derry NH

Formerly living off Exit 67S off Rte 128!



 ---- On Oct  8 Eli Sherer <eli@smartroute.com> wrote: 
> Actually, everyone gets the names wrong, or says them differently, 
> because they change all the time. Back in the mid 80's the state 
> re-numbered the exits along Rt 128, (this was when the real i-95 is 
> i-95 deal got hot), and all of the traffic reporters were "issued" 
> cheat cards with new numbers on them. But if you go market to market 
> as I have, you will see that people refer to the roads however they 
> want to. In New Jersey, people know their exit numbers (I know, big 
> lauch, but it's true). In Philadelphia, it's 90% by name, even the 
> roadways such as I-76, when it's the Schylkil Expressway, that's what 
> they call it.... Around Boston, people refer to the exits off 128/95 
> by name, and most don't even know their exit number except on the 
> Turnpike, which is almost always referred to by number (with the 
> noted exeption of the extension ... i.e., east of Weston (exit 14 and 
> 15 for the record).
> 
> As for the Inner Loop, yes it was supposed to happen, but poop 
> planning and threats from the feds on funding back in the 70's killed 
> it. There was a big highway boom going on, but an even bigger influx 
> of commuters, I-93 north of Boston was built to take commuting 
> traffic of Rt 28 through the residential areas. When it was 
> completed, the state realized it would never hold the volume of 
> traffic and refused to open it. Mike Dukakis (if I remember 
> correctly), even had a bill in the house that would have turned the 
> upper and lower deck into the groundwork for housing projects (now 
> think what a view like that would cost today!). Then early one 
> morning, a truck driver heading out from Charlestown to the Tobin 
> bridge struck on of the uprights and bent it to the point that the 
> Tobin had to be closed (no idea if it was another Canadian lumber 
> truck, but I'm sure someone can look it up).... I-93 was put into 
> emergency service to handle north shore traffic and the "merge" was 
> born.
> 
> When the inner loop was killed, I-95 was designated to overlap 
> portions of 128, and later, the numbering changed (as I said, in the 
> 80's) to make it a trough roadway. If you head up Rt 1 in Revere, as 
> you swing the corner near the Showcase Cinema, you can look off to 
> the right past the closed (or never opened) barricaded non-ramp and 
> see what's left of the road bed that had been built as the 
> continuation of I-95. When the work was stopped, this road bed was 
> left there and over the years, sand and gravel removed to shore up 
> the shoreline. Amongst other things, some of this was used to 
> replenish Revere Beach over the years as it's been surf damaged.
> 
> One last hostoric tidbit.... since we're talking about Revere, that 
> area where the road bed is, and the shopping plaza sits nearby, is 
> the site of the old Revere Airport. In the days when the Boston 
> airport was two runways and one terminal.... there were a number of 
> local airports around handling traffic. Imagine dealing with that 
> many nowadays.
> 
> >Date: Wed, 6 Oct 1999 16:20:09 -0000
> >From: "Bill Dunn" <ecps92@tiac.net>
> >Subject: Traffic
> >
> >I think they just get used to how the State Police report the traffic to
> >them. The SP Calls the Expressway , Rte-93, not the Expressway. Drives me
> >Crazy too.
> >
> >Maybe Eli could jump in here with hisYears of experience.
> >
> >Don't forget Rte-93 starts in Canton at Rte-95 and goes to the NH Border.
> >
> >Bill Dunn
> >......................
> >:My big bugaboo is how BZ, SmartRoutes and others will sometime slip up and
> >:say 93 SOUTH ( which can be either the expressway OR coming in from the
> >:north)
> >:
> >:SOLUTION  rename the expressway 393 or 595 (every other city can do that)
> >I
> >:seem to recall the "inner belt" would have been 695 had it been built.
> >:
> >:Compared to Philadelphia and Detroit however, our traffic reports on radio
> >:are lacking..
> >:
> >:Of course I have spent a lifetime trying to figure out how US3 becomes SR3
> >:at the Longfellow Bridge.
> >: