MassDOT has just announced that it will be re-naming all interstate exits for their mile markers, rather than the sequential numbering we have all grown used to. They have conveniently posted a map to detail what the new exits will be, but in Newton:
- Mass Pike Exit 17 (Newton Corner) will become Exit 128 (guaranteed to confuse me since it’s not the Route 128 exit, but I’ll manage)
- Mass Pike Exit 16 (the West Newton half-an-exit) becomes Exit 125
- Mass Pike Exits 14, 15A and 15B (95/128 Interchange) will become Exits 123, 123A and 123B
- On Route 95/128, Exits 18 -25 will be similarly re-named for the mileage markers
I don’t know how many local businesses and municipal groups reference exit numbers in any of their web or printed material, but it will be time to look into some new collateral if you do.
Look for these changes to take effect sometime in 2020.
It’s about time. That’s the national standard and it’s very helpful when driving, especially in unfamiliar areas or on roads like the Mass Pike where exits are spaced erratically so knowing the mile numbers give you an idea whether you have 5 miles or 20 to the next place to exit.
And MA is only paying 10% of the cost to do this – the rest is federal money.
Each numbered exit has A & B, as do Interstates generally. Why not change them back to N & S or E & W, as they were many years ago, for obvious reasons, and for similar reasons as the new exit numbering system helping the driver locationally?
Very glad it is changing. Doesn’t matter much in Metro Boston, but useful when traveling west on the Pike.
You’re right about 128, would make more sense to call it exit 127 or 129.
I remember when the Maine Turnpike switched over some years back, and in the end it was pretty logical, especially when tracking a longer drive (as in Western Mass).
That said, I would be totally in favor of fudging the mileage to make the 95/128 interchange exit 128…. maybe.
Miles are an antiquated unit of measure only used by 4 countries today. If they really wanted to modernize they should change to km!
Numbering exits by distance is appealing in principle but unnecessary in practice. Everyone has a GPS to calculate distances for them.
@Michael Singer – not everyone has or chooses to use GPS.
And it’s quicker and much less distracting to see an exit number and know how far I have left to drive to the exit I want than to have to check on the GPS.
Thanks, Doug! That interactive map is amazing. Zoom way in to the street/parcel level, and you can see that this map contains virtually every retaining wall in the Commonwealth! Surprisingly accurate, …but why? Who felt the need for entering that data into some GIS database?