Massachusetts Route 38

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Route 38

Length:

27 mi (44 km)

North end:

Dracut

Major
junctions:

Route 113 in Dracut

Route 110 in Lowell

I-495 in Lowell

Route 62 in Wilmington

I-95/Route 128 in Woburn

South end:

Boston

Massachusetts State Highway Routes
< Route 32		Route 39 >

Route 38 is a state highway in Massachusetts, United States, running 27 miles (44 km.) from Sullivan Square in Boston north via Lowell to the state line in Dracut, where it continues as New Hampshire Route 38 in Pelham, NH. Its south end is at Route 99, though most signage indicates that it ends at Route 28, its former end in Somerville.

[edit] Maintenance

The following sections are MassHighway-owned state highways:

Boston

Southbound side north of Maffa Way

Somerville

Full length of southbound side; northbound side north of Fellsway (Route 28)

Medford

South of Crescent Street
The section along the Mystic Valley Parkway (concurrent with Route 16) is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Winchester

None

Woburn

From south of Interstate 95 (Route 128) to Elm Street
North of Dexter Avenue

Wilmington

Full length

Tewksbury

Full length

Lowell

South of Butman Road
From Stackpole Street over the Merrimack River and along Lowell-Lawrence Boulevard to Bridge Street

Dracut

None

All other sections are locally maintained.

[edit] History

The majority of Route 38 was originally designated as Route 6B, an alternate to New England Interstate Route 6. It began at Route 6 somewhere in Cambridge and made its way to present Route 38 in Somerville, running north on much the same alignment as is followed now, with the only real differences in Medford (where it used High Street (Route 60) rather than the Mystic Valley Parkway) and in Winchester center (where it ran via the rotary). In Lowell, Route 6B turned west on current Route 110, ending at the corner of Appleton Street and Gorham Street. (Route 6 came from the south on Gorham and turned west on Appleton; Route 6B came from the east on Appleton.)

In 1927, Route 6 became U.S. Route 3 north of Boston, and Route 6B became Route 3B. By 1928 the alignment in Cambridge was finalized. It began at the north end of the Boston University Bridge, which carried US 3 across the Charles River, and ran east on present Memorial Drive and Land Boulevard before turning north on the Northern Artery (present Route 28) to reach present Route 38 at Mystic Avenue. The whole alignment south of Mystic Avenue was shared with U.S. Route 1 and Route 28.

Between 1929 and 1933, Route 3B was renumbered Route 38. Between 1945 and 1950, it was extended north from Lowell to cross the Merrimack River on Gorham Street, then its present alignment to the newly-formed New Hampshire Route 38. The present alignment in Lowell was adopted in or after 1954, when the new bridge across the Merrimack River was built.

By 1937, the concurrency with Route 60 in Medford was removed, and Route 38 was moved to use South Street between Main Street and Winthrop Street. Later it was shifted north to the Mystic Valley Parkway (Route 16) due to South Street becoming one-way eastbound.

In the early 1970s, many routes in the Boston area were renumbered or realigned. Route 38 was simply cut back to its split with Route 28, as it was concurrent with other routes the rest of the way to its southern end, and it was no longer tied to U.S. Route 3. At some point in the 1990s, signs were installed taking Route 38 southeast from Route 28 to a new terminus at Route 99 at Sullivan Square.

By 1989, Route 38 was moved to a short bypass around the rotary in Winchester center.