Plimoth Plantation Highway

Plimoth Plantation Highway
Route information
Length: 2.04 mi[1] (3.28 km)
Existed: 1951 – present
Major junctions
West end: Route 3 in Plymouth
East end: Route 3A in Plymouth
Highway system

Massachusetts State Highway Routes

Plimoth Plantation Highway is a short unnumbered two-lane freeway with plastic stanchions posted on a rumbled asphalt median in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Contents

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. Exit 5 is nearby in order to reverse direction on Route 3. The highway serves Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth Beach and the village of Chiltonville and heads toward White Horse Beach and Manomet via 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 two-mile (3 km) spur Plimoth Plantation Highway was approved on April 3, 1969, 18 years after the highway had opened.[2] 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

Exits are unnumbered on Plimoth Plantation Highway. They are listed from west to east.

The entire highway is located in Plymouth, in Plymouth County.

Mile Intersecting roads Notes
0.00 Route 3 Route 3, exit 4: southbound exit and northbound entrance only
Sandwich Road Chiltonville, Plymouth Beach
Plimoth Plantation Eastbound exit empties onto River Street, the street name of which is unsigned. This exit is always open. Entrance to Plimoth Plantation is ¼ mile on right after turning right from ramp. Westbound exit leads directly into Plimoth Plantation. There is no access onto River Street. This exit is open seasonally, approximately from late March until the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and only during the museum’s operating hours.
2.04 Route 3A Highway merges onto Route 3A south toward Manomet but two left-hand modified jughandles (the first with a guide sign, the other without) are nearby to reverse direction onto Route 3A north toward Plymouth Beach. Plimoth Plantation Highway westbound is accessed from Route 3A via a left exit from Route 3A north. Motorists on Route 3A south wishing to access Plimoth Plantation Highway can choose either of the two left-hand jughandles mentioned previously.

Overpass and Underpass List

This is a list of the crossings that pass over or under the Plimoth Plantation Highway. They are listed from west to east.

Gallery

References

External links