| Route 146 | ||||
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| Route information | ||||
| Length: | 20.9901 mi[1] (33.7803 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: | Route 146 in N. Smithfield, RI | |||
| US 20 / I-90 (Mass Pike) in Millbury |
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| North end: | Interstate 290 in Worcester | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Massachusetts State Highway Routes
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Route 146 is a high-speed road, mostly freeway, linking Rhode Island Route 146 (the North Smithfield Expressway towards Providence, Rhode Island) to I-290 in Worcester, Massachusetts. South of the interchange with Route 122A, Route 146 is known as the Worcester-Providence Turnpike. Unlike some roads designated as turnpikes, the road has never had tolls, and was built on a brand new alignment in the 1930s. Similar never-tolled turnpikes are the Berlin Turnpike in Connecticut and the Boston-Providence Turnpike in Massachusetts.
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During the late 1940's, the Massachusetts Department of Public Works (MassDPW) planned an extension of Route 146 from Rhode Island north toward Worcester. MA 146 was built between 1949 and 1952 as a four-lane divided roadway from US 20 in Millbury to Boston Road in Sutton and from Sutton south to the Massachusetts-Rhode Island border, Route 146 was built as a three-lane undivided roadway, providing one lane in each direction and a shared lane in the center.
In 1981 the MassDPW began work on rebuilding Route 146. During the next three years, the state rebuilt the 13.1-mile-long section from just south of Boston Road in Sutton to the Massachusetts-Rhode Island border, replacing the three-lane undivided section with a four-lane freeway and eliminating all at-grade intersections and curb cuts.
The project upgrading the section linking Exit 10A on the Massachusetts Turnpike north into downtown Worcester at Brosnihan Square to Interstate Highway standards was completed in November 2007 according to the State Highway Administration. The final construction phase will upgrade the remaining Massachusetts section in Sutton and Millbury to freeway status and is scheduled for completion sometime after 2010.[2]
Exit numbers were traditionally not signed, but are now being signed. Also, they have been assigned by MassHighway.
| County | Location | Mile | Exit # | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester | Millville | 0.0 | enters Massachusetts from Rhode Island | |||
| Uxbridge | 1.1 | 1 | Route 146A - South Uxbridge; North Smithfield, Rhode Island | |||
| 2.6 | 2 | TO Chockalog Road to Route 146A - Uxbridge and to Route 98 to South Uxbridge and Burrillville, Rhode Island and its villages of Harrisville, Rhode Island and Pascoag. | ||||
| 5.3 | 3 | Route 16 - Uxbridge; Douglas | ||||
| 7.6 | 4 | Lackey Dam Road - East Douglas; Whitinsville; North Uxbridge | ||||
| Sutton | 8.5 | 5 | Main Street - Whitinsville; Manchaug | |||
| 10.3 | 6 | Purgatory Road - Northbridge; Whitinsville (to Purgatory Chasm State Reservation) | ||||
| 12.3 | 7 | Central Turnpike - Northbridge; Oxford | ||||
| North end of freeway | ||||||
| 13.8 | Boston Road - Wilkinsonville, Sutton Center | At-grade intersection with traffic signal | ||||
| Millbury | 16.0 | 8 | West Main Street - Millbury | |||
| South end of freeway | ||||||
| 16.9 | 9 | Route 122A south - Millbury Center |
Route 122A joins northbound and leaves southbound | |||
| 16.9 | joins | |||||
| 17.9 | 10 | I-90 - Mass Pike / US 20 - Boston; Springfield | via Route 20 Connector | |||
| Worcester | 18.8 | 11 | Millbury Street | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 19.5 | 12 | Route 122A north, to I-290 west - McKeon Road; Vernon Hill |
Route 122A joins southbound and leaves northbound | |||
| 19.5 | leaves | |||||
| 20.5 | 13 | I-290 east - Shrewsbury; Marlboro |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |||
| 20.5 | ends at | |||||
| Route 146A | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Uxbridge |
| Length: | 4.1 mi[3] (6.6 km) |
| Existed: | 1984[2]–present |
Route 146A in Massachusetts, United States, is a 4.1 mile north to south route which connects Route 122 in Uxbridge, and Rhode Island Route 146A in North Smithfield.[1] There are two connector entrances to Route 146, along Route 146A. These are Exit 1, which connects Route 146 directly to Route 146A, and Exit 2, the Chockalog Road exit in Uxbridge.[1] This highway was renamed by the General Court of Massachusetts in 2004 as the Lydia Taft Highway, after America's first woman voter, Lydia Chapin Taft, a colonial woman from Uxbridge. Lydia Chapin Taft's historic vote and her role in the history of Women's suffrage is recognized by the Massachusetts legislature since 2004, which named Route 146A from Uxbridge to the Rhode Island border in her honor.[4] Route 146A is completely within the town limits of Uxbridge.
In colonial times, this route had the name of "the Great Road", and later "the Quaker Highway", after Quakers from Smithfield, Rhode Island settled here. There are a number of historic sites along this road including the Friends Meetinghouse, which is on the National Historic Register. The "Moses Farnum House, and the Ironstone Mill Housing and Cellar Hole are two other sites along this road. Route 98 also connects with Route 146A, near its midpoint, and has significant historic sites of the original Quaker village known as Quaker City, and Aldrich Village, which are also on the National Historic Register. Just beyond the northern terminus of Route 146A and continuing north on Route 122 is a famous historical house known as Elmshade, a home and gathering place of the influential Taft family in America. Part of what is now Route 146A was the original Route 146 before a new limited access highway was constructed from the Rhode Island line to Worcester, between 1981 and 1984.[2] This project involved moving a former almshouse cemetery and led to archeological findings on mortuary practices following that excavation.[2] The Second Great Awakening changed local mortuary practices for the poor.[5]
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