Route 1A is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is an alternate route to U.S. Route 1 (US 1) with three signed sections and two unsigned sections where the highway is concurrent with its parent.

Route description Attleboro segment A short segment of Route 1A, in length, in Attleboro runs from US 1A at the Rhode Island border through a junction with Interstate 95 (I-95), before heading north and merging with US 1. The entire length of this segment is known as Newport Avenue.

North Attleborough–Dedham segment This segment of Route 1A extends roughly north from North Attleborough to Dedham, passing through the towns of Plainville, Wrentham, Norfolk, Walpole, Norwood and Westwood on the way. Prior to its realignment along I-95 and I-93, US 1 continued north along the Providence Highway towards Boston at the junction of Route 1A and that road.

Boston–Salisbury segment

This segment of Route 1A extends from Boston to Salisbury.

The highway starts from US 1 (which is on the Central Artery with I-93 and Route 3) at the former Government Center/Logan Airport interchange. It passes through the Callahan Tunnel (northbound) and Sumner Tunnel (southbound), becoming the East Boston Expressway past Logan Airport. I-90 ends at Route 1A just north of the airport.

The road continues as a limited-access divided highway through Revere. It runs as North Shore Road along the Point of Pines peninsula then crosses General Edwards Bridge into Lynn. The southern portion in Lynn is the Lynnway, part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston parkway network. The route then runs concurrently with Route 129 before crossing into Swampscott as Paradise Road. At Vinnin Square, it passes into Salem as Loring Avenue.

Route 1A follows Lafayette Street (Route 114) into downtown Salem, then Derby, Hawthorne, Winter, and Bridge streets. It crosses the Veterans Memorial Bridge into Beverly. The route follows local roads through Beverly, Wenham, and Hamilton, then runs concurrently with Route 133 through Ipswich, where it crosses the Choate Bridge over the Ipswich River.

It continues north through Rowley and Newbury, then enters Newburyport as High Road. Route 1A is concurrent with US 1 crossing over the Merrimack River to Salisbury. It then heads east to Salisbury Beach, then follows the waterfront north to the New Hampshire border, where it continues as New Hampshire Route 1A.

History

Initially, Route 1A ran along part of its present-day route between the New Hampshire state line and Revere. It then turned west along present-day Route 16 until it ended at US 1 (now Route 99) in Everett. Then, in 1931, an interchange in Revere was built over Route 107 (Broadway). In 1933, another, disconnected portion of Route 1A appeared between Attleboro and the Rhode Island state line. In 1934, two changes were made to the route. In Revere, the route was realigned to turn west smoothly. Between Boston and North Attleborough, a huge portion of Route 11 and all of Route 150 were replaced by Route 1A. The new portion soon got truncated to Dedham in 1936. It then got truncated even further to end at US 1/Route 128.

The overpass between the Sumner Tunnel and Logan Airport was designed as the Professor Enrico Fermi Overpass in 1955. The northern portion of the East Boston Expressway was designated the Italian American War Veterans Highway in 1961.

After Route C1 was decommissioned in 1971 in favor of a new alignment of US 1, Route 1A was truncated to a roundabout interchange in Revere. As a result, Route 16 extended eastward along the then-former route. After all unbuilt Boston freeways were cancelled by 1973, US 1 was rerouted onto the Northeast Expressway (formerly proposed I-95). As a result of that, Route 1A was extended south towards the Sumner and Callahan tunnels and then north along Central Artery towards US 1 (Storrow Drive). In 1989, US 1 was rerouted from Storrow Drive onto I-93's Southeast Expressway, causing "signed" Route 1A to get truncated.

Major intersections

References

External links

Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation - Boston's First Expressway East Boston Expressway - Historic Overview