is a major east-west
State Highway in
Massachusetts . Along with
Route 9 and
Route 20 to the South, these highways are the main alternatives to the
Massachusetts Turnpike /
I-90 toll highway. Route 2 runs the entire length of Massachusetts, beginning at the
New York border, where it connects with
New York State Route 2 .
Route 2 proceeds east from the New York state line on a winding, scenic path in
Williamstown . It serves the
Williams College area and
North Adams . East of North Adams, Route 2 ascends via a
Hairpin Turn into the
Berkshire Mountains along the old
Mohawk Trail .
It then goes from
Berkshire County into
Franklin County, Massachusetts , running into
Interstate 91 at an
Interchange in
Greenfield and briefly runs concurrent with the interstate highway. At this point the old Route 2 becomes
Route 2A and goes through downtown Greenfield. Route 2, however, exits off I-91, becoming a freeway briefly before becoming a
Two-lane Freeway . Outside of Greenfield, Route 2A temporarily ends and merges with Route 2. Route 2 then becomes a regular two-lane surface road in
Gill and through Erving though it has some grade-separated interchanges in
Millers Falls at its intersection with
Route 63 . There is another gap in the two-lane freeway in the
Erving area.
Once the road enters the
Town Of Orange , Route 2A resumes and breaks off Route 2. At this point Route 2 again becomes a two-lane freeway. In Orange, Route 2 runs concurrent with
US 202 . The road at this point enters
Worcester County, Massachusetts . After its eastern interchange in
Phillipston when US 202 breaks off to the north, Route 2 becomes a full four lane freeway, though not to
Interstate Standards in most points. It continues through
Gardner and
Leominster , where
Interstate 190 begins, heading south to
Worcester .
Route 2 continues east to
Middlesex County, Massachusetts . At this point it enters Boston's outer loop as it interchanges with
Interstate 495 . It continues as a freeway until it goes into
Acton , where it runs into Piper Road and Taylor Road at a traffic light (Exit 44). At this point the freeway ends and Route 2 becomes a regular divided highway at most points and just a four lane highway at other points. At the
Concord Rotary , a major traffic choke point, Route 2 intersects with Route 2A and the beginning of
Route 119 (which is overlapped with 2A at that point). After the rotary the road loses its dividing wall as it passes past the State Police (who have an emergency-only traffic light) and over the
Assabet River . Route 2A used to then break away from Route 2 at the next traffic light to go left into Concord but is now overlaid with Route 2. At Crosby's Corner, the sixth intersection after the rotary, Route 2A goes straight while Route 2 veers right (but still heads east). The highway loses its dividing wall until the Bedford St intersection in Lincoln where it becomes divided again. MassHighway currently expects to rebuild the Crosby Corner intersection and create a dividing wall from there to Bedford St in 2009-2011.
At this point Route 2 enters
Lexington and still is a divided 4-lane road with surface intersections. It then heads to
Boston 's inner belt, crossing
Interstate 95 /
Route 128 . From there, Route 2 is a six-lane and then eight-lane limited access highway until Exit 60, where it narrows with little warning to six lanes and then to four lanes. This section of freeway actually meets the standards of an interstate highway. The final off-ramp leads directly to the large parking garage at the
MBTA Alewife Station . At this point the road heads into
Cambridge, Massachusetts .
The limited access freeway portion ends at a signalized intersection, where it merges with
U.S. Route 3 south and
Route 16 west in
Cambridge and continues as a four-lane surface road to the
Boston Public Garden . Route 2 follows Alewife Brook Parkway, Fresh Pond Parkway, Gerry's Landing Road, and Memorial Drive (all parkways maintained by the Department of Conservation and Recreation) through Cambridge. It crosses into Boston on the Boston University Bridge. After crossing Commonwealth Avenue (US Route 20), it follows Montfort Street and Beacon Street into Kenmore Square which is the eastern terminus of US Route 20. From Kenmore Square, Route 2 follows Commonwealth Avenue to Arlington Street. It circles the Public Gardens in Boston, using Arlington Street to Boylston Street to Charles Street.
Route 2 officially ends at
Route 28 at the intersection of Charles Street and Beacon Street at the
Boston Common .
At least two major improvements to Route 2 are planned for Concord MA over the next 5 of so years through the Boston regional Metropolitan Planning Organization.
- Crosby's Corner: Current planning would eliminate the light, provide service roads and on and off ramps for the intersection.
- Concord Rotary: Current planning would eliminate the rotary with traffic lights.
In the early 1920s, Route 2 was known as (NE-7), a major road connecting Boston with
Troy, New York . NE-7 ran roughly where
Route 2A (the original surface alignment of Route 2) does now except near the New York state line. NE-7 used current
Route 43 (Massachusetts) ,
New York State Route 43 and
New York State Route 66 to reach Troy. Current Route 2 from
Williamstown to
Petersburgh was previously numbered as '''Route 96'''.
Route 2 was originally planned to continue as Boston's northwest expressway (
Freeway ) to a junction with
Interstate 695 , the Inner Beltway, but this, along with the Inner Beltway itself, was cancelled in 1970, accounting for the abrupt narrowing at Alewife.
