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The Massachusetts Turnpike (commonly shortened to the '''MassPike''' or '''The Pike''') is the easternmost 138-mile (222 km) stretch of Interstate 90 . The Turnpike begins at the western border Massachusetts in West Stockbridge connecting with the Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway . From there, the Mass Pike heads east, traversing the state and serving the major cities of Springfield , Worcester , and Boston , and ends at Logan International Airport in East Boston where the road meets Route 1A . TOLLS by Boston University , facing east (towards downtown Boston )]] , at sunset]] , looking west]] exit]] The Mass Pike is a Toll Road ; it costs $4.60 for a Class 1 passenger vehicle to travel eastbound from Exit 1 ( Route 41 ) in West Stockbridge to Logan Airport in Boston . From Exit 1 in West Stockbridge to Exit 14/15 ( Route 128 / I-95 ) in Weston , it is a Closed System toll road, using a system of long-distance tickets, obtained once by a motorist upon entering and surrendered upon exiting at toll gates. The toll gates exist at all exits and entrances from Exit 1 up to Exit 14/15. From Exit 14/15 to its eastern terminus in East Boston , the Mass Pike is an open system toll road. There are toll plazas at Exit 18/19/20 in Allston, Massachusetts , in both mainline directions and on the interchange ramps. There is also a toll plaza on the mainline at the westbound entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel in East Boston . Exits 16 and 17 as well as 21 through 26 have no toll plazas on their ramps. Toll plazas on the interchange ramps at Exit 16 were removed in 1996 at the direction of then Governor William Weld . Following protests from Western Massachusetts residents that their toll money was funding the Big Dig , a Boston highway project, tolls were removed on a western portion of the Freeway in July, 1996. As such, no toll is charged for passenger vehicle travel between Springfield (Exit 6, Interstate 291 ) and the New York (Exit 1, West Stockbridge) border in either direction. Travel between exits 16 and 17, both in Newton , is a "free movement," as no toll is charged for travel between these two exits. At exit 16 traffic can only enter the Turnpike eastbound and may only exit from the Turnpike westbound. Motorists can opt to pay their tolls using a toll booth operator or utilize the Fast Lane Electronic Toll Collection system, whereby motorists install transponders on their cars (typically on the interior of their windshields) and use special lanes at the toll plazas that recognize the transponders and automatically withdraw the toll amount from the motorists' accounts. Fast Lane is compatible with the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system which is used throughout the US. The return trip from Logan Airport costs $3 more, since the Ted Williams Tunnel has a toll only in the westbound direction. HISTORY on horseback with the words "Massachusetts Turnpike Authority" in a circle around him.]] .]] Plans for the Turnpike date back to at least 1948 , when the Western Expressway was being planned. The original section would have connected Boston 's Inner Belt to Newton with connections with US 20 and Route 30 for traffic continuing west. Later extensions would take the road to and beyond Worcester . From the beginning, the corridor was included in federal plans for the Interstate Highway System , stretching west to the New York state line and beyond to Albany . Also included in the route was the planned Springfield Bypass, which had been proposed to provide a bypass of US 20 in the Springfield area. Part of this route (and that of the eventual Turnpike) used the grading from the never-opened Hampden Railroad . Similarly, the '''West Stockbridge Bypass''' provided a new route of Route 102 from Route 183 in Stockbridge west to Route 102 just east of the state line in West Stockbridge ; this latter route was built prior to the Turnpike. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was created in 1952 by a special act of the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) upon the recommendation of Governor Dever and his Commissioner of Public Works, William F. Callahan. (1952 Acts and Resolves chapter 354; 1952 Senate Doc. 1.) The enabling act was modeled upon that of the Mystic River Bridge Authority (1946 Acts and Resolves chapter 562), but several changes were made that would prove of great importance fifty years later. Callahan served as chairman of the Authority until his death in April, 1964. When the attorneys were searching land titles along the proposed route, they discovered that sections of the original land had been granted by the King of England to some of the landowner's ancestors. Construction began in 1955 , and the whole four-lane road from Route 102 at the state line to Route 128 in Weston opened on May 15 , 1957 . The Berkshire Thruway opened on May 26 , 1959 , connecting the west end to the New York State Thruway mainline south of Albany . Prior to its opening, traffic used Route 22 and US 20 in New York. At the Massachusetts/New York state line, one can see where the Turnpike made an abrupt right turn before terminating at Route 102, as the old pavement still exists for Turnpike Authority and State Police vehicles to access this remote stretch of highway. After political and legal battles related to the Boston Extension inside Route 128, construction began on March 5 , 1962 , with the chosen alignment running next to the Boston And Albany Railroad and reducing that line to two tracks. In September 1964 the part from Route 128 east to exit 18 ( Allston ) opened, and the rest was finished on February 18 , 1965 , taking it to the Central Artery . The Interstate 90 label was assigned to the Turnpike in 1959 with the completion of plans for the Interstate Highway System . Early proposals took I-90 across the northern part of the state, along Route 2 , but this was rejected as too costly. With the completion of the Boston Extension, that too was designated as I-90. In 1991, construction began on the extension of the Mass Pike to Logan Airport , via the Ted Williams Tunnel as part of the Big Dig "mega" project. The final extension opened in 2003; the eastern end of I-90 now merges into Route 1A . CONTROVERSIES MTA Board firings Since 2001 , the Turnpike Authority had come under fire from state politicians in a fight for control of the quasi-state agency. Beginning in 2001, former Massachusetts Acting Governor Jane Swift ( R ) attempted to fire Christy Mihos , a former Turnpike Board member and Jordan Levy , the current Vice Chairman of the board. Mihos and Levy had cast votes on the board to postpone a toll hike. Swift objected, saying such a delay was "fiscally irresponsible” and saying the two men "interfered with the effective daily management of the Authority." 1 Mihos and Levy refused to step down and sued Swift to retain their positions. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that the Turnpike was "not part of the machinery of the government" and therefore not subject to Swift’s decisions2. Proposed MTA/MassHighway merger Gov. Mitt Romney ( R ), elected in 2002 during a fiscal crisis, ran on a Platform of streamlining state government and eliminating waste. Part of this was the elimination of the Turnpike Authority. Gov. Romney wanted to fold the Turnpike into MassHighway, the state highway department, operated under the Executive Office of Transportation. A first step to this was to replace the Chairman of the Board, Matthew J. Amorello with someone loyal to the governor. The governor has the power to appoint members to the board, but the SJC advised in an Amicus Brief that "nothing in G. L. c. 81A explicitly provides for the removal and reassignment of the chairperson to the position of "member." |
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