Interstate 495 (Massachusetts)

Interstate 495 is the designation of an Interstate highway spur in Massachusetts. It was the longest interstate highway of its kind – measuring in at 121.56 miles (194.49 kilometers) – until its title was taken by Interstate 476 in 1996.

I-495 has its northern terminus at Amesbury. The highway, located 30 miles from Boston, intersects five major radial highways along its route: Route 2, Interstate 90 (The Massachusetts Turnpike), Route 24 and Interstate 95 (twice). It has its southern terminus in Wareham, where Interstate 195 and Route 25 meet.

I-495 is often regarded as the outermost boundary of the Greater Boston region (see the quote below): its northern extremity is close to the New Hampshire border; its southern end is just north of Cape Cod; west of 495 is the Worcester area and Central Massachusetts. In a more restricted sense, Route 128, which is parallel to I-495 but closer to the city, is sometimes regarded as the outer boundary of Boston's immediate suburbs.

Quotes

"I think a Bostonian would rather go north or south than east to west. There is a sense that anything west of Route 495 needs a passport and currency control." --John Mullin, director of the University of Massachusetts' Center for Economic Development in 1998 [1]

References

• Boston Globe article quoted in Kurumi.com

External links

• Interstate 495 at Steve Anderson's Boston Roads site