Massachusetts Route 3A

Route 3A is a 97-mile-long (156 km) state highway in eastern Massachusetts, which parallels Route 3 and U.S. Route 3 from Cedarville in southern Plymouth to Tyngsborough at the New Hampshire state line.

Route 3A
Route 3A highlighted in red
Route information
Length	97 mi[1] (156 km)
Existed	1926–present
Southern section
Length	53.392 mi[1] (85.926 km)
South end	Route 3 in Plymouth
Major junctions	US 44 in Plymouth Route 53 in Kingston Route 53 in Quincy
North end	I‑93 / US 1 / Route 3 / Route 203 in Boston
Northern section
Length	22.504 mi[1] (36.217 km)
South end	I‑95 / US 3 / Route 128 in Burlington
Major junctions	Lowell Connector in Lowell Route 110 in Lowell Route 113 in Tyngsborough
North end	NH 3A in Hudson, NH
Location
Counties	Plymouth, Norfolk, Suffolk, Middlesex
Highway system
Massachusetts State Highway System Interstate U.S. State ← Route 3 → Route 3B ← Route 6 N.E. → Route 7

Route 3A has two major posted segments, separated by a lengthy concurrency with Route 3 and US 3. Its southern portion parallels Route 3 from Cedarville in southern Plymouth to Neponset in the Dorchester area of Boston. Towns and cities that Route 3A traverse along its path include Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, Marshfield, Scituate, Cohasset, Hingham, Weymouth and Quincy.

North of Neponset, Route 3A runs, unsigned, concurrently with Route 3 and U.S. Route 3 to Burlington, before separating again (MassHighway counts the mileage along MA 3 between the two sections as part of MA 3A mileage).

The northern portion of which parallels U.S. Route 3 in northwestern Middlesex County. It stretches from Interstate 95 (Route 128) in Burlington to the New Hampshire state line, where it continues as Route 3A.

Route description

Plymouth to Boston

This segment parallels Route 3 from Cedarville in southern Plymouth to Neponset in the Dorchester area of Boston. Towns and cities that Route 3A traverse along its path include Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, Marshfield, Scituate, Cohasset, Hingham, Weymouth and Quincy.

The Claire Saltonstall Bikeway between Boston and Cape Cod intersects at Route 3A. Once in the Cedarville portion of Plymouth where Route 3A begins, and intersects again about 14 miles later in historic downtown Plymouth between South and Market Streets along Sandwich Street.

Boston to Burlington

This segment is concurrent with Route 3 (to Cambridge) and then U.S. Route 3 (from Cambridge to Burlington). As an 'A' route concurrent with its parents, this segment is not posted.

Burlington to Tyngsborough

Northbound 3A entering Tyngsborough

This segment parallels US 3 from Interstate 95 (Route 128) in Burlington to the New Hampshire state line, where it continues as New Hampshire Route 3A. The part south of Route 113 in Tyngsborough is former US 3.

The section from Burlington to Billerica is currently being widened from 2 to 4 lanes.

History

From 1922 to 1926, Route 3A between Kingston and Quincy was New England Interstate Route 6A. In 1926, when New England Interstate Route 6 became Route 3, Route 6A became Route 3A.

In the 1930s Route 3A's route was shifted onto new alignments built to reduce traffic problems in several communities through which the highway traversed. This included a bypass of Hingham Square along Broad Cove Road and Otis Street along Hingham Harbor replacing the original route that took it down Lincoln Street to downtown Hingham then along North Street to Summer Street. Chief Justice Cushing Highway was built around the same time and Route 3A was put on this highway from south of the Hingham Harbor rotary through Cohasset to Scituate. This replaced a routing along long-existing roadways such as Country Way in Scituate, South and North Main Streets in Cohasset and East Street to Summer Street in Hingham. Along East Street from Hull Street to Summer, Route 3A shared the highway with Route 128 in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

In the 1950s and early 1960s Route 3A was extended to take over the original path of Route 3 south of Kingston to Plymouth and north of downtown Quincy to Neponset when Route 3 assumed its current freeway route. In between those locations, old Route 3 was designated Route 53. The section of old Route 3 from Cedarville south to the Sagamore Rotary near the Cape Cod Canal in Bourne is unnumbered.

Much of Route 3A is sometimes referred to as the "Cape Way" due to its history as the only major road to Cape Cod from Boston prior to the opening of Route 3. The "Cape Way" name is reflected in numerous business names along 3A's length.

The section of Route 3A south of the intersection with Route 113 in Tyngsborough (all but the northern few miles of the route) was formerly U.S. Route 3, prior to the construction of the Northwest Expressway, a freeway connection from I-95 in Burlington to the Everett Turnpike in Nashua, New Hampshire, which was given the U.S. Route 3 designation.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Plymouth	Plymouth	0.00	0.00	Route 3 – Boston, Cape Cod	Southern terminus; Exit 3 on Route 3
				State Road south – Scusset Beach	Route 3A joins/leaves State Road
		11.40	18.35	Plimoth Plantation Highway to Route 3 – Plymouth, Boston	Southern terminus of Plimouth Plantation Highway
		15.00	24.14	US 44 west – Middleborough, Providence	Eastern terminus of US 44
	Kingston	18.30	29.45	Route 3 – Plymouth, Cape Cod, Braintree, Boston	Exit 18 on Route 3
		18.70	30.09	Route 80 west to US 44	Eastern terminus of Route 80
		18.90	30.42	Route 106 west to Route 27 – Halifax	Eastern terminus of Route 106
		20.30	32.67	Route 53 north – Hanover	Southern terminus of Route 53
	Duxbury	20.60	33.15	Route 3 – Plymouth, Cape Cod, Quincy, Boston	Exit 20 on Route 3
		24.20	38.95	Route 14 west – Pembroke, Boston	Eastern terminus of Route 14
		25.00	40.23	Route 139 – Pembroke, Green Harbor
	Marshfield	27.70	44.58	Route 139 east – Brant Rock	Southern end of concurrency with Route 139
		28.10	45.22	Route 139 west – Hanover	Northern end of concurrency with Route 139
	Scituate	34.50	55.52	Route 123 west – Norwell, Brockton	Rotary; Eastern terminus of Route 123
	Hingham	42.20	67.91	Route 228 – Hull, Rockland
Norfolk	Quincy	49.00	78.86	Route 53 south – Weymouth	Northern terminus of Route 53
				Quincy Shore Drive south	Interchange; Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Neponset River				Bridge
Suffolk	Boston	53.60	86.26	Route 203 west (Gallivan Boulevard) / Morrisey Boulevard – Ashmont	Eastern terminus of Route 203
		53.61	86.28	I‑93 south / US 1 south / Route 3 south	Southern terminus of silent concurrency with Route 3 / US 3
See Route 3/US 3
Middlesex	Burlington	74.8	120.4	I‑95 / US 3 / Route 128 – Waltham, Lowell, Peabody, Portsmouth, NH	Northern terminus of silent concurrency with Route 3 / US 3; Exit 33 on I-95 / Route 128
		77.20	124.24	Route 62 east – Wilmington, North Reading	Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 62
		77.80	125.21	Route 62 west – Bedford, Concord	Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 62
	Billerica	82.40	132.61	Route 129 east – Reading, Wakefield	Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 129
		83.60	134.54	Route 129 west to US 3 – Chelmsford, Nashua, NH	Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 129
	Lowell	87.30	140.50	Lowell Connector south to I-495 / US 3	Exits 5A-B on the Lowell Connector
		87.70	141.14	Route 110 east / Thorndike Street – Haverhill, Lawrence	Partial interchange; Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 110
		87.90	141.46	Route 110 west – Chelmsford, Worcester	Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 110
	Chelmsford	91.10	146.61	Route 4 south to US 3 – Chelmsford, Lexington	Northern terminus of Route 4
		91.80	147.74	Route 40 west – Groton	Eastern terminus of Route 40
	Tyngsborough	95.10	153.05	Route 113 west – Dunstable	Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 113
				Tyngsborough Bridge over the Merrimack River
		95.30	153.37	Route 113 east – Lowell	Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 113
		97.00	156.11	NH 3A north – Hudson	Continuation into New Hampshire
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. Executive Office of Transportation, Office of Transportation Planning - 2005 Road Inventory Archived 2006-09-27 at the Wayback Machine