When was rt 93 built

According to NHDOT, this project is one of the most ambitious ever undertaken in New Hampshire and is needed to reduce congestion and improve safety.

The original section of the highway was built in the early s to accommodate 60, to 70, vehicles per day. In , average traffic volumes were in excess of , vehicles per day in Salem, with segments between certain interchanges carrying up to 80, vehicles per day.

Projections indicate that traffic will increase to , vehicles per day in Salem by MOD Blog. MPTC Blog. Making Massachusetts Great. Mass Consumer Affairs Blog. Mass Great Outdoors Blog. Mass Public Health Blog. Gov Blog. Massachusetts Law Updates. On the Job. PSBO Blog. The MassDPW selected the southern terminus of this route not only because it was a six-lane route, but also because there were no links to the Central Artery and proposed Inner Belt, it believed that traffic would be better distributed in downtown Boston.

Furthermore, the MassDPW believed that the use of the existing Northern Artery route would minimize construction and right-of-way costs through Somerville. The Northern Expressway was to begin on new right-of-way at the existing traffic circle between the Northern Artery, Fellsway, and Revere Beach Parkway. While the Master Highway Plan did not mention any specific plans to extend the route beyond Reading, an eventual extension of the route to northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire seemed plausible, given the heavy traffic demands on existing MA These photos show the northbound left photo and southbound right photo Northern Expressway -- commonly referred to as the "upper and lower decks" of I -- nearing completion through Somerville.

The unfinished ramps that were to connect I to the unbuilt Inner Belt Expressway I are still visible today. To serve the corridor between Boston, northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, the BPR originally selected the Northwest Expressway US 3 route, much of which had been constructed through the early 's as a four-lane route.

The allure of 90 percent Federal funding to construct a new arterial route - the remaining ten percent was obtained from state and local funds - seemed too good for the MassDPW to pass up. By , the expressway was complete from Medford north to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border.

The expressway comprised of eight lanes from Medford to Wilmington, and six lanes from Wilmington north to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. However, the original Merrimack River Bridge between Andover and Methuen was only four lanes wide, causing congestion on both sides of the river for many years to come.

He pledged at the time that the construction of I would require the razing of any homes. However, more than families and 90 businesses had to be relocated for the highway.

With construction of I well underway by , and with political sentiment growing against new highways, Sargent - now Massachusetts Governor - declared a moratorium on building new highways within MA Yankee Division Highway. However, the governor made an exception for the final three miles of I The final three-mile section of I was completed on February 1, to little fanfare, but plenty of derision.

Initially, full use of the highway was delayed because of an apparent engineering oversight that created a potentially hazardous situation where drivers from right-hand lanes sought to make left-hand exits. DOT began advertising and awarding contracts for widening the highway itself while work continued at interchanges and on bridges. Between and , three lanes in both directions were completed and opened from the Massachusetts border through Exit 3 — a distance of six miles.

Meanwhile, costs had risen. The project was funded exclusively with federal dollars, both grants and borrowings. Since the project stalled in , concern grew that investment in I would shrink the share of federal funding needed to sustain maintenance and repair of roads and bridges across the state, without which both the pace of deterioration and the cost of rehabilitation would increase.

And dwindling real returns from the state gas tax, last raised in , had begun to crimp returns to the state highway fund. At the time, Rep. In , the funding issue was stalemated in the Legislature. The House passed an increase in the gas tax, which the Senate rejected, and the Senate authorized casino gambling, which the House rejected.

Chris Clement, then commissioner of transportation, feared the failure to find money to sustain the project risked further delays and higher costs as well as prompting contractors to seek work elsewhere. And he added that, without more funds, DOT itself could be in deficit by , which could lead to reducing staff and trimming services.

The stalemate was broken the next year with legislation authored by Sen. The loan funded the competition of I while enabling the state to increase investment in other highways and bridges between and During the period, DOT expects to resurface 1, miles of roadway and remove 23 bridges from the red list. TIFIA is allowing us to do both.