Interstate 91

I-91 Information: Southern terminus is at the CT border in Longmeadow, MA. The northern terminus is at the Vermont border in Bernardston, MA. 55 of I-91's 300 miles are in Massachusetts.

History/Facts: I-91 is designed to be a high speed, limited access version of US 5, serving the exact same corridor - the two are almost inseperable. Coming through the shores of New Haven, up through the banks of the Connecticut River into Hartford, through the bustling downtown of Springfield, the rolling hills of Northampton, the green mountains of Vermont, and eventually continuing on into Canada to Montreal, Quebec as a Canadian Autoroute (the Canadian equivlaent of the Eisenhower Interstate System). I-91 in Springfield is currently under rehabilitation, as new reverse direction on/off ramps are being installed to prevent weaving amongst the closely spaced downtown exits.

See more history at Steve Anderson's BostonRoads.com.

Photos: Northbound / Southbound

Northbound: Enfield, CT / Hampden County / Hampshire County / Franklin County

This is at exit 48 in Enfield. The age of this sign is debatable - there's still button copy and the style of the sign itself looks old, but I've been told it could be recent. I might do some more research on this front. The other signs in the area look weathered and aged, so I'm not sure what to think.

91N in Enfield. This shield looks old, but I've been told that the age could be in question. I'm wagering on the "older than most" category, considering the font inconsistency with other shields I've seen, and the fact that the red is extremely faded. Other reassurance shields on 91 in CT also don't look like this. You'll soon notice the difference between CT and MA's (relatively new) 91 reassurance signage.

Exit 49 is right on the border of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Notice the difference in Connecticut signage and arms. 91 has beige painted arms (and gantries are not the tubular frames of MA but rather arms like this with two ends - sort of like if the arm went all the way across the road). The middle tabs, the outlined route shields (button copy was used in these until very recently, too).

I've seen several of these signs on overpasses on 91, north and south.

The first indicator that you're even IN Massachusetts. Note the Eisenhower Interstate shield, which is supposed to be placed at state borders. Also, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that's a cement border marker.

Yes, welcome to my state. Enjoy your stay. State flower and bird adorn this sign, which appears on freeways that cross state borders. Note the blue patch material under Welcomes. I guess they got tired of changing governor names. On an aside, that's an unusually narrow 91 sign.

Before the dawn of cellular phones, MassHighway put up call boxes on every mile of their interstates. Connecticut did as well, but they tore them down.

The first BGS in Massachusetts.

Lots of trucks going to West Springfield get off at exit 3 to go on US 5, but due to a discovery of structural steel problems on the South End Bridge (that are still being addressed), the truck detour for US 5 is still in effect.

Exit 4 dumps you on to W. Columbus Ave, which will take you to where Exit 6 used to go (and will go again once it's rebuilt).

How the detour works, is you get off at 9B, which brings you over to the North End bridge, which connects to US 5, as well as other W. Springfield routes. The deckwork on the Buxton Bridge is finished, but at the end of that work they discovered some corroding steel. The work crews have continued steel work during the summer.

It's probably easier to get to most Springfield colleges by taking 291.

There's the MassMutual building - Springfield approaches!

This is nearing where the destroyed section of US 5 was. During the short two lane section, if you look to your right, you can see part of the ruined embankments that have since been patched up.

A nice, concise sign. Whoda thunk?

This sign was patched over... Six Flags used to say Riverside. The HOF used to be Exit 5 too, but that's under reconstruction currently. Also, the whole bottom half of that sign should be brown, not a stripe of brown.

This is useful stuff to know.

Oh, yes, exit 2. We almost forgot about you. You most likely can't see it in this picture, but the thin border lines of MA route shields are preserved on I-91/291/391, as opposed to the Masspike, which leaves these thin accent lines out. MassHighway leaves these accent lines out of LGSes on MA routes too, so... Not sure about that.

No, the extra bold 91 is not a misprint... There's button copy in there, hence the extra bolding.

There's preview signs for Exit 3 before exit 2 even happens. The other BGS should have "Springfield Destinations" or something else on it to set it apart.

This is where US 5 joins I-91, coincidentally.

This isn't the most clear signage - that arrow always looks like it's pointing inbetween the two lanes as opposed to the rightmost one.

I have no explanation for this one. It must date from old US 5. I haven't seen another one like it on any other interstate in this state.

Around here is some interesting routing. If you get off at exit 3, it is entirely possible to wind up right back on 91, as the offramps for exit 3 serve as onramps from 83 North (which terminates at this exit). This section of 91 was directly inherited from old US 5 and old Columbus avenue. When 91 was built, it was built right on top of the old roadway, which explains why it shrinks down to two lanes for this short time - the old road and interchange was built before six lane highways. Though the highway was widened slightly (to accomodate interstate standards), it could not be widened enough for six lanes.

A bit early for this, don't you think? If you're heading to Boston, this is the exit you want to take, as opposed to exit 14. The ramps at this interchange with US 5 are so very ancient - since they belonged to old US 5, it must have been a cost (and possibly environmental) savings to just design the new highway to replace the old one instead of making a new roadway. Before the interstate, there was a grass median seperating the roadway as well.

See, this is better.

Now we're coming into Downtown Springifeld. If you think that gantry is missing signage, you're right - all of the gantries are, some more than others, due to the exit reconstruction. There'll be new signage when the project is (hopefully) completed in late 2005.

Patched over half mile sign due to the closed ramp.

Springfield Ctr should be patched over or read "Closed."

The Springfield Skyline, courtesy of I-91. The elevated highway really ruins the look, it would be more majestic if you were lower to the ground. The skyline is that of contrasts, with spires of old Springfield buildings intermixed with the MassMutual tower and other modern high rises.

Once again, huzzah for missing signange. Look at the other side of the highway - gantry arm with no signs at all! By the way, this is where the new Exit 6 onramp from Columbus Ave will be.

I don't really have any complaints about these signs. The highway also spontaneously widens here (look to the right of the red Grand Am), if you look up from Columbus ave, you'll see the remnants of an old onramp from W. Columbus ave that was demolished when the parking structure was built. The signs for Exit 9 should also say "Exits 9A-B," since 20A is exit 9A and US 20W is Exit 9B.

As you can see from this photo, the stub ramp is there. Today, there's Jersey Barriers there making it look less obvious that there used to be an old ramp here.

Exit 8. Exit 8 is a funny interchange - the wesbound side of I-291 is inverse as to what one expects. Note the "To 90 East" hints in the 8 sign.

This leads to the Exit 9 collector lanes. This gives a decent view of some I-291 ramps.

Exit 10 is coming up soon. The maroon bridge in front of us is MA 20A.

This is when you're merging on to 91N from I-291 after the overpass - you can either choose to go on to I-91 or US 20 several times. The sooner you make up your mind, the less weaving you may possibly have to face.

There's no exit 10 southbound. Aw. Exit 10 in Fall of 2004 went under resurfacing and general rehabilitation.

This is the first of several warnings that the left two lanes will split into I-391 at exit 12. I'm not sure why Greenfield is listed as the control, considering that Holyoke, Northampton, and several other important places are, oh, about 25 miles or so before Greenfield.

How considerate of them. This is common along 91 in MA, as there's listings for Northampton and Greenfield exits, etc as well.

A lot of colleges along 91 get this treatment.

One exit each for each way of US 5 - 13A for north, 13B for south. Why this sign is on the left hand of the road and not on the right, I don't know - perhaps because of I-391's spur up ahead.

I-391 spurs off.

That 1/4 of a mile is one killer quarter - dealing with the weaving is not easy.

That's the on-ramp from US 5, and you have about a hundred feet to get on the highway before you're dumped back on the interchange. Oh, and watch out for tractor trailers and other cars that are exiting on to US 5 when you're about to merge. This one almost got me killed.

An aerial view of this unique interchange, click on the image to zoom in. If anyone knows the technical name for this, please e-mail me. It's actually rather ingenious - it manages to let you go on to either direction of US 5 or reverse direction on 91 very easily (except for that whole weaving part). It's pretty mistake proof - miss the exit for US 5 south? No problem - hit the one for 5 north, but slingshot back to 91N, then you're back on the ramp for US 5 S... or just keep going around the figure 8. I hereby dub this the "Slingshot Interchange" until someone gives me a technical name.

Now, why isn't US 5 listed here? The access road does take you there if you choose not to go to the Pike, after all.

Now, the access road between the Pike/91/US 5 is not two lanes - so I'm not quite sure what this sign is talking about. There's enough road there for two cars side by side, yes, but it is in no way a two lane road. I'm thinking that at some point this was a two lane road (they built that mini-median to take up space, as you can see asphalt right next to it). Why would they make it a one lane road instead? Probably too many accidents or people passing or some stupid crap.

I believe that when the Pike was first built this was merely an interchange between the Pike and US 5. When 91 was built (a while after the Pike was completed), they made it more complicated so that 91 could access the Pike, since it superseded US 5.

A genuine Masspike tollbooth! As for the lanes with the big orange signs, those are Fast Lanes (the one on the far right is tickets and fast lane). Fast Lane is basically EZPass for MA, which was invented before EZPass covered more than just the New York Thruway. Since the two were created before the time of the overarching EZPass network, there were minor incompatibilities until a year later they began to interoperate, although the Mass Pike still kept the Fast Lane moniker (as the two were charged differently). Now that Fast Lane uses the same style of billing the tolls as EZPass, I'm not sure why the Turnpike Authority just doesn't use the EZPass name like the rest of the Northeast.

This is coming to 91 from the Masspike tollbooth. A teensy weensy shield.

You usually see this sign as you're coming on to 91 from the tunrpike. This is the exit you take to go to the Holyoke mall.

And here's the exit.

 

Exit 16 is up next. This is also where the third lane drops. On this side, at least, the 65 in the speed signs tend to look a bit off for the next few miles - I'm not sure if they raised the speed limit from 55 to 65, but the baseline of the 6 is off from the 5 and the six is just slightly smaller.

A park in downtown Holyoke where the annual Taste of Holyoke is held.

As referenced from the Masspike. Also notice the cellular call box.

This is one of those places where US 202 spends its short time not cosigned with another highway in MA.

Useful.

The lane drops here. I would think it would be smarter for the third lane to be "Exit Only" as the merge area up ahead is pitifully small.

I think this is the smallest BGS on 91.

Mount Tom's ski area closed a long time ago, but there's state reserves there. Also notice the odd speed sign again.

There's a 17 A and B on the northbound side, but not on the southbound.

I don't know what this place is, I'm guessing some sort of private school.

This is the same 141 we saw over on 391.

Not really a rest stop, but just a good look.

Route 5 is also another memorial highway, but I can't remember the name of it. It has a sign similar to this. Also in this rest area is a sign that says to take all trash with you since there's no waste barrels, but surprise, there's a trash barrel right next to the gazebo.

This is a handy map. Shows all of the highways and state routes in Massachusetts, and it has a nice little driving distances between major points of travel submap, as well as an inset for New England's interstates. Notice all of the "Red Sox Suck" stickers. I'm not sure how long they've been there (This is my first time stopping at it entirely) but, suffice to say, angry Yankee fans on their way to Vermont don't have much to talk about now, do they?

The actual scenic overlook of the Holyoke area. Note the Connecticut river and that weird tower in the background.

Propane? Natural gas? Kinda ruins the look.

91 goes through a lot of mountainous areas and tends to run at different heights on each roadway.

This is the Holyoke Power plant. Route 5 is right beside the highway and you get a better look at the plant from US 5.

One of these again.

Standard sign. Around this area is where I-91 crosses the oxbow (some of you may know the Oxbow from Thomas Cole's famous painting of said lake). Coming northbound, you cross over a bridge overpassing it, and then the north part of the C is actually completely closed now - making a bridged highway crossing for the north part wasn't feasable. You get a good look of the Oxbow from both sides of 91, but 91 south really has the better view.

An all-girl's school. I care not either way.

Standard sign. Notice the traffic on the south side.

It's not really the center, you have to take 5N for a mile or so before you're really in the center of Northampton.

This VMS was installed to replace a portable VMS that always warned people of Coolidge Bridge construction.

Nice little airport sign.

Take this exit to go to UMass.

Yes, Hadley is at exit 19. Thanks.

You can bypass Northampton if you proceed straight after the exit as opposed to turning left. The subsequent road rejoins MA 9 and is good to avoid the middle of Northampton if, say, you're going to Williamsburg.

No big pole here.

Look at all that traffic. Sunday evening on 91 inbetween Northampton will do that - most of the time it's faster to stay on Route 5.

Thanks, sign. Exit 20 is a southbound offramp only, I believe.

This exit is near the start of the end of the old Deerfield bypass.

Standard half mile warning sign.

This is where I happened to get off the day I took the pictures.

This is from the offramp at exit 21N. Kind of a funny US shield, the proportions look wrong.

The following photos are courtesy of Justin Petrosek, AKA Arrow. This is right past exit 21, and the distances sign for upcoming areas.

This is still on the old Deerfield bypass which is now part of I-91. As you can see, Route 5 is still double helixing with 91.

Ground sign for Route 5 and 10.

General road shot. The median gets wider and more wooded the closer you get to Vermont.

Exit 23 is only a half interchange.

Another distance sign.

A very small brown sign.

Rest area on 91 in Deerfield.

Interesting to warn that the next exit is 9 miles.

More exit madness.

The sign got clipped? I don't understand this. It could be button copy.

More distance signage.

Closed weigh station.

Beautiful road shot in Deerfield.

Nearing the rotary interchange in Greenfield.

Another brown sign, and more series E MA 2.

Standard rest area sign.

A decent directional BGS.

Standard signage.

At the rotary interchange.

Nice big shields.

Directional leading up to the large Y interchange where MA 2 leaves I-91. There is a short 4-lane segment of MA 2 freeway after this, and had the four-lane MA 2 been built all the way to Boston, it would be connecting to that large interchange. There is right of way to do this, but odds are it won't be completed.

Series C font. One of the few specific bridge signs on an interstate around here.

Why not a regular sign? Hm.

Directional again.

The actual interchange, a nice high speed directional Y.

Distances.

Hey look, next exit warning again. This is some of the oldest I-91, by the way, as it was completed long before the Hampden/Hampshire county segments were.

Smallish BGS again. Bernardston disappears.

The last exit in Massachusetts.

Done? Head Southbound or Return home.

All photographs and original info ©2004/2005 Dan Vincent unless otherwise noted.