Worcester via I-101 and I-84 (or, is I-290 East-West or North-South?)

I did not grow up in Worcester, but I have lived here for more than five years. You would think that by now I would not still be getting I-290 and I-190 confused and I would not have to think so hard about the whole east-west or north-south question when it came to giving directions for I-290, but both issues still confuse me on a regular basis.

Interstate Highways In and Around Worcester, MA - I-90 (MA Turnpike) in Green; I-395 in Orange; I-290 in Blue; I-190 in Yellow

There are a few misconceptions I brought with me, however, that I have come to correct during this time: The MA Pike does not run through Worcester proper at any point; I-290, although signed as an east-west highway, generally follows a north-south orientation through downtown Worcester; and if traveling to Worcester from Boston, traveling the MA Pike all the way to I-290 to get to Worcester is not the fastest way to go.

I have often wondered if there was some way we could clean up the numbering of the auxiliary (i.e., 3 digit) interstates in and around Worcester to make it less confusing and help users orient themselves better when traveling through our city. As mentioned earlier, I never knew downtown Worcester was west (and not north) of I-290 until I moved here. As someone who was generally traveling northwest on an interstate signed as east-west, I always thought I was actually traveling east through Worcester and downtown was to the north. The I-395 designation makes no sense to me either. The concept that I-395 in Auburn is an auxiliary route to I-95 some 65 miles south never made any sense to me.

If we step back a little and look at the interstate system around Worcester, you can see that the combination of the current I-395, I-290 through downtown and I-190 is really just one long continuous north-south interstate. (Those interested in reading about the history around the building of these roads, check out bostonroads.com or search the road name at Wikipedia).


Wider View of Interstate Highways In and Around Worcester, MA - I-90 (MA Turnpike) in Green; I-395 in Orange; I-290 in Blue; I-190 in Yellow

Why don't we combine these three interstates and renumber them as one primary north-south highway? For the MA segment we could name it the Worcester County Expressway (the Worcester segment of I-290 is already at least informally known as the Worcester Expressway).

Proposed Renumbering of I-395, I-290 (Downtown segment) and I-190 into One Primary North-South Interstate (Red)

The question then becomes one of what number to give to this route. Interstate numbering conventions would require a number in the 90's ending in an odd number. Unfortunately, all odd numbers in the 90's are already in use. Digging a little deeper, there seems to be two options:

1. Interstate 97 (N) - There is precedence in the current numbering system for the same number to be used in different parts of the country. For example, there is the I-84 (E) that we are familiar with here in New England, but there is also an I-84 (W) running from northern Utah to Portland, OR. There are currently four even numbered interstate highways that have this dual designation and no odd numbered interstate highways with such a designation. Currently, I-97 is an 18 mile intrastate highway connecting the MD cities of Baltimore and Annapolis. This is the only odd numbered interstate in the 90's in the South - Interstates 91, 93 and 95 all presently serve portions of New England and therefore are not available, and I-99 is an existing interstate in PA.
2. Interstate 101 - This is an exciting choice as it breaks the rule that a primary highway have a two digit number. Typically, three digit numbers are reserved for auxiliary interstate highways such as I-290 today. Using this convention, Interstate 101 would be an auxiliary route of Interstate 1, which does seem to currently exist or be in the works. There is also precedence here - according to the Wikipedia page on US Route 101:

According to the AASHTO's numbering scheme for U.S. Highways, three-digit route numbers are generally subsidiaries of two-digit routes. However, the principal north–south routes were assigned numbers ending in 1. Rather than lose four available north–south numbers (93, 95, 97, and 99) or assign the primary west coast highway a "lesser" number, the AASHTO made an exception to its two-digit rule. Thus, U.S. 101 is treated as a primary, two-digit route with a "first digit" of 10, rather than a spur of U.S. 1. Thus U.S. Route 101, not U.S. 99, is the westernmost north–south route in the U.S. Highway system.


I like I-101 personally, it's got a nice ring to it.

This leaves us with what to do with the segment of the present day I-290 that really does run generally east-west between Marlborough and Worcester. The roadway functions as an auxiliary interstate, and because this segment connects two interstates, its not a spur, but functions most like a segment of a circumferential highway and therefore should have an even number prefix. We could probably technically retain the I-290 designation as there does not seem to be a requirement that it connect directly to its primary interstate (I-190 does not connect directly to I-90). This designation would be a nice link to the past, but if the goal here is to clean things up and make the signage simpler I think we need to consider other options.

Another option would be to add the 2 prefix to the renumbered primary north-south highway - I-297 works nicely, I-2101 technically works but would probably be asking too much of the sign administrators in DC. Stepping back again and taking a wider view of the interstate system around Worcester, another option comes to mind.


Wider View of Interstate Highways In and Around Worcester, MA - I-90 (MA Turnpike) in Green; I-395 in Orange; I-290 in Blue; I-190 in Yellow

Another option that I like is extending I-84 from its present eastern terminus in Sturbridge to Marlborough. I-84 would share the existing I-90 roadway between Sturbridge and Auburn, then share the renumbered I-101 through Worcester, and then split off eastward towards Marlborough by itself along the present day east-west segment of I-290. This dual numbering of one roadway appears to be a common occurrence.

Proposed Extension of I-84 (Blue) from Current Terminus at Sturbridge through Worcester and Terminating at Marlborough

Blackstone Canal Basin Garage

In a previous post titled Moving Forward While Honoring Our Past I lamented the loss of all physical evidence of the Blackstone Canal in downtown Worcester. I have been trying to come up with some ideas for how we can reestablish and celebrate that connection to our past and one of the concepts I have come up with has to do with the municipal parking garage at Major Taylor Blvd. and MLK Jr. Blvd. (adjacent to the DCU Center), the historical location of the Blackstone Canal Basin.

Municipal Parking Garage at Major Taylor Blvd. and MLK Jr. Blvd. in downtown Worcester



1829 Map of Worcester Showing Blackstone Canal Superimposed on Map of Present Day Worcester (Garage and Historic Canal Basin in Upper Right)

Today the garage seems to go by many names - from the Municipal Garage, to the DCU Center Garage, to the Major Taylor Blvd. Garage (I believe there is a sign over the vehicle entrance off of MLK Jr. Blvd. to this effect?) to Republic Parking System Inc. if you look it up in Google Maps (I assume they have the management contract for the garage from the city?) In contrast, if I say Pearl-Elm Garage or Federal Square Garage, most people know exactly which municipal garages I am referring to and they are consistently referred to by these names, even in online mapping applications such as Google Maps.

In an effort to 1) provide the garage with a consistent and single identity and 2) link today's structure to Worcester's history, I suggest that this garage be officially named the Blackstone Canal Basin Garage. In addition to basic signage, I suggest that each floor be identified not only by a number but also assigned a symbol linked to the historic canal. For example, let's say a visitor parks on the 3rd level. In addition to identifying it as the 3rd level, we could use a stylized symbol from the canal to identify the floor, say the canal boat Lady Carrington, or Tobias Boland, builder of the canal. Signs would be posted throughout each level showing both the floor number and the symbol, and the elevator buttons could also be labeled with the floor symbols in addition to the numbers.

At the elevator lobbies on each floor, a larger symbol could be mounted and a brief description of the symbol's tie to the Blackstone Canal could be provided. Most people don't read these markers, but you do have a captive audience here without much to do while they wait, so I'm willing to bet the read rate would actually be quite high. The first floor elevator lobby should also contain some basic information about the canal and basin in order to provide context and link the site to the larger Blackstone Canal.

Providing free business card sized floor identity cards at each floor's elevator lobby with the symbol is another great way for users to not only remember their floor but also reinforces the historical link in the users mind. There is of course some expense associated with the design, printing and stocking of these cards, so perhaps a modern alternative would be to post a sign at each floor's lobby suggesting that visitors use their cellphone camera and take a picture of the symbol. The user can then reference this picture upon their return if they forget which level they are parked on.

Perhaps today's use of this site as a parking garage actually has a lot stronger connection to it's past than I realized. In the early 1800's canal boats would come to this site to park and offload their goods from all over the world for use in Worcester. Today, autos come to this site to park and their occupants from all over the world go out and experience Worcester. 100's of people every day park in this garage on a daily basis, whether they are staying in the nearby hotel, have business at the new courthouse, or are attending an event at the DCU Center. Today's visitors to this garage are unknowingly carrying out a long standing tradition as they go about their business; let's help them navigate their way through our parking garage while simultaneously providing them with an opportunity to connect with and experience what makes Worcester unique.