Lowell Connector

Infobox road
highway_name=Lowell Connector

---

length_mi=2.88
length_ref= [Executive Office of Transportation, [http://www.mass.gov/mgis/eotroads.htm Office of Transportation Planning Roads - June 2008] ]
length_round=2
established=1962
direction_a=South
direction_b=North
starting_terminus=
junction=
ending_terminus=Gorham Street in Lowell

The Lowell Connector is a small freeway connector in the Massachusetts state highway system that links nearby U.S. Highway 3 and Interstate 495 to downtown Lowell, Massachusetts. The freeway has its southern terminus at US 3 and its northern terminus in downtown Lowell, where it feeds into city streets shortly after an interchange with Route 3A. This alignment, nearly parallel to Massachusetts Route 110, provides much of Lowell with a direct expressway route to the Boston area to the South, and convenient (but slightly roundabout) expressway access to Lowell's eastern and western suburbs by way of Route 3 and 495.

History

Built in the early 1960s, the Lowell Connector is located along the re-channelled River Meadow (or Hales) Brook. This alignment minimally affected existing neighborhoods, unlike many urban expressways in the region. Plans to extend the Connector through the city's Back Central neighborhood, up to and along the Concord River, then onward to Lowell's main street, Merrimack Street, were drawn out, but abandoned after they were decided to be too disruptive to one of the oldest parts of the city. This left the highway terminating abruptly at a residential section of Gorham Street.

When the Connector was originally built, it was signed as Interstate 495 Business Spur. It no longer carries any numeric designation, although a sign still exists designating it as such on Plain Street (Exit 4).

Accidents

The Lowell Connector was recently ranked the most dangerous highway in Massachusetts. Particularly, the measurement is accidents per three miles of road - the Connector is three miles long. [http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_308153545.html Lowell Connector Among Most Dangerous MA Roads – CBS 4 Boston] ] The Connector has many serious design flaws. Until a man drag-racing in November 2005 took the life of a pregnant woman, there were few median strip guard rails. As in this particular accident, a car driving at excessive speed (The posted speed limit is 55) could easily lose control going over one of the poorly paved and steeply-graded underpass bridges. The car would cross into the narrow median, and due to the purposely uneven height difference between the north and southbound lanes, become airborne, landing in (or in this case on) oncoming traffic. Additionally, the Connector has an extremely large number of on and off ramps, and many are very short, sharp, and steep. The weaving situation that exists when the Connector merges or splits Route 3 and 495, within a short distance of the Industrial Avenue exit (exit 3), is particularly notorious, as drivers must weave through three lanes of traffic within just a few car lengths. The Lowell Connector is probably best known for the abrupt and steeply downhill termination onto Gorham Street (exit 5C). A large number of cars have overshot the end of the business spur and crashed into the brick wall of a residential property across the street. Recently, in addition to multiple flashing warning signs giving the exact distance to the end of the road, the terminus now features two flashing (strobe) stoplights, and a metal railing across the intersection protecting the property immediate opposite to the termination. Incidentally, Lowell has one of the lowest incidences of seatbelt use in the Commonwealth.

List of interchanges

Exits are numbered from south to north.-

References