By Danielle Ray, Senior Reporter
The exit numbers on Interstate 190 in Sterling changed recently as part of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation statewide exit renumbering project.
MassDOT is converting all exit numbers on freeways around the state to a milepost-based numbering system, per Federal Highway Administration requirement. All exits on 20 separate highways across the commonwealth will be changed, including 190.
The old Exit 6, Sterling/Clinton Route 12, is now Exit 14 and the old Exit 5, West Boylston/Princeton Route 140, is now Exit 9, which corresponds to the milepost near them. This will make it easier for travelers to discern the mileage between exits.
Sterling/Clinton Route 12, formerly exit 6, is now exit 14, part of MassDOT’s statewide exit renumbering project, as pictured traveling south on Interstate 190.
CREDIT: Danielle Ray
“Exit renumbering between Worcester and Leominster has been completed,” said MassDOT Communications Director Kristen Pennucci.
Interstates and freeways in Massachusetts previously utilized a sequential exit numbering method. MassDOT has committed to the implementation of mile-based, a project that began this past fall and is expected to be completed by January 2022.
“Every state in the country is statutorily required to adopt and adhere to the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD),” she said. “The 2009 MUTCD mandated that all states establish a mile-based exit numbering system.”
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Delaware are the only three states remaining in non-compliance. All others have either fully converted or have started conversion efforts.
The project, which is estimated to cost $2.8 million, is being paid for through Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds. HSIP funding carries a 90/10 split, which means that 90% of the project will be funded through federal funds and the remaining 10% will be funded through state highway funds.
“Non-compliance could result in withdrawal of federal-aid funds,” Pennucci said.
Many corridors around the state have already been completed including the 190 stretch, Route 146 between Worcester and Millville, and Interstate 90 between West Stockbridge and Boston, to name a few. Several more corridors are in progress and future corridors to be renumbered include Interstate 395/Interstate 290 between Webster and Marlborough, among others.
For more information visit newmassexits.com.