Massachusetts To Renumber Major Highways By 2022

The Bay State will adopt a mileage format, replacing the long-standing numerical system.

According to Boston 25 News, Massachusetts will soon flip to a simpler format for exits. Transportation officials say the new exit numbers will allow drivers to know the number of miles they've driven and how many they have left to their destination more easily. By 2022, they'll no longer be in sequential order. Well, "simpler" is subjective. I'm sure for years, possibly generations, the Route 1 exit off 95 will always be 46. I can hear it now "yaaaah, I still call it fourty six kid!"

This isn't just a Massachusetts thing. While other states have long adapted to the milage system, there is now a federal mandate, according to Boston 25 News.

However, this isn't happening everywhere.

• For exits leading to the same interchange, lettered exits will be used, such as exit 50a and 50b.
• Routes that currently don't have exit numbers won't be assigned ones, including Route 28, 57 and 79.
• Routes with their first exit less than 1 mile from the state line or the start of the highway would be exit 1.
• Exit numbers are the following corridors won't be changed: Route 213, Interstate 291, Interstate 391, and the Lowell Connector.

New Hampshire still needs to get with the program. Along with Delaware, they are the final holdouts.