Route 9 (Massachusetts)

Route 9 is a major east–west state highway in Massachusetts, United States. Along with U.S. Route 20 (US 20), Route 2, and Interstate 90, Route 9 is one of the major east–west routes of Massachusetts. The western terminus is near the center of the city of Pittsfield. After winding through the small towns along the passes of the Berkshire Mountains, it crosses the college towns of the Pioneer Valley and then south of the Quabbin Reservoir and the rural areas of western Worcester County. Entering the city of Worcester from the southwestern corner of the city, it passes through the center of the city and forms the major commercial thoroughfare through the MetroWest suburbs of Boston, parallel to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Crossing the Route 128 freeway circling Boston, it passes through the inner suburbs of Newton and Brookline along Boylston Street, and enters Boston on Huntington Avenue, before reaching its eastern terminus at Copley Square.

Route description

Route 9 passes through six counties and twenty-eight cities and towns.

Western end (Pittsfield–Worcester)

Route 9 begins in the western Massachusetts city of Pittsfield, at U.S. Route 20. After separating from US-20, it has a brief (.2 mile) concurrency with U.S. Route 7 through the center of that city, then continues east, passing through the towns of Dalton and Windsor, wherein the route reaches its highest point at 2033 ft, in Berkshire County. It continues its winding pass through the small towns of The Berkshires in Berkshire and western Hampshire Counties before passing through the center of Northampton, passing Smith College before its first interstate junction, at Interstate 91. It then crosses the Connecticut River at the Calvin Coolidge Bridge, just downstream from Elwell Island. It goes through the retail area of Hadley before passing the near University of Massachusetts Amherst and by Amherst College. From Amherst, it wends its way into western Worcester County, south of the Quabbin Reservoir, through small towns until it makes its way into the city of Worcester.

Through Worcester

Once in Worcester, Route 9 becomes a major thoroughfare through the city, as Park Avenue, Highland Street (which passes Major Taylor Boulevard), before passing over Interstate 290 and Belmont Street, where University of Massachusetts Medical School and the former Worcester State Hospital are located. At its intersection with McRae Ct., it becomes a divided highway with raised median, which it will retain until its terminus in Boston with the exception of a brief stretch in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston.

In the MetroWest region (Worcester–Wellesley)

From Worcester, it crosses Lake Quinsigamond into Shrewsbury. At this point, Route 9 becomes the main retail artery of the MetroWest region. Several plazas and chain stores are located along the route as it makes its way towards Northborough, where it crosses U.S. Route 20; Westborough, where it crosses Interstate 495; and eventually in the Golden Triangle retail area of Framingham and Natick, after crossing the Massachusetts Turnpike. It passes Shopper's World and the Natick Mall, New England's largest mall.

In Greater Boston (Wellesley–Brookline)

Beginning in the Golden Triangle, Route 9 becomes one of the major routes into Boston, serving as a valuable bypass to the Mass Pike and its tolls. It crosses Interstate 95 (also known as Massachusetts Route 128) in Wellesley before crossing the Charles River into Newton and Brookline, where it's also designated as Boylston Street. It enters the city of Boston by crossing over Brookline's former namesake, the Muddy River, part of the Emerald Necklace. At this point it briefly becomes Washington Street, then Huntington Avenue, also known as "Avenue of the Arts".

Eastern end in Boston

Route 9 loses its raised median briefly between its intersection with South Huntington Avenue and Brigham Circle. It passes the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, which includes Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and other hospitals; the Museum of Fine Arts; and several colleges and universities, including Northeastern. This stretch is also a major site of baseball history; the first game of the 1903 World Series, baseball's first true World Series, was played at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, the original home of the Boston Red Sox. (The site is now part of Northeastern's campus.) The E branch of the MBTA Green Line roughly follows Huntington Avenue underground from Copley Square until it rises above ground at the Northeastern portal.

The Green Line E Branch then operates in a dedicated median of Huntington Avenue between Northeastern University and the Brigham Circle stop, where trains begin street running in mixed traffic to a terminus at Heath Street. Route 9 continues past Symphony Hall and The First Church of Christ, Scientist, which is the mother church of Christian Science. It then passes Copley Place and the Prudential Center complex, before splitting, the eastbound half onto Stuart Street, the westbound onto Saint James Avenue, past Copley Square; both the eastbound and westbound segments of Route 9 end at Route 28.

History

Route 9 was established in 1933. From its start in 1810 as a toll road from Brookline to Worcester, Route 9 has undergone transformation into a major highway due to the rise of the automobile, especially with the popularity of Henry Ford's Model T. It took over the alignment of what was Route 115 from Kenmore Square in Boston to Route 22 in North Grafton, part of the original route of US 20 between North Grafton and West Brookfield and the original Route 109 between West Brookfield and US 7 in Pittsfield. Route 9's original route in Boston was along Brookline Avenue from Kenmore Square turning west onto its current path along Boylston Street. Between Worcester and Boston, Route 9 follows the path of the 19th-century Worcester Turnpike, opened in 1810. This route originally included a floating bridge over Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury. From Dalton to Goshen in the Berkshires, the road follows the old Berkshire Trail. The massive expansion of the University of Massachusetts Amherst transformed that part of Route 9 in the late 20th century; this otherwise rural part of the route now has several shops, restaurants, and the mid-sized Hampshire Mall. The section now called "Boylston Street" was so-named in 1841 to honor the prominent Ward Nicholas Boylston family, who at one time lived opposite the site of the present-day reservoir.

Between the petition by the Boston, Worcester Street Railway Company in 1927 to drop rail service to Boston, the imposition of a gasoline tax and Great Stock Market Crash both in 1929, bringing about funding for Federal aid and public works, the Worcester Turnpike was born. In the 20th century, Route 9 became the focus for urban sprawl in towns like Newton and Wellesley. Further west, in Framingham, Route 9 was home to one of the first modern shopping malls, the aptly named Shoppers' World.

In Natick, Route 9 is officially the "Ted Williams Highway", named after the Red Sox sports legend Ted Williams, who sported that number. In Newton, it is officially the "United Spanish War Veterans Highway".

From 1903 to 1932, the Boston and Worcester Street Railway ran mostly via modern Route 9. Today the E branch of the MBTA's Green Line follows Route 9 along Huntington Avenue.

Safety Concerns

In 2012, while attempting to cross Route 9 in Framingham,
Framingham University
student was hit and killed by a driver. The incident prompted State transportation officials, to initiate
road safety audit
Crossing Route 9 at Maynard Road is common due to the gap in the highway railing to allow emergency vehicles from a fire station nearby to quickly cross to the other side of Route 9.

In 2015, the Town of Wellesley took action to increase safety and reduce crashes along its 4.8 mile section of the corridor: It
Planning Board
commissioned a study prepared by th
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
The report noted "Although Route 9 in Wellesley is a divided highway, it is not a limited access highway. Many abutter
sites, both office/commercial and residential, have driveways with direct access on to Route 9, which in many cases is the only access available for these sites (although most of these allow right turns only)."

In May 2020 MassDOT initiated a study of speed limit policies along Route 9. “Evidence shows that speed increases the likelihood of a crash, and the severity of a crash," said MassDOT's Director of Sustainable Mobility, Jacqueline DeWolf. "This is particularly critical for people walking and biking, in which case the motor vehicle speed is a significant determinant of whether the person hit will survive.”

Th
Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
undertook a study of Route 9 in 2021 in the City of Framingham and the Town of Natick that was published in July 2022. The purpose of the study was to transform and improve key locations along this car-centric corridor into a route for everyone, including motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists; it also aimed to modernize the roadway and make travel more efficient and reliable, and to make the communities along the corridor more livable. The MPO made numerous recommendations such as striped crosswalks, traffic-calming and speed reduction measures such as uniform speed regulations and enforcement; it also acknowledged that the study did not obligate MassDOT, owners of Route 9, to undertake the recommendations.

In 2021, th
League of Women Voters Newton
registered complaints primarily about "the travel path of pedestrians through the Mall at Chestnut Hill Shopping Center," now renamed " The Shoppes at Chestnut Hill," and the pedestrian crossings along Route 9 near or at Hammond Pond Parkway. Some improvements were subsequently made in that section of Newton. Further west along Route 9, some westbound stretches of roadway have posted speed limits of 50MPH where, as occurs in Wellesley, there are numerous office/commercial buildings and residential homes that have driveways with direct access onto Route 9, and which, similarly, is often the only access available (although most of these allow right turns only)."

In Framingham, on Jan. 17, 2022, a pedestrian was again hit by a car and killed crossing Route 9 near California Ave. In a statement, MassDOT said the intersection would undergo "major safety changes" in 2022, including a
signalized crosswalk across Route 9 to California Avenue.

A study entitled "Framingham & Natick – Route 9 and Speen Street Bicycle and Pedestrian Access Planning Study" was undertaken by the MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning (OTP) working with the consulting firm ARUP, which was published in December, 2023. It noted that "Route 9, particularly around the Beetleback and Shoppers World Drive, is unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists." It recommended Route 9 intersection improvements.

On June 27, 2024, a girl crossing Route 9 in Worcester, called Belmont St. at this section, was hit and killed by a driver.

On March 18, 2025, a pedestrian at the entrance to " The Shoppes at Chestnut Hill and Route 9 in Newton was hit and killed by the driver of a westbound motor vehicle.

Major intersections

Gallery

Image:MA Route 9 entering Leicester, MA.jpg, Eastbound entering Leicester
File:Spencer Center.jpg, Downtown Spencer
File:Main Street, Ware MA.jpg, Downtown Ware
Image:MA Route 9 eastbound in Windsor, MA.jpg, Eastbound in Windsor

See also

* 19th-century turnpikes in Massachusetts

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Massachusetts Route 009
009
Worcester Turnpike
Transportation in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Transportation in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Transportation in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Transportation in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Transportation in Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Transportation in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Transportation in Boston