Massachusetts Route 138

Route 138
Route 138
	Route 138 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by MassDOT
Length	43.58 mi (70.14 km)
Major junctions
South end	Route 138 at the Rhode Island state line
	I-195 in Fall River; US 6 from Fall River to Somerset; US 44 / Route 140 in Taunton; I-495 in Raynham; I-93 / US 1 in Canton;
North end	Route 28 in Milton
Location
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
Counties	Bristol, Norfolk
Highway system
	Massachusetts State Highway System; Interstate; US; State;

Route 138 is a 43.58-mile-long (70.14 km) north–south state highway in Massachusetts. From the state line in Tiverton, Rhode Island to Milton, Route 138 runs as an extension of Rhode Island Route 138, which is itself an extension of Connecticut Route 138. Route 138's northern terminus is at Route 28 in Milton.

Route description

Running generally north, Route 138 crosses from Rhode Island into Fall River, where it meets the southern terminus of Route 79 at exit 11 (formerly 5) of Interstate 195, then begins a concurrency with Route 79 and later, U.S. Route 6. Routes 138 and 6 then travel off of Route 79 and over the Brightman Street Bridge into Somerset, where the concurrency with U.S. Route 6 splits at an intersection with Route 103. Route 138 proceeds through Dighton and into Taunton, intersecting Route 140 and U.S. Route 44 at Taunton Green. In Raynham, the route has an interchange with Interstate 495 at exit 22 (formerly 8) before continuing into Easton, where it intersects Route 106 before beginning a brief concurrency with Route 123 near Stonehill College. Route 138 meets the western terminus of Route 139 at the beginning of an extremely short concurrency with Route 27 in downtown Stoughton, before crossing into Canton and meeting Interstate 93/U.S. 1 at exit 2 (Exit 2A is for Route 138 south, while 2B is for Route 138 North). The route finally enters Milton, travels by Curry College and the Neponset Valley Parkway, and terminates at Route 28, directly before that route crosses the Neponset River and enters Boston.

History

Until the late 1960's - early 1970's, Route 138 was multiplexed with Route 28 on Blue Hill Avenue to Route 3 (now MA 203) on Morton Street, then to the Arborway and the Jamaicaway. Route 138 turned off onto Brookline Avenue at intersection of the Jamaicaway (where it became the Riverway) and continued to end at US Route 20 and Route 30 in Kenmore Square.

During the Blizzard of 1978, Route 138's intersection with Interstate 93 (which at the time still had Route 128 concurrent with it) gained some notoriety as the location shot of photos taken featuring cars trapped in the snow along the underpassing freeway.^[2]

Parts of Route 138 follows the route of the "Old Bay Road," which was the earliest line of travel between Boston and Taunton.^[3]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[4]	km	Destinations	Notes
Bristol	Fall River	0.0	0.0	Route 138 south – North Tiverton	Continuation into Rhode Island
		2.4	3.9	I-195 – New Bedford, Providence, RI Route 79 begins	Southern terminus of Route 79; exit 11 on I-195
		2.9	4.7	US 6 east (North Davol Street)	Southern end of US 6 concurrency
		3.5	5.6	Route 79 north to Route 24 – Taunton, Middleboro	Northern end of Route 79 concurrency
	Somerset	4.9	7.9	US 6 west / Route 103 west – Swansea, Warren RI	Northern end of US 6 concurrency; western terminus of Route 103
	Taunton	17.9	28.8	US 44 / Route 140 – New Bedford, Cape Cod, Seekonk, Norton, Mansfield, Foxboro	Taunton Green
	Raynham	22.1	35.6	I-495 – Middleboro, Cape Cod, Mansfield, Marlboro	Exit 22 on I-495
	Easton	25.7	41.4	Route 106 to Route 24 – West Bridgewater, Boston, Halifax, Mansfield
		28.0	45.1	Route 123 west – Easton, Norton	Southern end of Route 123 concurrency
		28.6	46.0	Route 123 east – Brockton, Abington	Northern end of Route 123 concurrency
Norfolk	Stoughton	33.9	54.6	Route 27 south / Route 139 east – Brockton, Whitman, Randolph, Holbrook	Southern end of Route 27 concurrency; western terminus of Route 139
	Stoughton	34.0	54.7	Route 27 north – Sharon, Walpole	Northern end of Route 27 concurrency
	Canton	39.5	63.6	I-93 / US 1 to I-95 (Route 128 north) – Braintree, Boston, Dedham	Exits 2A-B on I-93; former Route 128
	Milton	44.1	71.0	Route 28 – Milton, Randolph, Boston	Northern terminus outside Mattapan Square
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus