U.S. Route 3

"US 3" redirects here. For the band, see Us3.

U.S. Route 3
Route information
Length:	277.00 mi[1] (445.79 km)
Existed:	1926[1] – present
Major junctions
South end:	Route 2A / Route 3 in Cambridge, Mass.
	Route 2 in Cambridge, Mass. Route 16 in Cambridge, Mass. Route 60 in Arlington, Mass. I-95 / Route 128 in Burlington, Mass. I-495 in Chelmsford, Mass. Everett Tpke. in Nashua, N.H. NH 101 near Manchester, N.H. US 4 near Concord, N.H. I-93 in Franconia, N.H. US 2 in Lancaster, N.H.
North end:	Route 257 near Chartierville, Quebec
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced

U.S. Route 3 is a north–south United States highway that runs from its southern terminus in Cambridge, Massachusetts^[2] through New Hampshire to its terminus near Third Connecticut Lake at the Canadian border, where the road continues north as Quebec Route 257.

In New Hampshire parts of US 3 are known as the Daniel Webster Highway. From Burlington, Massachusetts to Nashua, New Hampshire, US 3 is a freeway. (The 6.7 miles (10.8 km) in New Hampshire are a free portion of the Everett Turnpike.) A second freeway portion exists in northern New Hampshire, where US 3 utilizes the Franconia Notch Parkway and a short segment of Interstate 93, before proceeding on two-lane roads north to the border with Canada. While the southern terminus has not changed there have been different northern termini to this route.

Massachusetts Route 3 continues beyond Boston to Cape Cod, but has never been part of US 3.

Route description

Lengths

	mi	km
NH	241.49	388.55
MA	35.52	57.14
Total	277.00	445.70

Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, US 3's freeway portion heading from Interstate 95/Route 128 to the New Hampshire border is numbered using the original exit numbering system from the days when US 3's freeway portion was to extend south of Route 128 to Boston to connect with Massachusetts Route 2 and the never-built Inner Belt (I-695). The numbering 'begins' with Exit 25 at Route 128 and proceeds north. All other freeways which once used that system have been renumbered with more conventional exit numbers. Because of the cancellation of Route 3 as an expressway inside of 128, one travelling on Route 3 will travel along a wrong-way concurrency with MA-128/I-95 for a short while (going South on Route 3 is 128 and 95 North), as to link up the "old" Route 3 inside of the belt and the "new" Route 3 outside of it.

The "old" Route 3 runs south from I-95/Route 128 Exit 33, through portions of Burlington, Woburn, and Winchester without intersecting any other numbered routes. In Arlington, it joins with Massachusetts Routes 60 and 2A in Arlington Center. It is only briefly joined with Route 60, as that route goes south, while the joined Routes 3 and 2A go east along Massachusetts Avenue, until it intersects the Alewife Brook Parkway and Massachusetts Route 16, at which point Route 3 joins those routes heading south. At the Alewife MBTA Station, Route 3 joins Massachusetts Route 2 and the Fresh Pond Parkway bearing south and east to Memorial Drive in Cambridge. US Route 3 ends on Memorial Drive at the point where it meets Massachusetts Route 3.

New Hampshire

U.S. Route 3 is one of New Hampshire's most well-known roads, as it passes through most of the state's major cities and towns. It is the only signed/numbered route in the state to extend fully from its southern border with Massachusetts to its northern border with Quebec; thus, it is also the longest route within New Hampshire, at 241 miles (388 km).

Route 3 crosses the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border, leaving the town of Tyngsborough, Massachusetts and entering the city of Nashua, New Hampshire, and becomes known as the Everett Turnpike. Route 3 leaves the Everett Turnpike at Exit 7E in Nashua and turns northeast for approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) along a segment known as the Henri Burque Highway, before turning north onto Concord Street, which soon becomes known as the Daniel Webster Highway. Many locals will erroneously refer to the Everett Turnpike from Exit 7 through the I-293 interchange as Route 3 and refer to the actual Route 3 only as the Daniel Webster Highway. Route 3 continues north through the town of Merrimack and into Bedford, where it becomes South River Road. Route 3 parallels Interstate 293 until it turns east, crossing the Merrimack River on Queen City Avenue approximately three-quarters of a mile north of the Bedford-Manchester line. After approximately three-quarters of a mile, Route 3 then turns north onto Elm Street in downtown Manchester. After approximately 2.2 miles (3.5 km) on Elm Street, Route 3 turns east onto Webster Street, then joins NH Route 28 to proceed in a northeasterly direction on another segment of the Daniel Webster Highway.

In Suncook, New Hampshire, Route 28 leaves to the northeast, and Route 3 proceeds northwest towards Concord on Pembroke Street, becoming Manchester Street when it enters the Concord city limits. Route 3 traverses downtown Concord, where it is known as North and South Main Street, then follows North State Street to Fisherville Road to Village Street in Penacook before crossing the Contoocook River into Boscawen. Route 3 travels north through Boscawen, briefly joining U.S. Route 4. Route 3 parallels the Merrimack River north into Franklin. In Franklin, the route joins New Hampshire Route 11 and turns east, briefly coinciding with New Hampshire Route 127, and passing through Tilton, where it crosses NH 132 and passes the western end of NH 140. Continuing northeast past Winnisquam Lake, Routes 3 and 11 reach Laconia and turn onto the Laconia-Gilford Bypass, passing interchanges with New Hampshire Routes 106, 107, and 11A. At the north end of the bypass, Routes 3 and 11 diverge, with Route 3 continuing north on Lake Street to Weirs Beach and an intersection with 11B. Route 3 continues north as the Daniel Webster Highway to Meredith at the north end of Meredith Bay on Lake Winnipesaukee. In Meredith, after passing the northern terminus of NH 106, Route 3 joins NH 25 and continues north past Squam Lake into Holderness, passing the west ends of NH 25B and NH 113. Through Holderness, Routes 3 and 25 gradually turn west, then southwest, passing the southern end of NH 175, and then reaching the northern end of NH 132 in Ashland.

US 3 in Lincoln, New Hampshire.

From Ashland to North Woodstock, Route 3 proceeds north, roughly paralleling I-93 in the Pemigewasset River valley. Along this stretch it passes through the towns of Plymouth (where NH 25 diverges to the west), West Campton (where it meets the western end of NH 49, the principal access road to Waterville Valley), Thornton, and Woodstock. In North Woodstock, Route 3 crosses NH 112 (also known as the Kancamagus Highway to the east). Continuing north, Route 3 joins with I-93 as it passes through Franconia Notch State Park, one of the more scenic drives in the White Mountains. It separates from I-93 shortly north of the northern park boundary in Franconia, about 1.5-mile (2.4 km) north of the exit with NH 18. From there, after NH 141 branches northwest, Route 3 heads north and east toward Twin Mountain and a junction with US Route 302. This portion of the road is noted for fairly frequent moose sightings, especially during sunrise and sunset when moose are particularly active.

Heading north from Twin Mountain, Route 3 passes through the village of Carroll, where NH 115 branches to the northeast, and Route 3 bears to the northwest and the town of Whitefield. In the center of Whitefield, NH 142 branches to the northwest, and NH 116 crosses, running roughly southwest to northeast. Route 3 continues north to Lancaster, where it joins US Route 2 in the town center, and where NH 135 branches left. After US 2 leaves to the west, Route 3 continues north, roughly paralleling the course of the Connecticut River (which also forms the border with Vermont), through Northumberland and Groveton, where NH 110 ends. North of Groveton, Route 3 continues to follow the river, through Stratford, North Stratford, and Columbia, until it reaches Colebrook, where New Hampshire Routes 145 and 26 begin. Still following the Connecticut River north, Route 3 passes through portions of Stewartstown and Clarksville. In Stewartstown, the road turns more directly east (still following the Connecticut River, which is no longer a boundary), before resuming a northeasterly direction through Pittsburg, where it meets the northern end of NH 145, eventually heading directly north to the Canadian border crossing at Chartierville, Quebec, where it becomes Quebec Route 257.

History

NE-6

Prior to the U.S. Highway system, the section of US 3 from Orleans, Massachusetts to Colebrook, New Hampshire was part of New England Interstate Route 6 (NE-6). It was replaced in its entirety with the establishment of US 3 in 1926.

Massachusetts

Route 3 in Massachusetts (from Tyngsborough to Cambridge) closely follows the route of the early 19th Century Middlesex Canal and Middlesex Turnpike.

The modern expressway was begun around Massachusetts Route 110 at Lowell before World War II. In the 1950s, it was extended south to Route 128, and by the 1960s, it was completed north from Chelmsford to New Hampshire. In the first half of the first decade of the 21st century, the chronically congested four-lane road, largely with antiquated ramps around Lowell, was widened to six lanes (as it had been in Nashua, New Hampshire a few years previously), and many interchanges were modernized in what was comically known as "The Big Wide," in reference to Massachusetts' other "Big" construction project. The $365 million 21-mile (34 km) widening project was completed in 2005 from Burlington to the New Hampshire border.

Termini

According to the AASHTO route log, the southern terminus of U.S. Route 3 is at U.S. Route 20 in Boston, Massachusetts, after crossing the Charles River at the Boston University Bridge. However, MassDOT officially places the southern terminus at the junction of Route 2A and Route 3 in Cambridge, which is where Route 2A crosses the Charles along the Harvard Bridge (also known as the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge). The original northern terminus (in 1926) was Colebrook, New Hampshire, but the highway was extended to West Stewartstown, New Hampshire in 1928, and to Pittsburg, New Hampshire in 1937. Colebrook was temporarily the northern terminus again from 1939 to 1940. Since 1940, the highway has run through Pittsburg to the New Hampshire-Quebec border.

Major intersections

Note: milepost readings in parentheses reflect the actual posted milemarkers in Massachusetts. Since US-3 and MA Route 3 are treated as one continuous route by the state, mileposts continuously increase and do not reset when the designation changes in Cambridge.

County	Location	Mile[3]	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Middlesex	Cambridge	0.00[4] (55.71)		Route 3 (Memorial Drive) Route 2A	Southern terminus of US 3; northern terminus of Route 3
				Route 2 east (Boston University Bridge)	Southern end of Route 2 concurrency
				Route 16 west	Southern terminus of Route 16 concurrency
				Route 2 west (Concord Turnpike)	Northern end of Route 26 concurrency
				Route 16 east Route 2A east	Northern end of Route 16 concurrency; southern end of Route 2A concurrency
	Arlington			Route 60	Brief concurrency with Route 60
				Route 2A west	Northern end of Route 2A concurrency
	Burlington	16.3 (72.0)	25	I-95 / Route 128 Route 3A	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern end of I-95/Route 128 concurrency; exit signed as 25A (north) and 25B (south)
	Bedford	16.9 (72.9)	26	Route 62 – Burlington, Bedford
	Billerica	20.4 (76.1)	27	Concord Road – Billerica, Bedford
		21.8 (77.5)	28	Treble Cove Road – North Billerica, Carlisle
	North Billerica	24.0 (79.7)	29	Route 129 – Billerica, Chelmsford
	Chelmsford	25.5 (81.2)	30	Lowell Connector I-495 – Lawrence, Marlborough	Signed northbound as exits 30A (Lowell Connector), 30B (I-495 north, via Lowell Connector) and 30C (I-495 south);Northbound; exits 30A and 30BB share collector ramp northbound Signed southbound as exits 30A (I-495 north) and 30B (I-495 south) and shares a collector ramp with exit 31; no access to Lowell Connector southbound
		25.8 (81.5)	31	Route 110 – Chelmsford	Exits 30C and 31 share collector ramps northbound; exits 31, 30B and 30A share collector ramp southbound
	North Chelmsford	28.0 (83.7)	32	Route 4 – North Chelmsford, Chelmsford
		30.1 (85.8)	33	Route 40 – Westford, North Chelmsford
	Tyngsboro	32.3 (88.0)	34	Westford Road – Tyngsborough, Westford
		33.9 (89.6)	35	Route 113 – Dunstable, Tyngsborough
		35.3 (91.0)	36	Middlesex Road – South Nashua, NH	No southbound exit; entrance ramp to northbound US 3 crosses the state line and merges with the highway in New Hampshire
		35.6 0.00	Massachusetts – New Hampshire state line
Hillsborough	Nashua	0.50	1	Spit Brook Road – South Nashua
		1.49	2	To NH 3A (Daniel Webster Highway) – Hudson, (Circumferential Highway	Ramp from exit 1 northbound collector-distributor lane numbered exit 1A
		2.59	3	Daniel Webster Highway – South Nashua	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		3.18	4	East Dunstable Road	Formerly signed with FAA Center as destination; signage was removed at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks
		4.69	5	NH 111 to NH 111A – Nashua, Hudson, Pepperell, MA	Signed as exits 5E and 5W
		5.13	5A	Simon Street	Northbound exit only
		6.22	6	NH 130 (Broad Street) – Hollis
		6.74	7	Everett Tpke. north NH 101A – Nashua, Amherst, Milford	Northern end of the Everett Turnpike concurrency; signed as exits 7E (US 3 north / NH 101A east) and 7W (NH 101A west; brief concurrency with NH 101A west
	Merrimack			Everett Tpke.	Exit 10 on the Everett Turnpike via Industrial Drive
				Everett Tpke.	Exit 11 on the Everett Turnpike via Greeley Street)
				Everett Tpke. south	Exit 12 on the Everett Turnpike via Bedford Road; no access to Everett Turnpike north
	Bedford			NH 101 to I-293 / Everett Tpke.	Access to the I-293/Everett Tpke. via Route 101 east
	Manchester			I-293 / Everett Tpke. NH 3A north NH 114A	Exit 4 on I-293; eastern terminus of NH 114A; western end of NH 3A concurrency
				NH 3A south	Eastern end of NH 3A concurrency
				NH 28 south	Southern end of NH 28 concurrency
Merrimack	Hooksett			I-93	Exit 9 on I-93
				NH 28A	Northern terminus of NH 28A
				NH 27	Western terminus of NH 27
				NH 28 Bypass	Northern terminus of NH 28 Bypass
	Allenstown			NH 28 north	Northern end of NH 28 concurrency in village of Suncook
	Concord			I-93	Exit 13 on I-93
				NH 3A	Northern terminus of the southern segment of NH 3A
				US 202 west / NH 9 west to NH 13	Southern end of US 202/NH 9 concurrency
				NH 9 east to I-93	Northern end of NH 9 concurrency
				I-393 east / US 202 east	Northern end of US 202 concurrency; western terminus of I-393
	Boscawen			US 4 east	Southern end of US 4 concurrency near village of Penacook
				US 4 west	Northern end of US 4 concurrency
	Franklin			NH 127 south	Southern end of NH 127 concurrency
				NH 3A / NH 11 west	Southern end of NH 11/NH 127 concurrency
				NH 127 north	Northern end of NH 127 concurrency
Belknap	Tilton			NH 132 south	Western end of NH 132 concurrency
				I-93 NH 140 east	Exit 20 on I-93; western terminus of NH Route 140
				NH 132 north	Eastern end of NH 132 concurrency
	Belmont			NH 11A	Western terminus of NH 11A
	Laconia			NH 106	Interchange; to NH 107, via NH 106 north
				NH 107	Partial interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Gilford			NH 11A	Interchange
				NH 11 east	Northern end of NH 11 concurrency; to] NH 11C
	Laconia			NH 107 south	Northern terminus of NH 107
				NH 11B	Western terminus of NH 11B in village of Weirs Beach
	Meredith			NH 106	Northern terminus of NH 106
				NH 104	Eastern terminus of NH 104
				NH 25 east	Southern end of NH 25 concurrency
	Center Harbor			NH 25B	Western terminus of NH 25B
Grafton	Holderness			NH 113	Southern terminus of NH 113
				NH 175	Southern terminus of NH 175
	Ashland			NH 132	Northern terminus of NH 132
				I-93	Exit 24 on I-93
	Plymouth			NH 175A	Western terminus of NH 175A
				NH 3A NH 25 west	Interchange; northern end of NH 25 concurrency; to I-93 via NH 3A north
	Campton			I-93	Exit 27 on I-93 via Blair Road
				NH 49	Western terminus of NH 49
	Thornton			I-93	Exit 29 on I-93
	Woodstock			I-93	Exit 30 on I-93
				NH 175	Northern terminus of NH 175
				NH 112
	Lincoln			I-93	Exit 33 on I-93
			34A	I-93 north	Partial interchange for exit 34A on I-93 interchange; southern end of I-93 concurrency and the Franconia Notch Parkway
	Franconia		34B	Cannon Mountain Tramway – Old Man Historic Site
			34C	NH 18 – Echo Lake Beach, Peabody Slopes, Cannon Mountain	Southern terminus of NH 18
			35	I-93 north	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern end of I-93 concurrency and Franconia Notch Parkway
				NH 141	Eastern terminus of NH 141; to I-93 north
Coos	Carroll			US 302	In village of Twin Mountain
				NH 115	Southern terminus of NH 115
	Whitefield			NH 116 / NH 142	Brief concurrency with NH 116/NH 142
	Lancaster			US 2 east	Southern end of US 2 concurrency
				NH 135	Northern terminus of NH 135
				US 2 west	Northern end of US 2 concurrency; to Vermont Route 102
	Northumberland			NH 110	Western terminus of NH 110 in village of Groveton
	Colebrook			NH 26 south	Southern end of NH 26 concurrency
				NH 26 north	Northern end of NH 26 concurrency; to Vermont Route 26/Route 102
				NH 145	Southern terminus of NH 145
	Pittsburg			NH 145	Northern terminus of NH 145
		241.49		Route 257	Northern terminus of US 3, roadway continues into Quebec as Route 257
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

Bannered routes

Laconia business loop

U.S. Route 3 Business
Location:	Laconia, New Hampshire

U.S. Route 3 Business is a 4.20-mile (6.76 km)^[5] long business route running north–south through downtown Laconia, New Hampshire. It runs from US 3 in Laconia south to US 3 and NH 11 in Belmont, New Hampshire along New Hampshire Route 107 and New Hampshire Route 11A.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} US Highways From US 1 to US 830 Robert V. Droz.
2. ^ The official end according to AASHTO is at US 20 across the Charles River in Boston, though current signs indicate a terminus in Cambridge at Route 2A/3.
3. ^ Complex Systems Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space. "NH GRANIT". University of New Hampshire. http://www.granit.sr.unh.edu/. Retrieved June 30, 2011. 
4. ^ Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. 2007. Interchange Lists (US 3). Downloaded from: http://www.eot.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=planning/disc/interchanges&sid=dtable , August 7, 2011. Mileage is for US 3 Only, Total Route 3 Mileage in (). MassDOT only recognizes combined mileage.
5. ^ New Hampshire Routes 1-25

External links

• US 3/Northwest Expressway on Bostonroads.com
• Route 3 construction updates^{[dead link]}

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Lists		U.S. Routes • Bannered • Divided • Bypassed

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