Massachusetts/Major roads

Introduction

Although Massachusetts follows the general road naming and road type guidelines of the USA, there are some road naming rules specific to the Commonwealth that all Massachusetts editors MUST follow.

They are included in this section.

Roadway Naming

Massachusetts uses the following naming conventions for roads:

Freeways / Other Expressways

• "I-##" for all interstate freeways. (No City Names, No Alternate Names)
• "US-##" for all US Highways that are FC'd as freeway. (No City Names, No Alternate Names)
• "MA-##" for all State Highways that are FC'd as freeway. (No City Names, No Alternate Names)

Major / Minor Highways

All numbered highways in Massachusetts are to show the actual street name (see GIS) as the Primary name, with appropriate city.

In the Alternate Name field, list the Route Number, with no city. If a segment has more than one State/US route number, add a second Alt Name with the appropriate Route Number.

If a Major/Minor classed segment is not a numbered highway, there should be no alternate names listed.

PS and Lower

List the Primary street name, and city. No Alternate names are to be listed.

Named Roadways

These are named highways in Massachusetts which also carry numbered designations. Some are simply names of streets which carry a numbered route(s). Roads named after people/organizations were generally done so ceremoniously, after the numeric designation(s) already existed. Others carry more general names, such as the Southeast Expressway and Central Artery in Boston (which both refer to the same continuous span of I-93).

Several named highways cover the entire length of a given route in Massachusetts; for example, all of Interstate 90 in Massachusetts is the Massachusetts Turnpike, and the entire length of Route 213 is the Loop Connector.(*) denotes that the named highway spans the entire length of the numbered route in the state.

Wikipedia table of Unnumbered, and Named State Routes

Functional Classification

Functional Classification Implementation has been partially completed within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In some areas, it is still ongoing.

PLEASE REFER TO THIS FORUM TOPIC ON THE MATTER Road Types (USA) – comprehensive overhaul of drivable roads

MassDOT currently maintains two completely separate Functional Classification systems. The state level system has been developed by the MassDOT Planning Division, and consists of 6 Road Types.

The Federal Functional Classification system is the Nationwide standard, and consists of 7 Road Types. The major difference between the two is that the Federal FC classifies limited access arterials (non-Interstates) separate from full-access arterials.

MA to Waze FC conversion

We are utilizing the Federal Functional Classification system, because it matches up with other states.

Resource Links

• MassDOT Highway District Boundaries
• MassDOT Interactive Functional Classification Map
• massDOT Functional Classification Maps

MassDOT GIS class and color description

GIS Legend

The Massachusetts Classification and Color scheme come from the official Massachusetts D.O.T (MassDOT) Federal Functional Classification (FC) map that is published by MassDOT. The legend shows what classifications MassDOT uses and what color is assigned to each class.

Please refer to the GIS FC map found here, on the massDOT FC Maps webpage.

MassDOT to Waze conversion table

The numbers correspond to the Federal FC type indicated. (e.g. Federal Class 4 road is a Minor Arterial)

		Highway Systems
		Interstate	US Hwy (incl. some special routes)	State Hwy (incl. some special routes)	State Hwy BUS, SPUR, LOOP	Locally-maintained
	example>>>>>	I-95 N	US-2	SR-3	SR-400 Loop	Robertson St
F u n c t i o n a l C l a s s	Interstate (1)	Fw	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Principal Arterial OFE (2)	n/a	Fw	Fw	Fw	Fw
	Principal Arterial - Other (3)	n/a	Major	Major	Major	Major
	Minor Arterial (4)	n/a	Major	Minor	Minor	Minor
	Major Collector (5)	n/a	Major	Minor	PS	PS
	Minor Collector (6)	n/a	Major	Minor	PS	PS
	Local/Not Mapped (7)	n/a	Major	Minor	PS	Street

Deviation From Functional Classification

Occasionally it makes sense to deviate from what FC should be.

Here are the segments that are approved to be different than what they should be.

Please contact State Management if you have questions.

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