The Missing Link

As Connecticut finishes patching up its highway system from New Haven to the Massachusett's border, there remains only one big missing link in the concrete speedway from the Holland Tunnel to Portland, Maine. From Sturbridge, Massachusetts, where the Connecticut road ends, to Salisbury, the southern terminus of New Hampshire's new 15 mile paved strip, 150 miles of straggling, second-rate reads are Massachusetts' contribution to the east coast highway system. This month the State Legislature has a chance to hitch together the loose end of that Maine to Manhattan chain. In debating the authorization of a $100,000,000 bond issue, the legislators will also consider a provision for constructing a 90 mile toll turnpike across the state.

Very few objections can be raised to the project. Because it would be a toll highway, the 60 to 75 million dollar cost would be assumed by the users. And inasmuch as most of the cross-state travelers will come from other states, the pike would cost Bay Staters almost nothing. When the tolls have paid off the bonds, the road would become completely free.

As far as speed and safety go, the new road would outclass the old system all the way. Engineers estimate that the 90 miles could be covered in 90 minutes if, as planned, the road were to run uninterrupted from border to border. Like the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, the highway would have a minimum speed law. From the safety angle, speedways are many times less dangerous than winding roads. On the Maine link from Kittery to Portland, for instance, there has been only one fatality since December, 1947--a score of one death for 70 million vehicle miles.

Running roughly parallel to Route 20 from Worcester to the Connecticut line and to Route 110 from Salisbury to Worcester, the new road would have frequent cut-outs, none of which would stop traffic. Boston to New York travel would be considerably expedited even though the highway would come little nearer to Boston than Worcester; most autoists who drive to New York regularly agree that the slowest part of the trip is along Routes 15 and 20 from the Worcester Turnpike to the Connecticut line.

Like the rest of the highway chain, the Massachusetts turnpike would be only a supplement to and not a replacement for the old road network. Using the speedway would be optional; no one traveling from one Massachusetts point to another would be obliged to pay the toll.

For New England, a through highway means a bigger and more satisfied tourist trade. For the average Boston-New York commuter, the college student and the business man, the link means a quicker, safer trip. The State of Massachusetts has an excellent opportunity to make a painless contribution to its own and to its visitors' welfare.