Interstate 291, also known as the Springfield Expressway, is a connector highway in Massachusetts that links Interstate 91 in downtown Springfield with Interstate 90 in Chicopee. I-291 is roughly a northeast/southwest highway. It merges with I-91 at its southwestern terminus, via a flyover. The road meets the Mass Pike at its northeastern terminus. Getting onto the Pike from I-291 is straightforward, but getting from the Pike to I-291 requires a left turn at an at-grade traffic signal. I-291 travels directly through highly populated areas of Springfield, and passes under several overpasses. From its southwestern terminus to exit 5A, Interstate 291 is concurrent with U.S. Route 20. I-291 is only from Interstate 291 in Connecticut, and there are no intervening Interstate Highway interchanges between them. It can be easy for travelers to become confused between the two highways.
Route description
Interstate 291 begins as a spur of Interstate 91 at Exit 8 in Springfield, concurrent with U.S. 20, which merges from the north. The two entry ramps from I-91 merge with each other after Exits 2A and 2B, where a sign for the beginning of I-291 east is posted. I-291 and U.S. 20 run eastbound concurrently until Exit 5A, where U.S. 20 east leaves the highway for a junction with Route 20A. I-291 continues east into Chicopee, where it intersects the Massachusetts Turnpike. I-291 ends at an odd intersection at a stoplight on Burnett Road, but I-291 east traffic can exit uninterrupted by way of a ramp to the Mass Pike. However, drivers coming from the Mass Pike must deal with this traffic light, as a left turn across the intersection is required to get on I-291 west. The westbound interchange with I-91 is unusual in that the ramps for Exit 1A-B split before the ramps for Exits 2A-B do. Traffic bound for Exit 2A must first take the ramp for Exit 1A, and traffic bound for Exit 2B must first take the ramp for Exit 1B. Traffic bound for U.S. 20 West from I-291 takes Exit 1B. U.S. 20 does not actually join with I-91, but rather this exit splits, left for the on-ramp to I-91 North, the right to continue on the U.S. 20 access ramp.
History
I-291 was originally conceived in 1953, prior to the creation of the Interstate Highway System, as the Springfield Expressway, which would bypass US 20 and connect to the US 5 expressway and the proposed Massachusetts Turnpike. I-291 follows the original planned alignment of the expressway, except forthe stretch between exit 4 and exit 5. The original planned alignment had the route turn in almost a perfect 90 degree angle onto Roosevelt Avenue, but industrial development had the highway turn more gently. The first section of the expressway that was built was the bridge over the Chicopee River. The first section of the expressway that opened was from US 20/MA 20A to I-90 in 1957; work on the freeway started up again in 1967 and the entire highway was completed in 1971. The construction delay was due to I-91 having priority through western Massachusetts.
Exit list
All interchanges were to be renumbered to mileage-based numbers under a project scheduled to start in 2016.However, this project was indefinitely postponed until on November 18, 2019, MassDOT announced that this route will not be changing the exit numbers.
