A report on Weston, Massachusetts, Waltham, Massachusetts, Watertown, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Turnpike and Newton, Massachusetts

Approaching the former West Stockbridge toll plaza traveling eastbound, January 2008

The "Weston tolls" that separated the Western Turnpike from the Boston Extension, October 2006

Saltonstall's landing spot in Watertown, also known as Elbridge Gerry Landing

The eastern terminus of the turnpike in the state, and I-90 nationally, at Route 1A in Boston

Emily Lavan, Heartbreak Hill, 2005 Boston Marathon

Edmund Fowle House, built in the 1700s and used by the Massachusetts government during the Revolutionary War

Now-demolished toll plaza on an exit ramp, January 2016

Toll ticket used prior to conversion to open road tolling

Hairenik Association building – Watertown, Mass.

A map of the proposed highway put forth in the 1948 Massachusetts Highway Master Plan. These proposed roadways would become some of the state's most important transportation routes in the eastern portion of the state.

Waltham Supermarket on Main Street, established in 1936, was a large historic grocery store that closed in the 1990s. The building continues to be a supermarket, occupied subsequently by Shaw's, then Victory, and now Hannaford.

Billboard advertising the construction of the Turnpike, c. 1956

New York Central Railroad (Boston and Albany parent company) employee magazine Headlights from February 1965 showing an aerial photograph of the completed Boston Extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike

A panoramic view of Newton North High School

Diagram of the highway system in downtown Boston before and after completion of the Big Dig

Boston traffic crawling over the closed Ted Williams Tunnel entrance during rush hour, one day after the ceiling collapse

Star Market (briefly Shaw's Supermarket) was built over the turnpike in Newtonville

The Massachusetts Turnpike near the Chicopee exit

The eastern terminus of the turnpike was originally at I-95 in Weston, it has been extended several times: to Allston in 1964, to the Central Artery (designated as I-93, US 1, and Route 3) in Downtown Boston in 1965, and to East Boston as a route to Logan International Airport in 2003 as part of the "Big Dig" megaproject.

- Massachusetts Turnpike

Waltham was first settled in 1634 as part of Watertown and was officially incorporated as a separate town in 1738.

- Waltham, Massachusetts

Weston was originally part of the Watertown settlement of 1630, but until the end of the century, the land was used mainly for grazing cattle.

- Weston, Massachusetts

It is a four-lane highway from the New York state border through its interchange with I-84 at exit 78 in Sturbridge; it expands to six lanes beyond this interchange, and briefly travels with eight lanes from exit 127 in Newton through exit 133 by the Prudential Center in Boston.

- Massachusetts Turnpike

Thrice portions have been added to Cambridge, and it has contributed territory to form the new towns of Weston (1712), Waltham (1738), Lincoln (1754) and Belmont (1859).

- Watertown, Massachusetts

The city is bordered by Waltham and Watertown on the north, Needham and the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston on the south, Wellesley and Weston on the west, and Brookline and the Brighton neighborhood of Boston on the east.

- Newton, Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Turnpike goes through the more urbanized northern section of the city before heading into Boston.

- Newton, Massachusetts

Part of Newton annexed to Waltham.

- Waltham, Massachusetts

After World War II, construction of Routes 128 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, along with pent up demand for housing, led to subdivision of former estate properties and farms throughout the town.

- Weston, Massachusetts

The town is bordered by Newton and Waltham on the east; Wellesley to the south; Natick and Wayland to the west; and Lincoln to the north.

- Weston, Massachusetts

To the north, it is bordered by the town of Belmont, along Belmont Street; to the south, it is bordered by Newton and Brighton—the border being largely formed by the Charles River.

- Watertown, Massachusetts

Watertown borders Soldiers Field Road and the Massachusetts Turnpike, major arteries into downtown Boston.

- Watertown, Massachusetts

Interestingly, the extreme southeastern portion of Weston is within one mile of Riverside Station, a park-and-ride facility which serves the Green Line D branch in the neighboring city of Newton.

- Weston, Massachusetts

Complicating the matter, Callahan's planned extension route was not universally accepted by others within the state, such as newly elected Governor John A. Volpe and Newton Mayor Donald Gibbs, who sought to construct a freeway that would follow a different route between the Borders of Newton, Waltham and Watertown along the Charles River and U.S. Route 20 and be constructed using the funds now being provided by the Federal Highway Administration.

- Massachusetts Turnpike

Kendal Green (mostly in Weston)

- Waltham, Massachusetts

Interstate 90, which is also the Massachusetts Turnpike, is just to the south in Newton, Massachusetts.

- Waltham, Massachusetts

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Cambridge, Massachusetts

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City in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and part of the Boston metropolitan area as a major suburb of Boston.

Map showing the original boundaries of Cambridge and other Massachusetts cities and towns

1852 Map of Boston area showing Cambridge and regional rail lines and highlighting the course of the Middlesex Canal. Cambridge is toward the bottom of the map and outlined in yellow, and should not be confused with the pink-outlined and partially cropped "West Cambridge", now Arlington.

A view from Boston of Harvard's Weld Boathouse and Cambridge in winter. The Charles River is in the foreground.

Buildings of Kendall Square, center of Cambridge's biotech economy, seen from the Charles River

Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site

Aerial view of part of MIT's main campus

The 1888 part of the Cambridge Public Library

The Weeks Bridge provides a pedestrian-only connection between Boston's Allston-Brighton neighborhood and Cambridge over the Charles River.

Engine 2, Paramedic Squad 2, Ladder 3 firehouse

Located at the first convenient Charles River crossing west of Boston, Newtowne was one of several towns (including Boston, Dorchester, Watertown, and Weymouth) founded by the 700 original Puritan colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony under Governor John Winthrop.

The town comprised a much larger area than the present city, with various outlying parts becoming independent towns over the years: Cambridge Village (later Newtown and now Newton) in 1688, Cambridge Farms (now Lexington) in 1712 or 1713, and Little or South Cambridge (now Brighton) and Menotomy or West Cambridge (now Arlington) in 1807.

The second area is the larger Hobbs Brook and Stony Brook watersheds, which share borders with neighboring towns and cities including Lexington, Lincoln, Waltham and Weston.

The Massachusetts Turnpike does not pass through Cambridge but provides access by an exit in nearby Allston.