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Massachusetts Route 128

highway in Massachusetts

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ1638847 ↗
Source-derived summary

Route 128, known as the Yankee Division Highway, is an expressway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts maintained by the Highway Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning 57 miles (92 km), it is the inner one of two beltways around Boston (the other being Interstate 495 [I-495]). The route's current southern terminus is at the junction of I-95 and I-93 in Canton, and it is concurrent with I-95 around Boston for 37.5 miles (60.4 km) before it leaves the interstate and continues on its own in a northeasterly direction towards Cape Ann. The northern terminus lies in Gloucester a few hundred feet from the Atlantic Ocean. All but the northernmost three miles (4.8 km) are a freeway, with the remainder being an expressway.

In local culture, Route 128 is generally recognized as the demarcation between the more urban inner suburbs and the less densely developed suburbs surrounding the city of Boston. It is furthermore used to reference the high-technology industry that developed from the 1960s to the 1980s in the suburban areas along the highway.

Route description

Concurrency with I-95 (Canton–Peabody)

Route 128 begins in the south in Norfolk County, at the interchange with I-93, I-95, and U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Canton. It immediately begins as a freeway. Until the 1990s, its southern terminus was located at the junction of I-93, US 1, and Route 3 (the Braintree Split) in Braintree.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Massachusetts Route 128” as highway in Massachusetts. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Massachusetts, Route and highway.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current 236-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1927. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Massachusetts, Route and highway providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Massachusetts Route 128”, the useful work is to connect “highway in Massachusetts” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1638847. VIAF identifies the subject as 315529202. The Library of Congress control number is sh2003002190. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Massachusetts Route 128”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Massachusetts Route 128 primary sources, Massachusetts Route 128 archive and Massachusetts research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Massachusetts Route 128”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Massachusetts Route 128” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.