page_title: U.S. Route 5
section_title: Massachusetts
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 5 / History / Massachusetts
caption_attribution_description: English: US Route 5 northbound, Longmeadow Massachusetts
context_page_description: U.S. Route 5 is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Springfield, Massachusetts. From Hartford northward to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, the road closely follows the route of the Connecticut River.
  The entire route of US 5 is closely paralleled by Interstate 91. US 5 now serves as the local business route and alternate route for the Interstate highway. The northern terminus of US 5 is in Derby Line, Vermont at the Canada–US border, where it continues past the Derby Line–Stanstead Border Crossing into Quebec as Quebec Route 143, which was Route 5 until renumbered in the mid-1970s. Its southern terminus is in New Haven, Connecticut at an intersection with Interstate 91.
context_section_description: The Massachusetts Highway Commission noted in 1912 that between Longmeadow and Agawam, the traffic between the Pioneer Valley and Connecticut was heavier on the east side.
  The western route from Hartford to West Springfield, via what is now River Road in Agawam and Route 159 in Connecticut, was designated US-5A.
  The main route, US-5, was originally designated to run on the east side of the river from Hartford into downtown Springfield, over the Memorial Bridge, along Memorial Avenue, up a four-lane Main Street, and then to Park Street (and Park Avenue going in the opposite direction), and up what is now Elm Street, to Riverdale Street.  Riverdale Street at that time followed the northern part of the current Elm Street, and ended at Witch Path.
  In 1938, due to congestion in the West Springfield town center, Route 5 was moved to a newly constructed bypass from the North End Bridge to East Elm Street, where it continued north along the modern Elm Street and Riverdale Road.
  In 1941-42, a four-lane highway was built from East Elm Street to the current Elm Street fork just south of Morgan Road.  The designations of both Riverdale Road and Route 5 were moved to the new more easterly route.
  In 1952-53, construction was started on the modern four-lane highway from the new South End Bridge in Agawam to the existing bypass at the North End Bridge.  Tunnels were built under the rotaries at the Memorial and North End Bridges so Route 5 traffic and local traffic would not intersect. In 1971, the Riverdale Road portion of Route 5 was upgraded to a divided highway, with the installation of a steel median, and in 1987-88, a new lane was added to accommodate the new Riverdale Shops at Daggett Drive.
  The 1953 Massachusetts Department of Public Works Master Plan would have relocated U.S. 5 between Morgan Road in West Springfield and Mount Tom in Holyoke to a right-of-way similar to the current path of Interstate 91, but this was never implemented.
caption: Northbound in Longmeadow, Massachusetts
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SX160 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2013:01:07 12:38:46", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "246", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "4938", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5620", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3945", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity and Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:01:07 12:38:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:01:07 12:38:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "319/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "139/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2448", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "3264", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2448", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4860", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1632000/121", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1224000/91", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": ""}