bosoxmrkn

I'm planning a ride from Exeter, NH through Boston to Bridgewater, MA on Friday. Does anyone have experience with riding through Boston? What roads are best? I'm comfortable enough in traffic, but avoiding 45+mph zones and crazy traffic is always a plus.

I was planning on doing 1a from Newburyport at least through Everett. Not sure if it gets too crowded around there.

If you have any thoughts or ideas, please let me know.

Baftap

I'm sure someone will offer a better (and more specific) route, but especially on a holiday weekend I'd start out early and get west of I95 on the north end as soon as possible, then skirt west of Boston (Somerville, Cambridge, Newton...) and continue south through Needham, Dedham, Norwood, finally approaching Bridgewater from the west.

This might add some miles to a more direct route, but I think traffic will be less hectic than if you stay to the east on 1A and try to go through Charlestown, Southie, etc.

I'd be interested in hearing other alternatives myself.

damtalljay

came to the forum seeking the same! i am going from winchester to plymouth... same ride last year but made the mistake of going through neponset. don't do this. from winchester / i will go mass ave to dorchester ave to adams st to 3a to 53... critical to take dot to adams and not neponset to 3a. avoid morrisey. i will take 53 all the way to 3a, on through kingston and into plymouth...

anyone have any alternative to 53? seems more direct than 3a all the way.... hope that helps

bktourer1

try this route. I used this for a week long trip starting fromSouth Station al the way to Ptown:

https://www.outriders.org/pdfs/B2P%20cue_2011_mi.pdf

bosoxmrkn

Alright, this is what I got so far: https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/39429796

TransitGeek

Looks like that route will be fine. Just be aware that once you get into Boston, Mass Ave has two lanes each direction with no bike lane and can be very congested at any time. Riding through Dorchester doesn't give you many good options so I would say what you have isn't bad.

In case you change anything (or for future reference), I would stay away from 1 and 1A on the north shore: 1 is basically a suburban limited-access highway and 1A is a four-lane highway with no shoulders.

A more direct and not so terrible way, depending on your riding preferences, may be to come through Stoneham and the east side of Medford then route 28 to McGrath/O'Brien Hwy (surface or overpasses, very little traffic on overpasses but road conditions can be bad) into Boston. Once you cross the drawbridge/river just go straight to Congress St, past the highway (93) and over the bridge into South Boston. Turn right on A St and left at the end onto Dorchester Ave. You'll miss the Cambridge piece but the entire route beats riding the length of Mass Ave in Boston. Also, you can chill at the harbor/waterfront/greenway if you need a break.

Another option is to go near Harvard Sq like you have it but then take the BU Bridge. Traffic can be miserable there in rush hours but if you miss that it's fine. You can cut straight across Boston via Park Dr to Ruggles and cut over to Dudley St toward Dorchester Ave.

Hope this helps. Feel free to email me tomorrow if you have an urgent question, in case I don't check the forum right away.