in Mass. Photo Gallery
Photos taken on and near US 6 on Cape Cod and
the South Coast of Massachusetts.
A. Mid-Cape Highway Sign Replacement Project, 2017-2019
MassDOT awarded a
contract in April 2017 to replace exit and other related signage on the
Mid-Cape Highway from Sandwich (Route 130) to Orleans. The contract
called for placing ground-mounted exit signage on existing supports in
what became a slimmed-down version of the original project which would
have placed overhead signage with new exit numbers along the length of
the Mid-Cape Highway. Criticism about the overhead signs being out of
character for Cape Cod and the logic of the exit numbers (which would
run from 55 to 80, see US 6 Exit List) by
the Cape Cod Commission and local officials, not only resulted in a
scaled back project but the indefinite postponement of what was to be a
state-wide project to change exit numbers to those based on highway
mileposts. An example of overhead signage already in place for Route 6A
in Bourne that was opposed by Cape Cod officials:
The installation
of new signage started in the Fall of 2017 and was completed with the
placement of exit gore signs in the spring of 2019. Photos below were
taken on trips along US 6 on the Cape on January 27 and May 23, 2018 and
September 22, 2019. In January 2018, exit signage has been completely
replaced between Sandwich and Barnstable (Exits 2 to 6) eastbound and
from Exits 5 to 2 westbound. Some new signage also is in place between
Barnstable and Dennis (Exit 9) in both directions. By May 2018 new
signage extended the length of the Mid-Cape highway to Orleans, and some
of the missing signs elsewhere had been placed. All but exit signs but
the 1-mile advance for the MA 132 exit in Barnstable were in place by
August 2019. The gallery will proceed by exit, starting in Sandwich, and
will cover both directions of the highway, first heading east.
Exit 2-MA 130
The gore sign in
the distance has not been updated yet, it was placed in the spring
of 2019, it is supposed to be large enough to post a mileage based
number in the future, does it look like it?
The new
reassurance marker following the exit:
Heading west:
The sign above
replaced the plain auxiliary sign below decreasing the number of signs
needed along the highway (does it match the plan seen at the top of the
page?)
The gore sign was
replaced in early 2019, no photo, for now.
New guide signs
on Route 130 for the US 6 ramps:
Exit 3-Quaker
Meeting House Road, Eastbound:
Gore sign not
replaced above had been placed by September 2019:
The next
reassurance marker, still haven't fixed the MA 6 shield mile marker:
Westbound:
Old gore sign
above, new one below:
The US 6 West
reassurance marker after the exit, partially hidden by trees:
Here's a new post
interchange distance sign eastbound after Exit 3:
Exit 4- Chase
Road, Eastbound:
Again, old gore
sign above, new below:
The eastbound
reassurance marker:
Westbound:
Again the old
gore sign above, the new one below:
The westbound
reassurance marker:
And a new
post-interchange distance sign after the reassurance marker:
Exit 5-Route 149,
Eastbound:
The reassurance
marker after the exit:
Heading
westbound:
Old version of
gore sign above (and gore reflector sign), new one below:
Here's the
reassurance marker westbound:
Following the
reassurance marker there was another new post-interchange distance sign:
There was also a
new town boundary sign for Entering Sandwich prior to Exit 4:
Exit 6-Route 132,
Eastbound:
Again, old gore
sign in distance above and new version below:
And another East
US 6 reassurance marker after the exit:
There was also
another new post-interchange sign further east:
Westbound, there
was still no new 1-Mile advance at the end of the project, an orphaned
sign?:
Old gore sign in
distance above, new one below:
After the exit
there was a marker for the Grand Army of the Republic Highway:
A new sign
marking the crossing of the Yarmouth border at the Bass River:
Heading east
again, before Exit 7 there was new Rest Area signage:
Exit 7- Willow
Street, Eastbound:
The 1/2 Mile
Advance Sign was put up in the Spring of 2018:
And at the exit:
Westbound:
Finally got a
photo of the 1-mile advance sign in this direction .
Old gore sign in
distance above, new one was installed (no photo).
Beyond the exit
was a new sign for the Yarmouth Parking Area:
Exit 8-Union
Street, Eastbound:
There is now a
new 1/2 mile advance sign in this direction (no photo).
Old gore sign in
distance, new one below:
Westbound:
New gore sign
below:
They also had
placed a new West US 6 reassurance marker beyond:
Here's what the
previous one looked like westbound, MassDOT continues to downsize the
shields, leaving them more likely to be hidden by pine tree branches:
Exit 9-Route
134, Eastbound:
The remainder of
the new signs were put up later in 2018, here's the 1/2 mile advance for
Route 134 South:
The Route 134
North advance is in the left lane prior to the South 134 ramp, a remnant
of the planned overhead signs at this interchange?
Old gore sign for
Route 134 South above, and new one below:
Westbound:
The next sign was
put up between January and May 2018, a new 1/2 mile advance for the
Route 134 North exit:
The next new
sign, put up in 2017, was at the ramp to Route 134 North:
The previous sign
on the left for Route 134 South was probably placed there in
anticipation of being mounted as an overhead sign over the left lane.
With MassDOT agreeing to keep all the signs at ground-level, it will be
interesting to see where the new sign ends up. Did not get to check on
that during the September 2019 road trip. The new Route 134 South ramp
sign is slightly obscured by an evacuation route sign:
Unlike in May
2018, most of the reassurance markers had been replaced west of Dennis,
here's the one after Route 134:
I did not travel
further east, where US 6 becomes a Super-2 Freeway, so I don't know if
this newer looking old style marker prior to the 1 mile advance sign for
Route 124 in Harwich has been replaced:
Exit 10-Route
124, Harwich:
Newly signed
since January, the 1-Mile Advance is the first of 3 new signs in each
direction.
An auxiliary sign
put up for Harwichport and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School.
The 1/2 mile
advance sign.
Signage at the
exit ramp.
In addition to
the new Exit 10 gore sign, MassDOT has been placing the yellow reflector
diamond signs at exit ramps all over the state. The ones on US 6 though
are much larger and sometimes obscure the gore sign.
Heading west:
All the signs
have been replaced in this direction too, starting with the 1-Mile
Advance.
Another auxiliary
sign for Harwichport and Cape Cod Regional Tech.
The 1/2 mile
advance.
And the exit ramp
sign, notice in the distance how the yellow reflector at the gore blocks
the Exit 10 gore sign.
After the Route
124 exit there is another new reassurance marker assembly, the next to
last, to the one following Exit 8.
Heading back
east, before the next exit there's a new distance sign with mileage to
the end of US 6 in Provincetown:
Exit 11- Route
137, Brewster:
As with Exit 10,
all three signs have been replaced in both directions starting with the
eastbound 1-Mile Advance sign.
There is a new
auxiliary sign for East Harwich.
The 1/2 mile
advance sign.
The exit ramp
signage, there is also a repaving project going on from Brewster to
Orleans as evident in the last few photos.
Here work is
going on around the Exit 11 gore sign.
Westbound:
The 1-Mile
Advance sign.
Another auxiliary
sign for East Harwich.
Exit 12 - Route
6A, Orleans:
All three signs
are up for the last exit as well, both east and westbound starting with
the 1-Mile Advance.
An auxiliary sign
sits between the 1 and 1/2 mile advance for Nauset Beach.
The last new exit
sign eastbound is at the ramp to Route 6A.
Westbound:
The first sign is
an auxiliary for the exits for Brewster, followed by a new West US 6
reassurance marker.
The 1-Mile
Advance sign at the start of the Mid-Cape Highway heading west.
The 1/2 Mile
Advance is next.
Prior to the exit
there is a brown attractions sign for Nickerson State Park.
The slightly
elevated off-ramp sign is next, along with the first example of many
Evacuation Route signs.
Orleans Rotary
Originally the
Rotary was designated as Exit 13, despite not being an exit. This
changed with the sign replacement project. If there were any exit signs,
they were removed. The only notice one gets approaching the end of the
Mid-Cape Highway is this small sign:
and a Rotary (or
is it a Traffic Circle) Advisory Sign:
Turned around
here to head back westbound, nice they put a rotary in this location.
These guide signs
have not been replaced recently and don't know if they're part of the
Replacement contract.
Newer guide sign
marking the beginning of Route 28 North and 6A West where US 6 turns
onto beginning of Mid-Cape Highway.
Most
of the guide signs east of Sandwich still have not been replaced. Here's
an example of the existing signage in Harwich: 
B. Older Photos
Photos taken
prior to the sign replacement project on the Mid-Cape Highway. Here are
the overhead signs put up as part of the Sagamore Bridge Flyover (Rotary
Removal) Project:
These are to
remain the only overhead signage on US 6:
B. Earlier photos
of signs along the Mid-Cape Highway:
Heading eastbound
just beyond the Sagamore Bridge, the exit numbers are actually
continuations of Route 3's, therefore the US 6 'Exit.'
The worn 1-Mile
advance sign for Route 130 as it appeared in July 2016.
Similar condition
of Exit 2 1 Mile signage which was hard to see at night.
The Chase Road
exit sign was not as difficult to see.
This sign had 3
supports instead of the usual 2.
The last sign I
took a photo of for Route 132 was showing its age.
The reassurance
markers have not been replaced and are the same as those spotted earlier
in 2017. Behind it is a MA 6 Mile 59 marker.
Here's another
just 1 mile further down the road. I also spotted this one a mile later
during the recent trip:
There was also
this westbound approaching the Sagamore Bridge:
C. Here are signs
on the other side of the Sagamore Bridge:
This sign is back
on the other side of the canal along the connector route between the
Bourne and Sagamore bridges.
There was also on
that road this erroneous trailblazer for US 3 (well, you could say its
technically true, but you have to drive more than 50 miles on Mass. 3 go
get there):
More Photo to
Come...
Visit the US 6 Exit List to
check out possible future exit numbers along that route.
(c) 2018 Robert H. Malme