Route 79 is a 18.47-mile-long (29.72 km) state highway in southeastern Massachusetts. The route had formerly began as a highway in Fall River, also known as the Fall River Viaduct and Western Fall River Expressway, before becoming a more rural route further north. Most of the southern expressway portion of the route was permanently closed by MassDOT in 2023 for conversion into a street level urban boulevard.
The route continues northward, passing under North Main Street with exit access to that street. It then connects to Route 24 at that route's exit 7. There is no access between Route 79 north and Route 24 south, or vice versa. The route continues concurrently along Route 24 into the Assonet section of the town of Freetown, where it leaves its concurrency at exit 11 (formerly 9), turning on to South Main Street. (South Main Street southbound in Assonet connects to North Main Street in Fall River.) The route passes through the village before turning eastward along Elm Street, intertwining with the Assonet River as both make their way into Berkley.
In Berkley, Route 79 passes through the village of Myricks, in the far eastern end of the town. It crosses the New Bedford Secondary in Myricks, and Route 140 just over the Taunton line. In Taunton, the route follows along the Taunton-Lakeville town line before leaving Taunton completely. In Lakeville, the route heads through the northern part of the town, crossing Route 18 and passing the former Lakeville Hospital, before ending at a 4-way intersection with Route 105 and Commercial Drive (the entry to Middleborough/Lakeville station).
History
The Fall River Viaduct in 2012, shortly before it was replaced
In 1958, the northern end of the Western Fall River Expressway opened, which carried Route 79 from Route 24 south to an interchange at North Main Street in Fall River.[2] In 1965, as part of the construction of I-195 from Swansea through Somerset and Fall River to Westport, the southern section of the expressway, along the Fall River Viaduct, was opened, connecting between an interchange with Route 138 ("Broadway Extended") and I-195 north to a partial interchange with Route 138 along a one-way pair of North Davol Street and South Davol Street.[2]
Prior to the completion of the central section of the Western Fall River Expressway (relocation of Route 79) which connected the 1965-opened southern section on the Fall River Viaduct to the 1958-built northern section (between North Main Street and a partial interchange with Route 24, both in North Fall River) in 1974,[2] Route 79 followed North Main Street south of the end of the expressway's northern section down to Route 79's southern terminus at US 6 (President Avenue) slightly to the east of the completed expressway and Davol Street one-way pair.
In 2012, the northern terminus of Route 79 was relocated. Before the project, the northern terminus of Route 79 still ended at Route 105, only 1/10 of a mile north of its current terminus, but it was too close to the southbound ramps for Interstate 495. By relocating Route 79 to a four-way intersection with Route 105 and Commercial Drive, traffic was eased during rush hour. Instead of Route 79 traffic looping onto Route 105 to get to the MBTA station, the new alignment provides easier access to the MBTA station from areas such as North Lakeville, East Taunton, Berkley and Freetown.
The southern end of Route 79 used to be a double-decked elevated highway called the Fall River Viaduct, with ramps to Route 138 and I-195. The viaduct continued northward under the Braga Bridge for a third of a mile before splitting into a surface four-lane highway. As part of a $3 billion effort to replace structurally deficient bridges in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation replaced the Fall River Viaduct and some of its connector ramps to I-195 with new roadways and structures. The project was completed in 2016.[3]
Expressway closure and redevelopment
Discussions to permanently close the expressway portion of Route 79 began in the early 2000s. Despite local officials and residents calling for the expressway's removal by the early 2010s, MassDOT moved forward with a plan to include a large multi-acre highway interchange with Route 79 and U.S. Route 6 as a part of the Veterans Memorial Bridge project in 2011. Expressway removal advocates viewed the Western Fall River Expressway as a vestige of urban blight that had been induced by twentieth-century highway construction practices; city officials viewed the expressway as a preclusion to the economic development of Fall River's waterfront.[4]
In 2014 MassDOT completed an improvement study of the Route 79-Davol Street corridor. The study examined many options to improve safety, mobility, and connections to the Taunton riverfront; the study ultimately recommended an alternative that called for replacing Route 79 and Davol Street with a at-grade urban boulevard. The study found that Route 79 carried approximately between 20,000 and 30,000 vehicles per day with excess capacity; this gave MassDOT justification to commence preliminary planning to remove the four-lane elevated expressway in 2018.[5]
The expressway closed permanently on February 27, 2023, with demolition of the expressway commencing shortly after.[6] The aptly named "Route 79 Improvement Project" seeks to reroute traffic onto existing surface streets and convert them to an urban boulevard; those surface streets will also get upgraded sidewalks, shared-use pathways, and crosswalks.[7] The project will also build new cross-streets to re-connect portions of the historic street grid and improve access between the city's North End neighborhood and the riverfront. The project will free up almost 17 acres of riverfront land between the Senator Norton City Pier park and Brightman Street; additionally, most of the land will be within walking distance of Fall River's South Coast RailMBTA Commuter Rail station which is under construction one block to the east of Route 79. Fall River economic development officials and local investors view the project as opportunity to create new housing in walkable neighborhoods on the newly available land that the expressway had formally occupied.[8]
The Route 79 Improvement Project is projected to be complete in 2026.[5]
Major intersections
All interchanges south of Route 24 are unnumbered.
Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 138; to Veterans Memorial Bridge; northbound interchange closed in 2023 as part of expressway elimination/Davol Street reconstruction; southern terminus of northern expressway section since 2023; Routes 79 and 138 now both travel along the Davol Street one-way pair from the above partial interchange just south of Brownell Street in the south to just north of Brightman Street; Brightman Street is also accessed (unsigned) via this exit; the Veterans Memorial Bridge and its interchange replaced the older Brightman Street Bridge and its interchange in 2011.
I-195 / Route 138 in Fall River
Route 24 from Fall River to Assonet
Route 140 in Taunton
Route 105 in Lakeville
