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Completing The Missing Link: The Economic Impact Of I-495 On Southeastern Massachusetts, Glenn Miller

Bridgewater Review

The long-anticipated final link of Boston’s outer beltway, I-495, was opened in southeastern Massachusetts in November of 1982. South Shore residents who watched enviously as Rt. 128 and the North Shore experienced rapid economic growth and all the benefits (and possible drawbacks) of “high-tech” development, can now anticipate some of those changes in the area between Brockton and New Bedford. The catalyst, according to a wide range of indicators, is the completion of Rt. I-495.

It is generally accepted that access to a major highway provides the impetus for economic development and population growth. The full impact of circumferential beltways, …