As I recall, the gap between Exit 2 & 3 (or whatever the new numbers are out there) is the 5th largest in the entire national interstate system, which is kind of a ridiculous statistic when you consider how small the state is. Unfortunately, when the state did the study on adding an exit from 2018-2020 Blandford voted it down - no local support, no exit.
The (formerly) proposed Blandford exit isn't a great location for an exit, as it would have been dispensing traffic from the Pike onto a local road (North Street) and not a regionally important numbered route. An exit at MA 23 in Russell makes much more sense IMO, although I'm not sure whether Russell residents are supportive of a new exit or not. An exit in Russell was examined during the
recent 2020 study, but it was dropped from consideration as it was deemed too close to Exit 41 in Westfield, which is 6.3 miles to the east. The recent study was only looking into a new exit that would've evenly split the difference between Exit 10 and Exit 41, which is kind of a short-sighted approach IMO. This is an excerpt from the study, emphasis mine:
It was found that three of the seven locations did not fulfill the primary goal of the study, which was to consider alternatives that would provide access to I-90 for the center of regional study area. After discussion with the Working Group, these alternatives were eliminated from further consideration as a part of this study. The eliminated alternatives represent locations on the outskirts of the study area: Loose Tooth Road/Route 20, Werden Road in Becket, and Route 23 in Russell. (page 4-13)
They were only looking into an exit in the center of the study area, and Blandford or Otis are the only two towns that fit that description. The issue (aside from opposition in Blandford) is that the Pike doesn't cross over or under any regionally important numbered routes in those towns. Even though an exit at MA-23 in Russell wouldn't evenly split the difference between Exit 10 and Exit 41, it would shorten the gap between the two exits by a considerable amount. An exit at this location would also provide easy access to Westfield State University, and it would relieve the
badly congested exit in Westfield.
This was the conceptual layout of an interchange with MA-23 in Russell.
US-20/MA-8 in Becket is also a potential good spot for a new exit, and the combination of an exit in Russell and an exit in Becket would completely fill the 30-mile gap between Lee and Westfield. A simple diamond interchange would probably suffice at the Becket location. The study oddly did not examine an exit at this location, it instead examined a partial cloverleaf interchange
about a mile to the northwest, at US-20 (w/o MA-8, which heads south into Otis). An exit at the former location is far preferable to the latter, IMO. It's worth noting that Becket residents have
fiercely opposed a new exit in their town for decades. I don't expect to see a new exit in Becket anytime in the foreseeable future.
This is an excerpt from the July 29, 1966 issue of
The Berkshire Eagle about a potential interchange in Becket.
Here's an excerpt from the November 2, 1987 issue of the
Daily Hampshire Gazette about a feasibility study of a new interchange in Becket. The study was approved in April 1988, but a new exit was not recommended by the study and the interchange project was consequentially voted down by the Turnpike Authority in October 1988.
This is an excerpt from the May 16, 2003 issue of
The Berkshire Eagle, detailing opposition to a new exit by Becket residents.
This is what gantry signs for these new exits would look like:
www.nbcboston.com
