It's not as much work as it looks because the Crosby's Corner reconstruction added 2.3 miles of new expressway-quality grade separation, You only have a 1.8 mile gap to close to have a contiguous expressway from Alewife to MA 126 in Concord. Lincoln only needs Bedford Rd. grade separation into an interchange and tidy-up of the curb cuts within 2000 ft. of Lexington Rd. in each direction. It is on MassDOT's mind to tend to the Lincoln stretch, so that's likely to happen when funding comes available.
Eventually the long-delayed Concord rotary grade separation is going to get funded, putting total separation of 2A and Elm St. for another 2 miles of separation between MA 62 and the School St./Wetherbee St. curb cuts on the MA 111 concurrency. That leaves 1.5 miles and 3 curb cuts to dispose of on the 111 concurrency before West Concord-west is contiguous with the expressway to 495, and 2.2 miles from MA 62 to MA 126 before the expressway is contiguous to the east to 128 and Cambridge.
It really isn't very much work. And we're not talking a 6-lane Interstate...just the same minimalist 4-lane, 55 MPH speed limit, jersey-barriered job as the Crosby's Corner upgrade or the Acton-Littleton stretch between 111 and 495. Given how small the remaining gaps are, I think once the biggest project--the Rotary separation--and the Lincoln gap-closer are done the momentum is going to be on to gradually pick off the remaining 126-to-62 and 111 concurrency gaps. It'll happen in part because there is NOT much ritzy real estate direct-abutting the road, and zero required land-taking because the ROW already has a wide buffer on all signs. Forest, farmland, wetlands, prison, car auction lot, couple medical office building clusters set 250 ft. back from the road, and the Acton landfill. I'm sure there'll be NIMBY's, which is why "pick the remaining segments off in chunks and don't put a clock to it" is the operative plan...but there's only so much for people to scream about here. If 62, 2A, and 126 all flow better in/out of downtown Concord because they aren't ensnared in stoplight queues with the big highway, it'll be muted opposition at best.
