Route 117 is a east–west
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in
, running from
Route 12 in
Leominster
Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...
in northeast
Worcester County to
U.S. Route 20
U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...
(US 20) in
Waltham in central
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
County.
Route description
Route 117 begins in the city of Leominster, near the city center, and passes southeast along Lancaster Street before having an interchange with
Interstate 190's Exit 7, just over the city line into
Lancaster. In Lancaster the route heads eastward, crossing two branches of the
Nashua River
The Nashua River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 is a tributary of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the United States. It i ...
while having a short, quarter-mile concurrency with
Route 70 south of
Fort Devens
Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was li ...
. The route then crosses into
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
, crossing
Route 110
Route 110 or Highway 110 can refer to multiple roads:
Australia
* Nepean Highway
* Bellarine Highway
Bangladesh
*
Brazil
* BR-110
Canada
* Manitoba Highway 110
* New Brunswick Route 110
* Prince Edward Island Route 110
China
* China ...
near the Bolton Flats State Wildlife Management Area. It then passes through the center of town before crossing
I-495 Interstate 495 (I-495) is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 95, listed from south to north:
* The Capital Beltway, a beltway around Washington, D.C., running through Virgin ...
at Exit 27. It serves as the northern terminus of
Route 85 before crossing into Middlesex County and the town of
Stow
Stow may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Stow, Lincolnshire or Stow-in-Lindsey, a village
* Stow of Wedale or Stow, Scottish Borders, a village
* Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a small town
* Stow, Shropshire or Stowe, a village
* Stow ...
.
In Stow, the route passes through the countryside before meeting
Route 62 at the center of town. The two routes head eastward concurrently, entering into
Maynard. The routes split just after crossing the
Assabet River
The Assabet River is a small, long river located about west of Boston, Massachusetts, United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 The Assabet rises ...
, with Route 117 heading in a more southeastern direction. The route crosses
Route 27
Route 27, or Highway 27, may refer to:
Australia
* Burke Developmental Road (Queensland)
* Zeehan Highway (Tasmania)
Canada
* Alberta Highway 27
* British Columbia Highway 27
* Manitoba Highway 27
* Prince Edward Island Route 27
* Saskatchew ...
before entering
Sudbury. It crosses through the southern tip of
Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
and enters the town of
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
over the
Sudbury River
The Sudbury River is a tributary of the Concord River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011
Originati ...
.
In Lincoln, Route 117 passes through the southwest end of town, intersecting
Route 126 and the
Fitchburg Line south of the
Lincoln station
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
before crossing into
Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* ...
. In Weston the route bends southeastward through the Silver Hill, Hastings and Kendal Green sections of town before entering
Waltham. Serving as the city’s Main Street, the route crosses
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
and its concurrent route
Highway 128 without an interchange before ending at
U.S. Route 20
U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...
, which in turn continues Main Street through Waltham’s downtown.
Major intersections
References
External links
{{Commons category, Massachusetts Route 117
117