Route 40 is a east–west

state route 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 ...

located in northeastern

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, entirely within Middlesex County. The short highway connects Groton and

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

. Its western end is at an intersection with

Massachusetts Route 119 Route 119 is a northwest-southeast state highway in Massachusetts. Its western terminus is a continuation of New Hampshire Route 119 at the New Hampshire border and its eastern terminus is at Route 2 and Route 111 in Concord. It acts as a conti ...

and

Massachusetts Route 225 Route 225 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The highway runs from Route 2A in Lunenburg in northeastern Worcester County east to Route 2 in Lexington. Route 225 serves the western Middlesex County towns of Shirley, Gro ...

in Groton, and its eastern end is at Route 3A in North Chelmsford. The route has existed since the late 1940s.

U.S. Route 3 U.S. Route 3 (US 3) is a United States highway running from Cambridge, Massachusetts, through New Hampshire, to the Canada–US border near Third Connecticut Lake, where it connects to Quebec Route 257. Massachusetts Route 3 connects to ...

has an interchange with Route 40, at exit 33.

Route description

Route 40 begins in the west near the center of Groton at an intersection with Main Street (Routes 119 and 225). The highway proceeds eastward out of the downtown area, passing through the northern part of the town of Westford. Most of the route winds through rather densely wooded areas, with several ponds located alongside or near the highway. The road continues into the Chelmsford neighborhood of North Chelmsford, where it interchanges with U.S. Route 3 at Exit 33. Route 40 continues another mile eastward, emerging from the woods before ending at an intersection with Route 3A in the center of North Chelmsford at Vinal Square, located just west of the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Mas ...

Major intersections

References

* *{{cite web, url=http://web.mit.edu/spui/www/boston/sr/4x.html#40, title=MA routes 40-49, accessdate=2006-07-04, last=Moraseski, first=Dan, work=MA route log, publisher=web.mit.edu, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041025120758/http://web.mit.edu/spui/www/boston/sr/4x.html#40, archivedate=2004-10-25 (

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

archive, original site down) 040 Transportation in Middlesex County, Massachusetts