Pittsfield to Boston via Northampton, Ware, Worcester, Framingham and Newton.
Cosigned with MA 8A east of Dalton.
Multiplexed with MA 112 from Cummington to Goshen.
Brief multiplex with MA 30 in Framingham.
Cosigned with MA 32 in Ware.
Multiplexed with MA 116 in Hadley and Amherst.
Multiplexed with MA 67 in West Brookfield.
Brief multiplex with MA 31 in Spencer.
Very brief multiplex with MA 148 in Brookfield.
Multiplex with MA 12 in Worcester. Picks up MA 122A as well.
Divided road with at-grade intersections east of Worcester.
Rt 9 was originally numbered with several pieces. From Pittsfield, it was 109 to Belchertown. 109 continued on to Ware, but passed through Enfield until the flooding of the Quabbin. It then followed out to Brookfield where it met US 20. US 20 covered modern 9 from Brookfield into Worcester. It appears that no numbered road directly connected Worcester and Framingham. From Framingham, what is now 9 was numbered 115 into Boston. By 1933, this route was renumbered as 9, along with the straightaway between Framingham and Worcester. Enfield was also bypassed.
The 1930 ALA has a small inset of the Back Bay area of Boston. It shows 115 on Huntington Ave and MA 115A on Beacon St. The 1939 map shows MA 30 on Beacon. Rt 9 enters town via Boylston St. When it crosses the Jamiacaway, it becomes MA C9 and takes Huntington Ave to Boylston.
The next map of Boston is 1942. 9 and C9 are unchanged. However, MA 9A has made an appearance on Chesnut Hill Ave. It’s unclear whether the 9A designation extends north of Beacon St. North of Commonwealth Ave (Rt 30), it is MA 20A.
1950 brings some small changes. 9 & C9 remain the same; 9A now appears to go along Beacon St as well as along Chestnut Hill Ave. (30 also is routed along Beacon). The 1953 map confirms this; in addition, 20A is now also on Beacon.By 1956, C9 has been routed along Boylston to Charles St. By 1966, (and very likely earlier) C9 has extended up Charles St, through Leverett Circle, over to the Expressway and appears to end somewhere between the tunnels and the expressway.
Maps of the late 60’s imply that C9 was a loop of sorts. Inbound followed Huntington to Dartouth to Boylston to Charles over to the Expressway. C9 looped at the exit for the tunnel and became C9 Outbound. It followed the same route back to Leverett Circle, but then took Storrow Drive out to Charlesgate West. Then to Beacon and finally to Brookline Ave.
In 1971, the C routes were removed. C9 became part of 9. Around the same time, 9A was eliminated. Also around this time, 9 appears to have been truncated to end at Charles St, and possibly to Huntington Ave.
Dan Vincent’s MA 9 Page