Take a ride through historic Massachusetts down Route 128! Route 66 may be the most famous highway in the United States, but the country is home to countless roads ushering millions of motorists along decade after decade. Route 128 traces its origins to the late 1920s, when the Massachusetts Department of Public Works cobbled together a makeshift network of existing roads through Boston's suburbs. Between 1947 and 1956, Route 128 was reconstructed as a major regional expressway, and immediately feuled explosive growth in the region. What was once the "road to nowhere" quickly became a major commercial nexus for eastern Massachusetts and a critical link in the region's highway network. Building Route 128 vividly documents the highway's construction and its impact, drawing previously unpublished images from the Massachusetts Department of Public Works and tells the story of a region forever changed.
Susan Wood was coeditor of River Time, about a St. Lawrence County community, and has a long association with the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, where she edits a newsletter and works in the library archives. Christopher Angus has written about Adirondack and environmental issues for numerous publications. A former newspaper columnist, he is currently book review editor for Adirondac magazine and is the author of Reflections from Canoe Country and a forthcoming biography of noted Adirondack guide and conservationist Clarence Petty.