Central Artery

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Central Artery
John F. Fitzgerald Expressway
Central Artery highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MassDOT
Length	3.1819 mi[1] (5.1208 km)
Existed	1959–present
Component highways	I-93 (entire length) US 1 (entire length) Route 3 (until Charlestown)
Major junctions
South end	I-93 / US 1 / Route 3 in Boston
Major intersections	I-90 (Mass Pike) in Boston Route 3 / Route 28 in Boston
North end	I-93 / US 1 at the Zakim Bridge in Charlestown
Location
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Massachusetts State Highway System Interstate US State

The Central Artery (officially the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway) is the concurrent section of Interstate 93, US 1 and Route 3 through Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The modern-day Artery, built as part of the Big Dig from 1995 until 2003, begins at the Southeast Expressway in the South End. Traveling north, it has an interchange with the east–west Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), and travels beneath the Financial District and Government Center through the O'Neill Tunnel. Route 3 exits onto the Leverett Connector within the tunnel in Charlestown; US 1 exits aboveground from the Zakim Bridge onto the Tobin Bridge, and I-93 continues on the Northern Expressway toward New Hampshire beyond the bridge.^[2]

The original Artery, constructed in the 1950s, was named after John F. Fitzgerald; it was partly elevated and partly tunneled. Its reputation for congestion inspired the local nicknames "The Distressway," "the largest parking lot in the world", and "the other Green Monster" (the paint of the highway girders shared the same color as the left field wall at Fenway Park).^[3] The original Artery was demolished after the O'Neill Tunnel was completed, and was replaced with the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, named after the daughter of John F. Fitzgerald and the mother of John F. Kennedy.