the New Hampshire border. History Previous designation The section of modern Route 140 from West Boylston to Gardner was numbered Route 64 when it was first commissioned by 1933. By 1939, the entirety of the route was redesignated as Route 140, effectively extending existing Route 140 northwest, which had previously ended in Grafton. In 1947, the Massachusetts Department of Public Works announced plans for a "Relocated Route 140", one of the first steps as part of its statewide expressway program. Between 1955–1970 the current route was widened and straightened, while the section south of Taunton, which runs to New Bedford, was built as an expressway. The New Bedford Expressway was to serve as a spur from the Fall River Expressway, connecting to points in the Boston metropolitan area. The creation of this spur was considered a key component of revitalizing the old port city of New Bedford. Prior to the building of the freeway section, County Street (the section of road beginning at the Taunton River, and also known as County Road) brought the road southward through East Taunton, Berkley, Lakeville and East Freetown. The road, which runs parallel to the freeway and crosses it in Lakeville, merged with Route 18 in East Freetown, just north of the New Bedford city limits. The old alignment begins in front of the Silver City Galleria in Taunton. Highway improvements A section of Route 140 in Franklin was widened from two to four lanes wide. The $22 million project began in 2003 and was completed in 2007. In Fall 2013, the ramp from Route 140 to I-495 south at Exit 11 (now Exit 30) in Mansfield was completed. This ramp removed the need for traffic exiting the Xfinity Center in Mansfield to use a significant two-lane portion of Route 140. Major intersections References 140 Foxborough, Massachusetts Freetown, Massachusetts Gardner, Massachusetts Grafton, Massachusetts Lakeville, Massachusetts Mansfield, Massachusetts Mendon, Massachusetts Milford, Massachusetts New Bedford, Massachusetts Norton, Massachusetts Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Sterling, Massachusetts Taunton, Massachusetts Transportation in Bristol County, Massachusetts Transportation in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Transportation in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Transportation in Worcester County, Massachusetts Westminster, Massachusetts Wrentham, Massachusetts