Local, state, and county law enforcement will be stepping up patrol throughout the entire state of Massachusetts on Wednesday, Mar. 20, 2024. The patrol is unique to Rte. 20 which runs 153 miles through the commonwealth.

Big Police Patrol Planned For Entire State Of Massachusetts along Rte. 20 on 3/20/24.

The purpose of this patrol is to promote traffic safety along the highway that saw 200 crashes with injury last year in Massachusetts alone.

Route 20 runs alongside the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) for the most part. It is unclear if all police departments are participating tomorrow, but likely most are, according to sources.

Here in western MA, Lt. Marc Maddelena from Pittsfield Police was on Tuesday's show to expound on the patrol of the longest road in America which runs through the entire state of Massachusetts.

Six months in 2024 have selected for patrol. January, March, May, July, September, November.

The Pittsfield Police Dept will partner with other state, county, and local law enforcement agencies over 12 states for the “Highway 20 Speed Enforcement Project.”

This project was started by the Iowa State Police in an attempt to promote traffic safety and reduce crashes across the 12 states that US 20 runs through.

US 20 is the longest highway in the country spanning approximately 3300 miles from Oregon to Massachusetts. 153 of those miles are in Massachusetts. 8 of those miles are in Pittsfield.

During these select dates, the police departments will deploy extra patrols specifically to Route 20 for the purpose of traffic law enforcement that will focus on various traffic law violations that have contributed to the increasing numbers of fatal car accidents along the highway. -telegram.com

This project is to promote safety and is not intended to be a "gotcha".