Route 128 was one of the first limited-access highways in the United States.
Also known as the high-tech corridor, the area along the western part of Route 128 is home to a number of high-technology firms and corporations.
Route 128 makes more than a 180-degree arc around Boston, and clockwise is "north" even when the road heads slightly south of east when approaching the Atlantic Ocean. Hackers in the area refer to this as going "logical north" on the route. (Interstate 93, going north-and-south, intersects Route 128, which nominally goes north-and-south, at a right angle, about 15 miles north of Boston.)