Website helps promote Route 3 corridor

Five communities along the stretch of Route 3 that runs from Route 128 to Interstate 495 are collaborating to promote development in the region. A key part of the strategy involves a website (www.middlesex3.com) that provides information about the region such as the types of employers, real estate, transportation infrastructure, housing costs, the percentage of residents with college degrees, and cultural amenities.

“The idea is to market the region as a place to do business,” said Billerica Town Manager John Curran, one of the five municipal managers on the board of the nonprofit Middlesex 3 Coalition.

He said the region offers lower real estate costs compared to Route 128 and areas closer to Boston.

A state grant helped Billerica and the four other communities – Bedford, Burlington, Chelmsford and Lowell – develop the “Middlesex 3” campaign.

The stretch of Route 3 from Bedford to Lowell has become more attractive to businesses, Curran said, thanks in part to its expansion to a multilane expressway roughly a decade ago. In addition to attracting young companies in fields such as biotechnology, the campaign’s goals include encouraging major businesses and institutions in Boston to establish branch locations in the region.

Rather than pay a professional graphic designer to develop a logo for the campaign, organizers invited students at Shawsheen Regional Technical High School to create logos. The winning entry features a thick black “3” encircled by a roadway that creates the image of a highway route sign. The image is superimposed on a map of the five communities, which overlays the contours of Massachusetts.