Two ways across the Acushnet River to Fairhaven
Fairhaven is the town on the far bank of the Acushnet River, and its center is about 2 miles from New Bedford's by road, following US 6 over the swing bridge. That makes it our shortest run, as long as the span is closed to boats and open to cars.
The bridge opened in 1903, and a vessel coming through holds the road until the span swings back. When a call cannot wait on it, we take the other crossing: over the river on I-195, off at exit 29, and south on Route 240, a 1.3-mile divided road that ends at US 6 and Sconticut Neck Road.
That second route will matter more in a few years. MassDOT estimates the bridge reconstruction will start in 2028 and says a full road closure and detour at the bridge will be needed during parts of the work. For those stretches, our Fairhaven calls from the city side come by the interstate.
- Distance from New Bedford
- About 2 miles by road, over the bridge on US 6
- I-195 exit in Fairhaven
- 29, Route 240 south to US 6
- Town police
- Fairhaven Police Department, business line (508) 997-7421
- State Police on I-195
- Covered from the Dartmouth barracks, (508) 993-8373
- Winter parking ban
- December 1 to March 31, midnight to 8 a.m., hydrant side of every street
The phone is answered around the clock, and a call from Fairhaven at 3 a.m. gets its price the way a noon call does: one total, agreed before the truck leaves.
Huttleston Avenue, Route 240 and the Neck
US 6 runs through Fairhaven as Huttleston Avenue. MassDOT's corridor study for the bridge covers Route 6 from County Street in New Bedford to Adams Street in Fairhaven, and it records that signal and intersection work was finished at four locations on Huttleston Avenue in 2013, after a 2006 safety study of crashes along it.
Route 240 is the other spine. It is a divided highway but not a freeway: a signalized intersection at Bridge Street, just north of US 6, sits on it at grade. At its south end, where it meets US 6 and Sconticut Neck Road, is the town's retail center, and its parking lots are where a car that clicks once on a January morning usually needs a jump start where the car sits rather than a tow.
Past those lots, the town juts out into Buzzards Bay on Sconticut Neck and West Island. A car that slid off a plowed road down the Neck, or dropped a wheel onto a soft shoulder after a storm, comes back to the pavement first - a winch-out on Sconticut Neck - and gets towed only if it will not drive.
I-195 crosses the town east to west with a single exit, 29, before it reaches Mattapoisett's exit 31. A breakdown between them is a shoulder pickup on the interstate, so the direction of travel is the first thing we ask. Fort Phoenix State Reservation, beside the hurricane barrier at the mouth of the river, has three paved lots where a car left all day in summer can refuse to start at dusk.
Fairhaven's winter parking ban, and who to call about a towed car
Fairhaven does not wait for a storm to ban overnight parking. From December 1 to March 31, no vehicle may stay on the hydrant side of any street from midnight to 8 a.m., and the same rule applies during any snowfall or snow-removal operation.
On a street with no hydrants, the bylaw bars parking on the east side when the street runs north-south and on the north side when it runs east-west. Those are the sides New Bedford's snow emergency tells drivers to use, so a car parked the city way on a Fairhaven street is on the wrong side.
The Board of Public Works may have a car that is in the way of snow operations removed, with the removal and all storage charges on the owner, under chapter 182 of the town's bylaws. If your car was moved overnight in winter, that is the first explanation to check.
- Town streets and private lots. Call the Fairhaven Police Department business line, (508) 997-7421. The department posts a Private Property Tow form on its website, for the notice M.G.L. c.266 ยง120D requires before a car is towed off private property.
- I-195. The interstate through Fairhaven is covered by the State Police Dartmouth barracks, (508) 993-8373, and the State Police tell owners to call the barracks for the area the car was towed from.
When the police or a property owner orders the tow, the state rate rules in 220 CMR 272 set the ceiling on the bill. Nobody caps a tow you ask for yourself, which is why we quote it first; the figures and what moves a quote are under towing prices and the state caps.
Which tow truck a Fairhaven call gets, and what we ask
On a side street with cars along both curbs, a wheel-lift can hook a front-wheel-drive car where a flatbed has no room to lay its bed down. The flatbed is for the rest: power to all four wheels, a battery pack, a low front lip, or damage that stops the car rolling or steering - including a car that spent a night nosed into a snowbank and now pulls to one side.
- Which side of the river. On the bridge, on its approaches, or in town - it decides which way the truck comes.
- Where exactly. Street and cross street; for Route 240, north or south of Bridge Street; for I-195, the direction and the nearest exit.
- The car. Make, model and year, plus whether power goes to all four wheels or comes from a battery.
- The destination. A shop in Fairhaven, a dealer in New Bedford, or home.
Our trucks are light-duty. A boat still on its trailer, a loaded work truck or anything past a light-duty rating is a job for a heavier truck, and we tell you so before the call ends.
Beyond Fairhaven: the towns east along I-195
Fairhaven is the first town east of the river. Past it, US 6 and I-195 run on through Mattapoisett and Marion to Wareham, 17 miles from the city at the end of the interstate; towing out in Wareham covers that end. On the other side of the city is Dartmouth, 4 miles out. Every one of these calls goes to the same trucks as towing on the New Bedford side of the river.
Frequently asked
When is the winter parking ban in Fairhaven?
Fairhaven's standing ban runs from December 1 to March 31, from midnight to 8 a.m., on the hydrant side of every street, and also during any snowfall or snow-removal operation. Where a street has no hydrants, the banned side is the east side of a north-south street or the north side of an east-west one. A car in the way of the plows can be removed at the owner's cost, storage included.
Who can tell me where my car was towed in Fairhaven?
The Fairhaven Police Department, on its business line at (508) 997-7421, for anything taken from a town street or a private lot, because the owner of a lot has to notify the police before a trespass tow. A car taken off I-195 is a State Police matter, and the barracks that covers it is in Dartmouth, (508) 993-8373.
What happens to a tow when the New Bedford-Fairhaven bridge is open?
The span swings aside to let boats through, and traffic on US 6 waits until it closes again. If a call cannot wait, we cross on I-195 and come down Route 240 from exit 29 instead, and the arrival window we give you already accounts for it.
Do you tow from Sconticut Neck and West Island?
Yes. Sconticut Neck and West Island are part of Fairhaven, and we cover them like the rest of the town. Tell us how far down the Neck the car is and whether it is stuck or broken down, because a car off the road needs a winch-out before it can be towed.
How much does a tow from Fairhaven to New Bedford cost?
Over the bridge it is a short run, and we price it as one total on the phone from the distance, the truck and any extra work at the scene. The state sets maximum rates in 220 CMR 272 only for a tow somebody else ordered, police or property owner, and the figures are on our cost page.