Interstate 90

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Interstate 90 (abbreviated I-90) is the longest interstate highway in the United States at over 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers). It is the northernmost east-to-west, coast-to-coast interstate. Its western terminus is in Seattle, Washington at Edgar Martinez Drive S. and 4th Avenue S. next to Safeco Field, and its eastern terminus is in Boston, Massachusetts at Logan International Airport. It crosses the Continental Divide just east of Butte, Montana.

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Length

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Mileskmstate
296.92 477.85Washington
73.55 118.37 Idaho
551.68 887.84 Montana
208.8 336.03 Wyoming
412.76 664.27South Dakota
275.7 443.70Minnesota
108.61 174.79Wisconsin
123.89 199.38Illinois
156.28 251.51Indiana
244.75 393.89 Ohio
46.4 74.67 Pennsylvania
385.48 620.37 New York
135.72 218.42 Massachusetts
3,020.54 4861.09 Total [1]
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Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs.

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Intersections with other interstates

Image:I-90 and I-5 cloverleaf seattle washington.jpg

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Spur routes

It is arguable that Interstate 280 (Ohio) is as much a spur of Interstate 90 as it is of Interstate 80 because Interstate 80 and 90 designate the same highway (the Ohio Turnpike) in northwestern Ohio. It links to Toledo, Ohio and, with Interstate 75 to Detroit, Michigan.

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Notes

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In 2003, the Seattle terminus was re-engineered to better accommodate traffic from the two nearby sports stadiums. I-90 westbound still ends at its previous location next to Qwest Field, but eastbound begins about 1/4 mile (0.4 km) south at Edgar Martinez Dr. near the roof shed of Safeco Field at an interchange with 4th Avenue S.

I-90 terminated at I-93 in Boston until it was connected through to the Ted Williams Tunnel in January 2003 as part of the Big Dig, extending I-90 to Boston's Logan International Airport, an additional 1.3 miles (2.1 km). A recent discovery of a covered "End I-90" sign hints that I-90 may be extended slightly further north along part of the Route 1A freeway.

I-90 incorporates two of the longest floating bridges in the world, the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, which cross Lake Washington from Seattle to Bellevue via Mercer Island, Washington. They are the second and fifth longest such bridges, respectively.

Until 1995 in Montana near the Idaho border, I-90 was not a divided highway for a few stretches, having only a narrow paved median. From 1995 until 1999, the speed limit in Montana was "reasonable and prudent"; it is now 75 mph (120 km/h).

From the Wisconsin/Illinois border east, the majority of I-90 is tolled, along the following toll roads (several of which predate the Interstate system):

(It is free through northeastern Ohio and Pennsylvania, and through brief sections near Buffalo and Albany, New York.)

Between LaPorte, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio, with Interstate 80, it is nowhere more than 10 miles (16 km) from the Michigan state line, though it never enters the state.

One of the most peculiar and hazardous stretches of Interstate 90 is the section of highway passing through downtown Cleveland, Ohio, known locally as Dead Man's Curve. Here, the road takes a nearly 90-degree turn (Google Maps satellite view). While there are plenty of large signs and flashing lights alerting motorists to this turn, there have still been a large number of accidents due to inattentive motorists. There are plans to realign the freeway along a shallower curve within the next decade, as part of a larger project to improve the freeway system in Cleveland. [2]

Almost all of the New York portion of the road is a toll road, comprising the east-west portion of the New York State Thruway mainline and part of the Berkshire Connector, operated by the New York State Thruway Authority. It was originally constructed as part of the Thruway project in the middle 1950s and received its current designation as Interstate 90 in 1958. "I-90" (operated by NYSDOT) carries Interstate 90 between the two; however, the Berkshire Section directly connects to the mainline (at Thruway interchange 21A) 6.5 miles (10.5 km) west of the point where I-90 joins it (at Thruway interchange B1).

The mileposts and exit numbers on the New York State Thruway mainline originate at the New York City line and increase northward along Interstate 87 and westward along Interstate 90. As a result, mileposts and exit numbers on the I-90 section of the Thruway mainline increase from east to west, contrary to modern practices where numbers increase from the west or south.

Image:I90metric.gif There used to be two metric-only signs on the westbound New York State Thruway. They were around Syracuse, which is about 100 miles (161 km) from Canada. The NYS Thruway Authority decided to test metric signage, which may have included (briefly) an 88 km/h speed limit sign, on the Thruway. There was also a sign displaying the distance to the Interstate 81 interchange in kilometers in Dewitt.

I-90 is the only Interstate having a complete set of nine spur routes (190, 290, 390...890, 990) within one state, which is in New York. (Interstate 80 has a complete set in different states.) In addition, I-990, a short spur route near Buffalo, New York not directly connected to I-90, is the highest number given to an Interstate.

The Massachusetts stretch, also a toll road built in the mid-1950s, is known as the Massachusetts Turnpike.

To add to the quirks about the longest interstate, it also has the longest distance twinned with another interstate (I-80 in Ohio and Indiana, I-94 and I-39 in Illinois and Wisconsin, I-15 in Montana) in the most states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Montana). It also intersects the same interstate six times (I-94 in Lake Station, Indiana, Chicago (southside), Chicago (northside), Madison, Wisconsin, Tomah, Wisconsin, and Billings, Montana). Additionally, it is part of the longest interstate triplex in the country, as it is joined with I-39 and I-94 from Portage, Wisconsin to Madison, Wisconsin.

There is some dispute as to whether the Chicago Skyway is an official part of the Interstate highway system. The city of Chicago replaced many I-90 shields to "TO I-90" when it determined that the city may have never applied for Interstate designation for the skyway. However, the Federal Highway Administration considers the Skyway as being part of I-90, and the Illinois DOT has always and continues to report it as such[3]. See List of gaps in Interstate Highways for more information.

The small town of Wallace, Idaho still prides itself on having the last stop light on I-90. Its downtown has many historical buildings, which would have been wiped out by the original planned route of the freeway, so in 1976, city leaders had the downtown placed on the National Register of Historic Places. As a result, the federal government was forced at great expanse to reroute the freeway to the northern edge of downtown and elevate it. That section of I-90 opened in 1991. A bicycle path is routed beneath part of that segment.

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External links

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30 35 37 39 40 43 44 45 49 55 57 59 64 65 66 68
69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 (W) 76 (E) 77 78 79 80 81
82 83 84 (W) 84 (E) 85 86 (W) 86 (E) 87 88 (W) 88 (E)
89 90 91 93 94 95 96 97 99 (238) H-1 H-2 H-3
Unsigned  A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 PRI-1 PRI-2 PRI-3
Lists  Main - Auxiliary - Suffixed - Business - Proposed - Unsigned
Gaps - Intrastate - Interstate standards

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