Interstate 90
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Interstate 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 S. Edgar Martinez Drive 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.
Contents |
Length
| Miles | km | state | |
| 296.92 | 477.85 | Washington | |
| 73.55 | 118.37 | Idaho | |
| 551.68 | 887.84 | Montana | |
| 208.8 | 336.03 | Wyoming | |
| 412.76 | 664.27 | South Dakota | |
| 275.7 | 443.70 | Minnesota | |
| 108.61 | 174.79 | Wisconsin | |
| 123.89 | 199.38 | Illinois | |
| 156.28 | 251.51 | Indiana | |
| 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] | |
Major cities along the route
Listed from west to east:
|
Washington Idaho Montana Wyoming South Dakota |
Minnesota Wisconsin Illinois Indiana |
Ohio Pennsylvania New York
Massachusetts |
Intersections with other interstates
- Interstate 5 in Seattle, Washington
- Interstate 82 in Ellensburg, Washington
- Interstate 15 in Butte, Montana; joined for 7.65 miles (12.31 km)
- Interstate 94 in Billings, Montana
- Interstate 25 in Buffalo, Wyoming
- Interstate 29 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Interstate 35 in Albert Lea, Minnesota
- Interstate 94 in Tomah, Wisconsin; joined for 91.76 miles (147.67 km) until Madison, Wisconsin.
- Interstate 39 in Portage, Wisconsin; joined for about 95 miles (152 km) until Rockford, Illinois.
- Interstate 43 in Beloit, Wisconsin
- Interstate 94 in Chicago, Illinois; joined for 16.71 miles (26.89 km)
- Interstate 55 in Chicago, Illinois
- Interstate 65 in Gary, Indiana
- Interstate 94 in Lake Station, Indiana
- Interstate 80 in Lake Station, Indiana; joined for 278.40 miles (448.04 km) until Elyria, Ohio.
- Interstate 69 in Fremont, Indiana
- Interstate 75 in Toledo, Ohio
- Interstate 71 in Cleveland, Ohio
- Interstate 77 in Cleveland, Ohio
- Interstate 79 in Erie, Pennsylvania
- Interstate 86 in Erie, Pennsylvania
- Interstate 81 in Syracuse, New York
- Interstate 88 in Rotterdam, New York
- Interstate 87 in Albany, New York
- Interstate 91 in Springfield, Massachusetts
- Interstate 84 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
- Interstate 95 in Weston, Massachusetts (Map)
- Interstate 93 in Boston, Massachusetts (Map)
Spur routes
- Rapid City, South Dakota - I-190
- Chicago, Illinois - I-190 (provides a direct route to O'Hare International Airport), I-290
- Cleveland, Ohio - I-490
- Buffalo, New York - I-190, I-290, I-990
- Rochester, New York - I-490, I-590
- Spur to Rochester, New York and to Corning, New York - I-390
- Syracuse, New York - I-690
- Utica, New York - I-790
- Schenectady, New York - I-890
- Spur to Marlborough, Massachusetts - I-290
- Spur to Leominster, Massachusetts - I-190
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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Three-digit Interstates from Interstate 90 |
| I-190 | Illinois - Massachusetts - New York - South Dakota |
| I-290 | Illinois - Massachusetts - New York |
| I-390 | New York |
| I-490 | New York - Ohio |
| I-590 | New York |
| I-690 | New York |
| I-790 | New York |
| I-890 | New York |
| I-990 | New York |
| past/ future |
I-290: Ohio |
Notes
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):
- Northwest Tollway
- Chicago Skyway (currently signed as "TO I-90")
- Indiana Toll Road
- Ohio Turnpike
- New York State Thruway
- Massachusetts Turnpike, including the Ted Williams Tunnel
(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.
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), which is in New York. 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 in Illinois and Wisconsin) in the most states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin). 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.
On November 6, 2005 a major rockslide near Snoqualmie Pass, 58 miles east of Seattle, caused the highway to be temporarily reduced to one lane in each direction. State DOT crews are working to stabilize the hillside, removing loose rock and installing massive bolts to hold the slope together.
| Primary Interstate Highways |  |
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| 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 19 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 |
| 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 Interstate Highways | |||||||
| A-1 | A-2 | A-3 | A-4 | PRI-1 | PRI-2 | PRI-3 | |
| Lists Two-digit Interstates - Three-digit Interstates Gaps in Interstates - Intrastate Interstates Interstate standards - Proposed Interstates |
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External links
Categories: U.S. Interstate Highway system | Interstate highways in Washington | Interstate highways in Idaho | Interstate highways in Montana | Interstate highways in Wyoming | Interstate highways in South Dakota | Interstate highways in Minnesota | Interstate highways in Wisconsin | Interstate highways in Illinois | Interstate highways in Indiana | Interstate highways in Ohio | Interstate highways in Pennsylvania | Interstate highways in New York | Interstate highways in Massachusetts
