Interstate 490 (I-490) is a

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which con ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. The western terminus is a junction with

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

and

I-71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-64 and I-65 (the Kennedy Interchange) in Louisville, ...

on Cleveland's west side. After spanning the

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

, I-490 reaches its eastern terminus at a junction with East 55th Street, just east of

I-77 Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...

Route description

I-490 begins at a partial stack interchange with I-90/I-71 in the Cleveland neighborhood of Tremont. This interchange does not provide access from westbound I-490 to eastbound I-90 as well as from westbound I-90 to eastbound I-490. The Interstate then meets 7th Street in an incomplete

partial cloverleaf interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

. The freeway then crosses over industries, railroads, and the Cuyahoga River. After that, the freeway meets State Route 14 (SR 14) and, at a stack interchange, I-77/ SR 10. While I-490 ends at this particular stack interchange, the roadway, which becomes at-grade after 55th Street, continues east as SR 10 ( Opportunity Corridor) all the way toward

University Circle University Circle is a district in the neighborhood of University on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. One of America's densest concentrations of cultural attractions and performing arts venues, it includes such world-class institutions as the Cl ...

History

The original plans of the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and other city and federal highway authorities called for the highway—also known as the Clark Freeway and, at various times and in various sections, as I-80N and Interstate 290 (I-290)—to bisect the east side of the city and the eastern suburbs; the I-290 designation would then have continued north along

I-271 Interstate 271 (I-271) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the suburbs of Cleveland and Akron in the US state of Ohio. The highway is officially designated the Outerbelt East Freeway but is rarely referred to by that name by locals, inste ...

. I-71 was to have continued along the

innerbelt An innerbelt or outerbelt is a ring road or collection of roadways which is or implies that it is inner or outer ring road in relation to another ring road. Use of these terms is most common and near-exclusive to routes in the United States, mostly ...

Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve is an American nickname for a curve in a road that has claimed lives because of numerous crashes. Examples * A curve on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles memorialized in the hit song "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean. The song' ...

, while I-290 was to have used the portion of present I-90 westward to the Parma Freeway near West 65th Street.

Freeway revolt Highway revolts (also freeway revolts, expressway revolts, or road protests) are organized protests against the planning or construction of highways, freeways, expressways, and other civil engineering projects that favor vehicles. Many freeway re ...

s in the late 1960s prevented the Clark Freeway east of East 55th Street and the Parma Freeway from being built; specifically, a referendum in

Shaker Heights Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cockta ...

barred the city from allowing the Clark Freeway to pass through the city and its

Shaker Lakes The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes is a nonprofit organization in Shaker Heights, Ohio, that works to conserve a natural area, educate visitors about nature, and promote better environmental stewardship. It was founded in 1966 as the result of a ...

. The I-490 designation was applied to the Clark Freeway's altered proposed path in 1973, but this alignment was also not built east of East 55th Street. Ultimately, I-90 was realigned to follow the Clark Freeway routing west of I-71 and the innerbelt, and the middle segment of the Clark Freeway between I-71 and I-77 opened in 1990. The Opportunity Corridor expressway was constructed to follow the path of the canceled portion of I-490/Clark Freeway eastward from the end of the completed portion until it veers north toward the

neighborhood. In 2003, I-490 was dedicated to

Troy Lee James Troy Lee James (April 18, 1924 – November 1, 2007) was a Democratic politician who formerly served in the Ohio House of Representatives. A former laborer and union leader, James initially ran for the Ohio House of Representatives in 1966, foll ...

, former member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

. In April 2011, the ramps between I-77 and I-90 to the west were removed, making I-490 the official route between those highways and between I-77 and I-71.Two Interstate 77/90 Ramps to Close Permanently as Part of Innerbelt Work
(press release). ''Ohio Department of Transportation District 12'', April 5, 2011. Retrieved on 2011-07-19.

Exit list

References

External links

Opportunity Corridor project page
(Ohio Department of Transportation) {{3di, 90 90-4 Ohio 90-4 4 (Ohio) Cleveland area expressways Transportation in Cleveland Transportation in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Route description

History

Exit list

References

Further reading

External links