U.S. Highway 90 (US 90), one of the major east–west U.S. Highways in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, runs through southern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

for , serving Lake Charles,

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

New Iberia New Iberia (french: La Nouvelle-Ibérie; es, Nueva Iberia) is the largest city in and parish seat of Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, and forms part of the Laf ...

, Morgan City, and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Much of it west of Lafayette and east of New Orleans has been supplanted by Interstate 10 (I-10) for all but local traffic, but the section between Lafayette and New Orleans runs a good deal south of I-10. The stretch between Lafayette and New Orleans is planned as a southern extension of I-49 and is signed as "future corridor I-49". This part of the highway is important to the offshore

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

industry, as it connects the cities of Lafayette and New Orleans to the port cities along the coast. Most of US 90 from New Iberia to New Orleans that has not already been improved to Interstate grade, is mainly an expressway, excepting the towns traversed through, that can be easily upgraded to freeway standards. The freeway east of Morgan City, bypassing Houma to the north, was originally built as Louisiana Highway 3052 (LS 3052); US 90 was shifted to it from its former alignment (now LA 182) once it was completed. US 90 replaced almost all of the Louisiana section of the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

– St. Augustine running Old Spanish Trail. It was also designated Louisiana Highway 2 (LA 2) until the 1955 renumbering. A long section of the old road, from Lafayette to northeast of Raceland, is now LA 182.

Route description

State line to Lafayette

US 90 enters Louisiana at the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

line over the Sabine River as part of I-10. Separating at exit 4 and running parallel on the north side of I-10 through Sulphur, before rejoining I-10 east of Westlake, crossing the

Calcasieu River The Calcasieu River ( ; french: Rivière Calcasieu) is a river on the Gulf Coast in southwestern Louisiana. Approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, ...

, and again splitting from I-10 at exit 31B (running on the south side of I-10) going through Lake Charles as Fruge, West 4th, then East 4th, before leaving town. In

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

US 90 intersects with the southern terminus of US 165 continuing east through Lacassine, Welsh, Roanoke,

Jennings Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include: *Jennings (Swedish noble family) A–G *Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...

, and

Mermentau Mermentau is a village in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 661 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area. History In the last quarter of the 18th century, there was an Atakapa chie ...

. East of Mermentau US 90 runs north of and parallel to a section of the Old Spanish Trail through Midland, Estherwood, and

Crowley Crowley may refer to: Places * Crowley, Mendocino County, California, an unincorporated community *Crowley County, Colorado * Crowley, Colorado, a town in Crowley County *Crowley, Louisiana, a city * Crowley, Oregon (disambiguation) * Crowley, Te ...

. In Crowley US 90 makes a north then east jog, bringing it close and parallel to I-10, passing through Rayne, Duson, Scott, and then into Lafayette.

Lafayette to Raceland

From Lafayette, US 90 traverses a south-southeast course to

Patterson Patterson may refer to: People * Patterson (surname) Places ;Canada * Pattersons Corners, Ontario *Patterson Township, Ontario *Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. ;United States of America * Patterson, Arkansas *Patterson, C ...

, where the highway takes a more easterly direction to New Orleans. The section east (south) of Broussard, beginning east of Captain Cade road but west of LA 88, to just west of Patterson, has been improved to Interstate grade and completed in June 2011. These improvements include the completion of the overpasses at Coteau Road (LA 88), Jefferson Island Road (LA 675), Center street ( LA 14), Avery Island road (LA 329), South Lewis Street (Parish Road 605), Weeks Island road (LA 83), Darnall Road (Parish Road 211), Patout Road (LA 85), and Canal Street (LA 668). This section ties into the already completed section that begins at LA 318 and terminates at East Main street (LA 182) just east of Calumet. West of Berwick US 90 is listed as Interstate grade with a per hour speed limit from (mile marker 174) to east of Raceland and an intersection with LA 1 (mile marker 215B), before reverting to a standard divided highway and continuing on a north/northeast direction to New Orleans.

New Orleans

US 90 enters Jefferson Parish, and after passing Avondale, heads north at an intersection with US 90 Business, called the Westbank Expressway, through Bridge City, and across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

over the Huey P. Long Bridge. Crossing the river US 90, designated as S. Clearview Parkway, intersects with and runs east as the

Jefferson Highway The Jefferson Highway was an automobile highway stretching through the central United States from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Jefferson Highway was replaced with the new numbered US Highway system in the late 1920s. ...

, that was originally part of the "Interstate Trail" and the "Pine to Palm" highway, a north–south transcontinental U.S interstate highway running from New Orleans to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, Manitoba, Canada The highway terminus was at the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Common Street with a monument that was erected in 1916. The original highway was changed to follow US 90 and LA 48. After 1935 Jefferson became S. Claiborne Avenue at the

Orleans Parish New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

U.S. 11, which leads to the Irish Bayou community, and then passing the Venetian Isles community (a subdivision in which homes have a canal in the backyard for easy access to the surrounding lakes), and finally becoming a two-lane highway at the bridge over the Chef Menteur Pass to go past the Lake Catherine community until reaching the bridge over the Rigolets, after which US 90 finally leaves the corporate limit of New Orleans, entering St. Tammany Parish. The stretch in the Lake Catherine community is where

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

was killed in a car accident on her way to New Orleans from Mississippi. In St. Tammany Parish, US 90 then enters Slidell. After exiting Slidell it heads east and crosses the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

state line at a drawbridge at the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

. *The Jefferson Highway was the first north/south transcontinental highway in America, the second interstate highway, after the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

that it intersects in Colo, Iowa, but was the first international interstate highway in the world.

Interstates 49 and 910

The Business US 90 portion of the

Pontchartrain Expressway The Pontchartrain Expressway is a parallel six-lane section of Interstate 10 (I-10) and U.S. Route 90 Business (US 90 Bus.) in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, with a brief stand-alone section in between junctions with these highway ...

is also designated as Interstate 910, however it is not signed as such. This is a temporary designation that overlaps all freeway portions of Business US 90 (the Pontchartrain Expressway, Crescent City Connection, and Westbank Expressway). When

Interstate 49 Interstate 49 (I-49) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in multiple segments: the original portion entirely within the state of Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from I-220 in Shreveport to the Arkansas st ...

is completed from Lafayette to New Orleans, Business US 90/Interstate 910 will be resigned as Interstate 49.

History

The modern US 90 has its roots in an early 20th-century

auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...

known as the Old Spanish Trail, which was designated as State Route 2 within Louisiana when the state first numbered its highway system in 1921. US 90 was applied to the route when the numbered U.S. Highway system was implemented in 1926. With minor exceptions, Route 2 generally remained co-signed with US 90 throughout the state until such overlapping between U.S. and state routes was eliminated in the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering. Prior to 1955, as US 90 was gradually relocated onto newer and improved alignments, Route 2 was often moved accordingly. Former alignments remaining in the state highway system were then designated as part of State Route 1092, with shorter pieces designated as Route 2-D, 2-E, and so on as needed. *In Calcasieu Parish, on the border with

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Hous ...

, US 90 originally crossed the Sabine River eastward into East Orange, Louisiana, a town consisting primarily of gambling,

showboat A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a ...

s, and

supper club A supper club is a traditional dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class image ...

s. The bridge over the Sabine River was removed after US 90 had been rerouted northward in Orange onto Simmons Drive and Interstate 10. *In Lake Charles, US 90 traveled from Westlake down present-day Mike Hooks Road to cross the

on a bridge built in 1916. The road then traveled along Shell Beach and Lakeshore Drive to continue eastward on Broad Street. This alignment changed with the completion of the Lake Charles I-10 Bridge in 1952. *In St. Charles Parish and

Lafourche Parish Lafourche Parish (french: Paroisse de la Fourche) is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Thibodaux. The parish was formed in 1807. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, whi ...

, US 90 traveled down present-day LA 631, crossing the swing bridge still used by local traffic in Des Allemands. *In Lafourche Parish, the old US 90 (now LA 182) splits off from the current US 90/Future I-49 just northeast of Raceland. Further southwest it enters Raceland, intersecting with LA 308, then immediately afterwards crosses Bayou Lafourche over a lift bridge. The route then goes to the right, through the middle of Raceland coaligned with LA 1 for a few thousand feet. It then takes a turn to the southwest as Willow Street or Old Houma Road, interchanging with US 90/Future I-49. Just south of this interchange, it travels as a four-lane highway until the junction with Prospect Blvd./LA 3087. Old Highway 90/LA 182 then heads to Bayou Blue and on to downtown Houma as a major two-lane highway. LA 653 was US 90's original route but was supplanted in the 1950s by its current route, what is now LA 182, and most of this original road has been abandoned. *Jefferson Parish: **1926–1928: The original alignment of US 90 generally followed today's LA 18 through Jefferson Parish and crossed the Mississippi River into Orleans Parish (city of New Orleans) via the Jackson Avenue Ferry at Gretna. The exact routing was as follows: ***LA 18 (River Road) from the St. Charles Parish line eastbound to Avondale. ***The original road through the Avondale shipyards continued straight along the river levee and no longer exists. *** LA 541 (continuation of River Road) and Bridge City Avenue through Bridge City. ***LA 18 (Seven Oaks Boulevard, formerly Bridge City Avenue) to Westwego. ***LA 541 (River Road), Sala Avenue, and LA 18 (Fourth Street) through Westwego. ***LA 18 (Fourth Street, Barataria Boulevard, and continuation of Fourth Street) to Gretna. ***Huey P. Long Avenue to the Gretna Ferry landing. **1928–1930: US 90 was re-routed over the Walnut Street Ferry in September 1928, shortening the route in Jefferson Parish to the former ferry landing at River Road and Sala Avenue in Westwego. **1930–1937: US 90 was restored to its original route through Jefferson Parish in May 1930, after widening and resurfacing of the Westwego-Gretna section was completed in April. **1937–1941: The Huey P. Long Bridge was opened in December 1935. US 90 was re-routed over the bridge, following Jefferson Highway into Orleans Parish, after widening of that thoroughfare to four lanes was completed in 1937. (LA 2 remained on the old alignment until the 1955 renumbering of Louisiana highways.) **1941–present: The current alignment (the " Boutte Cutoff") west of the Huey P. Long Bridge was opened in April 1941, bypassing the winding river road. This alignment was widened to four lanes in 1953. *Orleans Parish (west of Peoples Avenue): **1926–1928: US 90 originally followed this route through New Orleans, starting from the Jackson Avenue Ferry landing: ***Jackson Avenue and South Claiborne Avenue to downtown New Orleans. ***Canal Street, North Broad Avenue, Bruxelles Street, and Gentilly Boulevard to Peoples Avenue. ***The above route, though signed in the field, had several problems that were mostly alleviated by a re-routing in 1928: ****The

New Basin Canal The New Basin Canal, also known as the New Canal and the New Orleans Canal, was a shipping canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, operating from 1830s into the 1940s. History The New Basin Canal was constructed by the New Orleans Canal and Banking Comp ...

bridge on South Claiborne Avenue had been closed in 1923 due to safety concerns. A temporary bridge was opened in July 1928, but it was a traffic bottleneck. ****Bruxelles Street became a one-way street in 1926, forcing westbound traffic to follow the unpaved Paris and St. Bernard Avenues from Gentilly to Broad. ****Jackson Avenue was also unpaved beyond St. Charles Avenue and did not connect directly to South Claiborne Avenue westbound. ****The Jackson Avenue Ferry service was considered to be inferior to that of the Walnut Street Ferry which the Old Spanish Trail had followed for years. **1928–1930: The route of US 90 was revised above Canal Street in September 1928, utilizing a better ferry and avoiding the New Basin Canal bridge and railroad crossings on South Claiborne Avenue. From the Walnut Street Ferry landing, the revised route was as follows: ***Walnut Street, St. Charles Avenue to Lee Circle, Howard Avenue, and Camp Street to Canal Street. ***Because of one-way streets, westbound traffic followed Canal Street, St. Charles Avenue, and Audubon Street to the Walnut Street Ferry landing. **1930–1931: In spite of protests, US 90 was routed back over the Jackson Avenue Ferry in May 1930, following Jackson Avenue, St. Charles Avenue, Washington Avenue, and South Claiborne Avenue to Canal Street. **1931–1937: After Jackson Avenue was paved between St. Charles Avenue and South Claiborne Avenue in October 1931, the Washington Avenue detour was eliminated. Paving of Paris and St. Bernard Avenues was completed in March 1932, but eastbound traffic still followed Bruxelles Street. **1937–1939: After being re-routed over the Huey P. Long Bridge, US 90 now entered Orleans Parish on South Claiborne Avenue, following South Carrollton Avenue and Canal Street to North Broad Avenue. **1939–1946: US 90 shortly began to follow South Claiborne Avenue directly to Canal Street. **1946–1956: The Bruxelles Street link was finally eliminated. Eastbound traffic now followed St. Bernard and Paris Avenues from Broad to Gentilly. Westbound traffic followed St. Bernard Avenue only. **1956–1975: US 90 was re-routed over the North Broad Avenue extension and railroad underpass that had been opened in April 1952. Eastbound traffic was fed onto Allen Street to Gentilly Boulevard. Westbound traffic followed New Orleans Street from Gentilly Boulevard onto North Broad Avenue. **1975–present: The final change in routing was the substitution of Tulane Avenue for Canal Street around 1975. *Orleans Parish (east of Peoples Avenue): **1926–1929: Continuing from the intersection of Gentilly Boulevard and Peoples Avenue, the original route of US 90 through eastern New Orleans was as follows: ***Old Gentilly Road to the

Industrial Canal The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile (9 km) waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal ( IHNC). ...

. US 90 crossed the canal over the L&N Railroad bridge (also known as the Almonaster Avenue Bridge), a combination railroad/vehicular bridge opened in 1919 now closed to vehicular traffic. The bridge was originally connected to Old Gentilly Road via two sharp right-angle turns on either side. ***Continuation of Old Gentilly Road to Michoud. ***US 90 remains on its original alignment ( Chef Menteur Highway) from Michoud to a point two miles west of the Chef Menteur Bridge, where the original road continued to the left along Bayou Sauvage. Portions of this road still exist as Old Chef Menteur Road and Fort Macomb Road. ***US 90 crossed the Chef Menteur Pass by ferry, then continued along the current alignment toward the Rigolets. About a third of the way to the Rigolets, a curve on the south side of the road has been bypassed. ***At the approach to the Rigolets Bridge, US 90 continued straight ahead on a road which no longer exists to the site of the Rigolets Ferry to St. Tammany Parish. **1929–1930: The Chef Menteur Bridge was opened in September 1929, replacing the ferry service. **1930–1932: The Rigolets Bridge (with new approach road) was opened in June 1930, followed shortly by the first section of Chef Menteur Highway between Downman Road and Lee Station. The route was now: ***Old Gentilly Road to the Industrial Canal, with the dangerous bridge approaches smoothed out. The eastern approach now fed traffic onto the new Chef Menteur Highway. ***Current US 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) to Lee Station, curving back onto Old Gentilly Road just east of present-day Crowder Boulevard. ***Old Gentilly Road to Michoud. ***Current US 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) and old approach (described above) to Chef Menteur Pass. ***Current US 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) across Chef Menteur and Rigolets bridges to St. Tammany Parish. **1932–1934: The Peoples Avenue-Downman Road section of Chef Menteur Highway, including a new bridge over the Industrial Canal, was opened in 1932. The original

Danziger Bridge The Danziger Bridge is a vertical lift bridge that carries seven vehicular lanes of U.S. Route 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) across the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana. Built to replace the old Danziger Bridge, a draw bridge constructed i ...

existed on the north side of the current bridge. **1934–1942: The permanent approach road to the Chef Menteur Bridge was finally opened, eliminating the road along Bayou Sauvage with right-angle turn onto the bridge. **1942–present: The "Michoud Cutoff," the section of Chef Menteur Highway from Lee Station to Michoud, was opened in May 1942, completing the current alignment. *In St. Tammany Parish, US 90 originally took a much longer route toward Mississippi. After crossing the Rigolets, US 90 traveled along LA 433 (Old Spanish Trail) to Slidell, then US 11 (Front Street) to Pearl River, continuing onto LA 3081 (Main Street). The bridge across the West Pearl River no longer exists. The route continued onto Old US 11, crossing the site of current US 11/I-59. Old US 11 continues through the Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area to the Mississippi state line, where a bridge once crossed the Pearl River. This out-of-the-way alignment was bypassed around 1930 when the current alignment to Pearlington was constructed. US 11 was subsequently routed onto it.

Future

In Louisiana, current plans call for parts of US 90 to be upgraded to Interstate Highway standards from Lafayette to just west of New Orleans and designated I-49. The stretch of US 90 to be upgraded to I-49 stretches from the West Bank Expressway ( US 90 Business near Westwego) to just north of downtown Lafayette, where US 90 splits from US 167 (the two highways converge in downtown Lafayette). The stretch of US 167 from US 90 to I-10 will also be upgraded and included as part of I-49. As of March 2008, due to a $1 billion surplus in the Louisiana state budget, the legislature approved a bill which proposed capacity improvements on US 90 in the Lafayette area. US 167/US 90 is currently six-lanes from I-10 in Lafayette to LA 182 and LA 96 in Broussard.

Major intersections

Related routes

* US 90 Bus. (90-X) runs mainly along the old alignment through downtown Lake Charles, while US 90 uses I-10 and the newer Fruge Street. * US 90 Bus. (90-Y) is the old route through downtown

, mostly along LA 182. * US 90 Bus. (90-W) is mostly the old route (LA 182) through and east of Morgan City. * US 90 Bus. (90-Z) is more of a bypass than a business route in the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

area, running along the Westbank Expressway. * US 190 splits from US 90 east of Slidell, just west of the

state line. It heads west into

, staying north of US 90.

References

External links