Talk:Interstate 90

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interstate 90 is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination failed. For older candidates, please check the archive.
This article is within the scope of the following WikiProjects:

Contents

[edit] Washington Mileage

I wonder if anyone can tell me how I-90 is 297.52 miles long in the State of Washington, yet I live between mile marker 296 and 299? I would think that means that I-90 is at least 299 miles long. Brian Sayrs 23:48 Nov 4, 2002 (UTC)

I believe the markers start at "2", to reflect the possibility that they may one day extend I-90 all of the way to the Seattle waterfront (it currently stops a couple of miles shy of that). At least, I'm pretty sure the I-5 exit in downtown Seattle is exit 2 -- RobLa

Originally it was to end at the Alaskan Way Viaduct (SR 99). In fact, in driving the Viaduct, you can see the rampwork that allows for a connection to a freeway. Obviously this was decades before either the Kingdome or the actual I-90 was built. Nonetheless, Royal Brougham and Atlantic were to eventually become the ramps to the Viaduct. I believe those plans have been cancelled, and instead the terminus will be 1st Ave S., about 500 feet east. Half of this work is already done, and the other half will be completed over the next few years. -- User:Cpk1971

[edit] More Chicago Skyway controversy

Whomever writes TollroadsNews asked whether or not the Chicago Skyway is part of Interstate 90. According to my understanding of the article, Cecilio A Leonin of the FHWA Office of Program Administration states Illinois always considered the Skyway as I-90 when they were reporting cost estimates to Congress during the Interstate construction period back in the 1950s, and today when Illinois reports to Congress for its portion of Interstate Maintenance funds. [1] Though as the article later notes, this is dependent on Illinois actually knowing and reporting accurately what the Skyway is. SterlingNorth 29 June 2005 05:12 (UTC)

[edit] I-495

I-495 intersects I-90 in Massachusetts but the article doesn't reflect that. 68.160.162.89 21:30, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

  • The articles on Interstate highways typically only list intersections with two digit highways, although a few intersections with three digit highways sometimes sneak into the list. If anything, the intersections with I-390 and I-490 in New York should be deleted. -- Ithacagorges 22:44, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Free 90?

I have never heard the I-90 refered to as the "Free 90" before. I checked the NYSDOT webpage and did not see this anywhere, either. The 'Free 90' doesn't even make sense, as I-90 is a toll road for much of it's length through NY.

I am not editing the page, however, as perhaps this is a regional expression.

"Free 90" is probably not an official term, and the common man usually refers to it as I-90. It is true that it is toll (under NYSTA) for most of New York State; hence, the small portion that is free (under NYSDOT) is known as "Free 90." So it does make sense, for exactly the reason you said it doesn't. ;) I've seen it used on some other web sites, so though it is probably not official, some do call it that. It is never used when talking about I-90 itself, but just to specifically point out the part that lacks any other name. (We don't call the rest "Toll 90;" it's just called the Thruway and the Berkshire extension.) --Chris 04:46, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
Again, I clarify the situation which probably confuses those from areas where there was no good freeway system prior to the Interstate Highway System. The Thruway was established independently of Interstate Highways. The Berkshire Connector was built to connect the Thruway with the Mass Pike. Then, when I-90 came through, rather than just designate the entire berkshire connector as I-90 and the whole mainline northwest of that, a Free 90 was built to connect the berkshire connector with the thruway at the point that was selected for i-87 to divert. as a result, we have i-90 in three very distinct parts, 2 of them belonging to the very same ticketing system. There's the Thruway mainline, from the end to interchange 24, and then there is Free 90, which has its own west to east exit numbering and mileage system. Then I-90 re-enters the Thruway system at interchange B1 on the Berkshire extension and continues into massachusetts.

[edit] Map

I'm not the best with images. I tried to move the map of where I-90 is to a place where it wouldn't overlap the following chart on my browser (Firefox). I achieved that, but it's still not aesthetically pleasing. Jacqui ★ 06:41, 11 November 2005 (UTC)


[edit] Scenery

Does anyone have pictures they can add showing some of I-90's dramatic Western scenery? Some possibilities:

-Great plains/distant Badlands, South Dakota

-Wolf Mountains, Wyoming/Montana border

-Columbia River gorge and causeway, central Washington state

-Distant Mt. Rainier, Central WA (westbound)

[edit] Mileage in Wisconsin

Every interstate-related website, including this one and the Federal Highway Administration Route Log, seems to list the I-90 mileage in Wisconsin as 108.61 miles. This is the distance from the Minnesota state line to the I-39 junction (exit 108 of I-90 and exit 84 of I-39). But what about the remaining 84 miles along I-39 from Portage to the Illinois state line? The numbers do add up correctly to 3,020.54 miles, which is the number quoted everywhere for the total length - so what happened to those 84 miles?! Mtford 07:00, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Event appears to be non-notable

I didn't do the original blanking, but I will rv to the version without this sentence:

On November 6, 2005 a major rockslide near Snoqualmie Pass caused the highway to be temporarily reduced to one lane in each direction.

This event doesn't appear to be notable in either severity or aftereffects. As a specific event, this is not notable; if it is generalized and becomes a description of the character of this stretch of highway, I could accept that. But I don't know if this applies, either. —Rob (talk) 18:09, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Well they're considering rerouting I-90 to the other side of the lake because of this. I'd leave it in. --Rschen7754 (talk - contribs) 20:36, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Erected...

"It was erected in the 1950s...." Was it really neccesary to link "erected" to the article for Erection? I went ahead and removed it, but if someone truly believes that that link should be there, then go ahead and revert it.

[edit] Infobox map

Which map looks better: or ? I want to see what others think before I replace one map with the other. --TMF T - C 20:32, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

The second image looks better in my opinion, with less contrasting lines that would otherwise clutter a map. Seicer (talk) (contribs) 20:33, 9 August 2006 (UTC)
I agree the second image is cleaner Jeepday 03:38, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Notes section

Why does the "notes" section list the states in alphabetical order? To me, it makes far more sense to go either east to west, or west to east. —Joseph/N328KF (Talk) 02:08, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

They don't technically have to be, as I can't find a policy that states it either way, but as long as it is done consistantly throughout other pages, it should be no problem. Feel free to reorder it. In my opinion, W->E and S->N is most logical? Seicer (talk) (contribs) 03:19, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Longest What?

"Interstate 90 (abbreviated I-90) is the longest interstate highway in both the United States and world" Should "and world" be in there? Isn't it kind of pointless as the system is USA only? Maybe it is the longest limited access highway, but I don't know. This should be changed. --Kalmia 01:36, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

We were having a discussion on SABRE [[2]] (in Britain) a few days back, and we think I-90 could be the longest divided highway in the world. However, I came across a website claiming there is a significant gap or gaps in the median near the MT/ID border - is this true? Sunil, Cambridge, England 131.111.36.48 13:37, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Supposedly that was fixed early in this decade, however it was in the '90s. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Liddlebigguy (talk • contribs) 02:20, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lost States

Four states were missing from the middle of I-90; Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin. I put them in with some very basic text. I will try to get back soon and add more. Jeepday 04:11, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox junctions

While I would agree that all the extraneous interstate junctions would not belong, I would strongly suggest that the I-80 junctions DO belong, as I-80 is a major E-W interstate that I-90 intersects with (on both ends -- in Indiana and Ohio) --Mhking 15:45, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. The thing is, at the west end, it also junctions I-94, which is not major. Still, I am leaning towards adding the I-80 junctions. I'm not doing it yet, since there isn't enough consensus. V60 VTalk - VDemolitions 00:06, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
Better question IMHO is why aren't the I-80 junctions present. Let's check the guidelines:
  1. For a long interstate, only list 2di junctions.
Sounds good. I-80 has two digits last time I checked.
  1. For any interstate that is long enough to have 8 or more 2di junctions, such as I-80, I-90, I-40, I-10, I-75, and I-95, only list 2di junctions where the number ends in 5 or 0.
Sounds good again. I-80 ends in a zero last time I checked.
My stance: add both endpoints of the I-80/I-90 concurrency as the two junctions do belong in this infobox. Even if both are added, this infobox will have only 10 junctions - right at the limit. --TMF Let's Go Mets - Stats 00:16, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
I-90's interchange with I-79 is a major interchange as it is the major highway to Pittsburgh, so I think 79 should be added to the Infobox junction. --Write On 1983 03:12, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Major is defined as "ending in 0 or 5", not traffic volume or importance. Otherwise there would be many, many more junctions to add. —Rob (talk) 12:53, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Is this a Wiki rule? I've never heard this before and I'm very familiar with the road system. --Write On 1983 01:07, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Right. By that standard we should pull I-29, I-39, and I-87 from the list of major junctions, and add I-95 back in. It seems kind of silly that we not add I-94 in too, because that highway might as well have become a 0 or 5 2di given how long it is. --Ecarrel (talk) 02:14, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
IIRC, I-95 is listed in terminus, so it doesn't need to be mentioned again. WP:USRD/INNA has the standards for this. --Rschen7754 (T C) 05:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
Currently listed as terminus is Route 1-A. This is correct ever since the TWT opened. There is no other mention of I-95, except as part of the major junctions section near the bottom. I'm not really picky either way, but if we're going to be obstinate about the rules, we might as well be consistent. --Ecarrel 20:59, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] length

Couldn't find where to change the length in km in the box at the right but 3099 mi are 4958 km as it is stated correctly in the other table with the length in each state...--X-Weinzar 20:35, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Topology

I came here trying to find out how much the topology of the I90 through Washington state resembles either the Coquihalla or the Crow through the mountainous BC interior. Travel times from Tsawwassen to Cranbrook are roughly equivalent on all three routes (plus/minus border crossings), but some vehicles really slow down pulling the long grades on the Canadian side. Is the I90 any better? MaxEnt 19:32, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

Added the following, which I hope is correct:

Sixty miles east of Bellevue I-90 traverses the Cascade Mountain Snoqualmie Pass, elevation 3,022 feet, the lowest east-west highway crossing in Washington state.[1]

MaxEnt 20:22, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

MaxEnt - Does Washington_State_Route_14 count as a highway? "SR-14 is a two-lane highway which often runs along steep bluffs as high as 800 feet through the Columbia Gorge"

I-90 is 4 lanes through the steeper part of the pass, so what about the others? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Liddlebigguy (talk • contribs) 02:29, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] long distance mileage sign

I-95 at the I-85 junction in central Virginia
I-95 at the I-85 junction in central Virginia
  • The eastbound New York State Thruway measures the distance to New York City its entire length (at its westernmost spot, at 490 miles near the NY/PA border). Interstate 90 does not come anywhere near New York City and part of the Thruway lies on Interstate 87.

[edit] Possible spam in Montana description

Do we really need to know that the "Historic Montana Bar & Grill" and "InnTheMiddleOfNowhere.com" are within the Montana section? This sounds like spam. Instead, should we remove such entries and instead describe geographic locations and major towns?

[edit] Why was the Berkshire Spur not made part of I-90?

Just curious really. It would make following I-90 much easier. Rather than a left-exit at 24, a toll plaza, a section that runs nearly perfectly north-south, then another toll plaza, and another ramp. Why not continue it down concurrently with the Thruway/I-87, exit at 21A, and run it straight through on the Berkshire Spur? I don't think it would be prudent to rename it now, as that would require way too many new signs and would leave a question as to what to call Freebie 90 , but I would like to know what reason, if any, was given for not doing that in the first place. Also, the article says the section was built in the '50s, but I have a Department of Commerce map from 1960 that shows all the crossings of the Hudson between Coxsackie, NY and Troy, NY, and it doesn't show the Patroon Island Bridge, nor anything in its place, which now carries that part of I-90. --Kedalfax 02:02, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Image

Might this image of the East Portal of the Mount Baker Ridge Tunnel be worth including? Maybe as a replacement for the image of a rather dull section of road near Ellensburg, WA? (I won't be watchlisting this, so if someone thinks the substitution would be a good idea, please go for it.) - Jmabel | Talk 06:08, 7 November 2007 (UTC)