Interstate 90 Business (Wallace, Idaho)

Interstate 90 Business
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-90
Maintained by IDOT
Major junctions
West end: I-90 near Wallace
East end: I-90 near Wallace
Highway system

Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

State Highways in Idaho

← US-89 US-91 →

Interstate 90 Business is a Business loop of Interstate 90 in Wallace. The route links I-90, which goes north of the city, and downtown Wallace. As its Business Loop designation implies, I-90 Business terminates at I-90 at each end. This section of Interstate 90 Business contains what was the last traffic light on a coast-to-coast Interstate highway.

Contents

Route description

I-90 Business begins at I-90 exit 60 near Wallace. It goes southeast on former U.S. Route 10 and the initial route of I-90. I-90 was rerouted to the freeway in 1991. I-90 Business follows the main road through Wallace. Locally, the route is known as Front Street, 5th Street, and Bank Street. I-90 Business intersects State Highway 4 at an at-grade intersection. This intersection is also the I-90 interchange with Highway 4. I-90 Business terminates at this interchange signed as exit 62.

Major intersections

The entire route is located within Shoshone County.

Location Mile Destinations Notes
0.0 I-90 - Coeur d'Alene, Missoula interchange
Wallace Seventh Street last traffic light removed from I-90 [1]
SH-4 – Burke - to Lolo National Forest, Montana Highway 471.
I-90 - Missoula interchange

History

I-90 Business is a segment of former U.S. Route 10 (US 10) and the original I-90 alignment through Idaho. US 10 was designated in 1927. US 10 became co-signed with I-90 in the 1960s. Eventually, I-90 replaced US 10 in Idaho. When the I-90 freeway opened in 1991, the US 10 alignment became I-90 Business. The intersection of Bank Street (US 10, I-90) and Seventh Street was the last traffic light located on a coast-to-coast Interstate highway. It was one of the last, if not the last, removed from an primary Interstate highway. It is the only traffic signal in Wallace. [1]

I-90 Business passes through the Wallace Historic District. In 1979, several blocks of downtown Wallace were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district.[2] City leaders organized the effort to recognize the historic district to prevent the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Idaho Department of Transportation (IDOT) from condemning and demolishing the city's core to build an at-grade freeway. The FHWA and IDOT designed and built an elevated viaduct to finish the interstate freeway.

References

  1. ^ a b "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.