U.S. Route 90 in Louisiana

U.S. Highway 90
Route information
Maintained by Louisiana DOTD
Length:	304.8 mi[1][2] (490.5 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-10 / US 90 near Orange, TX
	US 167 in Lafayette I-310 near Boutte US 11 in New Orleans
East end:	US 90 near Waveland, MS
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced Highways in Louisiana ← LA 89 LA 91 → ← LA 3051 3052 LA 3053 →

U.S. Highway 90, one of the major east–west U.S. Highways in the Southern United States, runs through southern Louisiana for 304.8 miles (490.5 km),^[3] serving Lake Charles, Lafayette, New Iberia, Morgan City and 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 Interstate 49 and is signed as "future corridor I-49". This part of the highway is important to the offshore petroleum industry, as it connects the cities of Lafayette and New Orleans to the port cities along the coast. Most of U. S. 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; US 90 was shifted to it from its former alignment (now Louisiana Highway 182) once it was completed.

US 90 replaced almost all of the Louisiana section of the San Diego–St. Augustine Old Spanish Trail. It was also designated Louisiana Highway 2 until the 1955 renumbering. A long section of the old road, from Lafayette to northeast of Raceland, is now Louisiana Highway 182.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 State line to Lafayette 1.2 Lafayette to Raceland 1.3 New Orleans 1.4 Interstates 49 and 910 2 History 3 Future 4 Major junctions 5 Related routes 6 References 7 External links

Route description

State line to Lafayette

U.S. Route 90 enters Louisiana at the Texas line over the Sabine River as part of Interstate 10 (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, 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 U.S. 90 intersects with the southern terminus of U.S. Route 165 continuing east through Lacassine, Welsh, Roanoke, Jennings, and Mermentau.East of Mermentau U.S. 90 runs north of and parallel to a section of the Old Spanish Trail through Midland, Estherwood, and Crowley. In Crowley U.S. 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, U.S. 90 traverses a south by southwest course to Patterson, where the highway takes a more easterly direction to New Orleans. The section east (south) of Broussard, beginning east of Captain Cade road^[4] but west of Louisiana highway 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 (Louisiana Highway 88), Jefferson Island road (Louisiana highway 675), Center street (LA 14), Avery Island road (Louisiana highway 329), South Lewis street (Parish road 605), weeks Island road (Louisiana highway 83), Darnall road (Parish road 211), Patout road (Louisiana highway 85), and Canal street (Louisiana highway 671). This section ties into the already completed section that begins at Louisiana highway 318 and terminates at East Main street (Louisiana highway 182) just east of Calumet. West of Berwick U.S. 90 is listed as "interstate grade" with a 70 miles (110 km) per hour speed limit from (mile marker 174) to east of Raceland and an intersection with LA 1 (mile marker 215b), before reverting back to a standard divided highway and continuing on a north/northeast direction to New Orleans.

New Orleans

U.S. 90 enters Jefferson Parish and, after passing Avondale, heads north at an intersection with the U.S. Highway 90 Business called the Westbank Expressway, through Bridge City, and across the Mississippi River over the Huey P. Long Bridge. Crossing the river U.S. 90, designated as S. Clearview Parkway, intersects with and running east as the Jefferson Highway,^[5] that was originally part of the "Interstate Trail" and the "Pine to Palm" highway, a 2,300 miles (3,700 km) mile north/south transcontinental U.S interstate highway running from New Orleans to the United States—Canadian border, then to Winnipeg, Canada^[6] 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 U.S. 90 and Louisiana highway 48. After 1935 Jefferson became S. Claiborne Avenue at the Orleans Parish line and makes a sweeping south to north semi-circle weaving through New Orleans. As the highway swings north it intersects and runs under an elevated I-10 becoming N. Claiborne for a short distance (two blocks), intersecting and running northwest as Canal Street, intersecting and running northeast as North Broad Avenue, intersecting and running northwest as St. Bernard Avenue, Paris Avenue north, then Gentilly Blvd. east becoming Chef Menteur highway to the Mississippi state line.

• The Jefferson Highway was the first north/south transcontinental highway in America, the second interstate highway, after the Lincoln Highway that it intersects in Colo, Iowa, but was the first international interstate highway in the world.^[7]

Interstates 49 and 910

The Business U.S. 90 portion of the Pontchartrain Expressway is also designated as Interstate 910,^[8] however it is not signed as such. This is a temporary designation that overlaps all freeway portions of Business U.S. 90 (the Pontchartrain Expressway, Crescent City Connection, and Westbank Expressway). When Interstate 49 is completed from Lafayette to New Orleans, Business U.S. 90/Interstate 910 will be resigned as Interstate 49.

History

• In Calcasieu Parish, on the border with Orange, Texas, US 90 originally crossed the Sabine River eastward into East Orange, Louisiana, a town consisting primarily of gambling, showboats, and supper clubs. The bridge over the Sabine River was removed after US 90 had been rerouted northward in Orange onto Simmons Drive and Interstate 10.^[9]
• In Lake Charles, US 90 traveled from Westlake down present-day Mike Hooks Road to cross the Calcasieu River on a bridge built in 1916. The road then traveled along Shell Beach and Lakeshore Drives 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, 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. It follows the BNSF/UP Railroad near the Raceland Junction, and then crosses the Louisiana and Delta Railroad near Raceland Raw Sugars. Further southwest it enters Raceland, intersecting with LA 308, then immediately afterwards crosses Bayou Lafourche over a draw 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 The Old Houma Road, interchanging with US 90/Future I-49. Just south of this Interchange, it travels as 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 the 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 U.S. 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: U.S. 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: U.S. 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. U.S. 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: U.S. 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 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 U.S. 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, U.S. 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, U.S. 90 now entered Orleans Parish on South Claiborne Avenue, following South Carrollton Avenue and Canal Street to North Broad Avenue.
  • 1939-1946: U.S. 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: U.S. 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 U.S. 90 through eastern New Orleans was as follows:
    • Old Gentilly Road to the Industrial Canal. U.S. 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.
    • U.S. 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.
    • U.S. 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, U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 90 (Chef Menteur Highway) and old approach (described above) to Chef Menteur Pass.
    • Current U.S. 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 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 travelled 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 over 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 U.S. 90 to be upgraded to interstate standards from Lafayette to just west of New Orleans and designated Interstate 49. The stretch of U.S. 90 to be upgraded to I-49 stretches from the West Bank Expressway (U.S. 90 Business near Westwego, Louisiana) to just north of downtown Lafayette, where U.S. 90 splits from U.S. Route 167 (the two highways converge in downtown Lafayette). The stretch of U.S. 167 from U.S. 90 to I-10 will also be upgraded and included as part of I-49. As of March 2008, due to a one billion dollar surplus in the Louisiana state budget, the legislature approved a bill which proposed capacity improvements on U.S. 90 in the Lafayette Area. U. S. 167/U.S. 90 is currently six-laned from I-10 to Pinhook Road. The plan calls for six-lanes from Pinhook to the suburb of Broussard. The lanes are expected to be opened in two years.

Major junctions

Parish	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Calcasieu		1	Sabine River Turnaround	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			I-10 east / LA 109	East end of I-10 overlap; West end of LA 109 overlap
			LA 109 north / LA 3112 west – Merryville	East end of LA 109 overlap
			LA 3063 (West Street)
			LA 388 north
	Sulphur		LA 1256
			LA 27 – DeQuincy, Cameron
			I-10 west	West end of I-10 overlap
		27	LA 378 – West Lake
	Bridge over Lake Charles (Calcasieu River)
	Lake Charles	29	LA 385 – Downtown Lake Charles	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		30A	North Lakeshore Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		30B	Ryan Street – Downtown Lake Charles	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		31A	US 90 Bus. east
		31B	Shattuck Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			I-10 east	East end of I-10 overlap
			US 171 north – DeRidder, Shreveport
			I-210 (West Loop)
			US 90 Bus. west
			LA 397 – Cameron
			LA 3256
	Iowa		LA 383 north
			US 165 north – Alexandria
Jefferson Davis	Lacassine		LA 101 – Hayes
			LA 1131
	Welsh		LA 99 north	West end of LA 99 overlap
			LA 99 south
			LA 382
			LA 395 north – Elton
	Jennings		LA 26 – Oberlin, Lake Arthur
			LA 102 north	West end of LA 102 overlap
			LA 102 south / LA 3055 west	East end of LA 102 overlap
			LA 1126 west
Acadia	Mermentau		LA 92 south – Morse
	Midland		LA 91 south – Morse	West end of LA 91 overlap
	Estherwood		LA 91 north – Eunice	East end of LA 91 overlap
			LA 1124 south
	Crowley		LA 13 south – Kaplan	West end of LA 13 overlap
			LA 13 north – Eunice	East end of LA 13 overlap
			LA 1111 north
	Rayne		LA 3076 east
			LA 35 south – Kaplan	West end of LA 35 overlap
			LA 35 north / LA 3076 west	East end of LA 35 overlap
			LA 719
Lafayette	Duson		LA 95
			LA 343
			LA 724
	Scott		LA 93 north	West end of LA 93 overlap
			LA 93 south – Abbeville	East end of LA 93 overlap
	Lafayette		LA 3184
			LA 3025 south
			US 90 Bus. east / LA 182 – Opelousas, Lafayette
			US 167 north to I-49 – Alexandria	West end of US 167 overlap
			LA 94 east
			LA 176
			US 167 south / LA 3138 north – Abbeville
			US 90 Bus. west / LA 728 north – Lafayette Regional Airport
			LA 3095 south
			LA 339 west
			LA 89 south
			LA 182 – Broussard, New Iberia	Interchange
St. Martin			LA 92 east
Iberia			LA 88	Interchange
	New Iberia	126	LA 675 – New Iberia	West end of freeway
			LA 14 – Abbeville, New Iberia
			LA 329	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			Lewis Street
			LA 83 – New Iberia	East end of freeway
			Damall Road	Interchange
			LA 85
	Jeanerette		LA 668 – Jeanerette	Interchange
St. Mary			LA 318
	Baldwin		LA 83 – Baldwin	West end of freeway
	Franklin		LA 3211 east – Franklin
			LA 3215 north
			LA 317 – Centerville	East end of freeway
			LA 182 north – Centerville	West end of LA 182 overlap
			LA 182 east	East end of LA 182 overlap
	Patterson		LA 182 west – Patterson	West end of LA 182 overlap
	Bayou Vista		LA 182 east – Bayou Vista	East end of LA 182 overlap
	Berwick		LA 182	West end of freeway
	Bridge over Berwick Bay
	Morgan City		Federal Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			US 90 Bus. / LA 70 / LA 182
		176	Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
		181	Lake Palourde Bypass
Assumption		182	LA 662
Terrebonne		185	LA 662
	Gibson	189	LA 20 – Gibson
		194	LA 20 – Schriever
		200	LA 311
	Gray	202	LA 24 / LA 659 – Schriever, Houma
		204	LA 316
Lafourche		210	US 90 Bus. / LA 182
	Raceland	215A	LA 1 – Thibodaux, Grand Isle	Signed as exit 215 eastbound
		215B	LA 308	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; east end of freeway
			LA 182 west
			LA 631 north

Related routes

• U.S. Highway 90 Business (90-X) runs mainly along the old alignment through downtown Lake Charles, while US 90 uses Interstate 10 and the newer Fruge Street.
• U.S. Highway 90 Business (90-Y) is the old route through downtown Lafayette, mostly along Louisiana Highway 182.
• U.S. Highway 90 Business (90-W) is mostly the old route (Louisiana Highway 182) through and east of Morgan City.
• U.S. Highway 90 Business (90-Z) is more of a bypass than a business route in the New Orleans area, running along the Westbank Expressway.

• U.S. Highway 190 splits from US 90 east of Slidell, just west of the Mississippi state line. It heads west into Texas, staying north of US 90.

References

External links

• Article; "Following in the Lincoln's Wake: The Jefferson Highway" by Lyell Henry

U.S. Route 90
Previous state: Texas	Louisiana	Next state: Mississippi

New Orleans Highways Radial Pontchartrain Expressway (I-10) Republic of West Florida Parkway (I-12) I-49 (future) I-55 I-59 I-310 I-510 East-West Bypass (I-610) West Bank Expressway (US-Bus 90) Earhart Expressway (LA 3139) Non-freeways US 51 US 61 US 90 Other Airline Highway Lake Pontchartrain Causeway