U.S. Route 90 Business (New Orleans, Louisiana)

U.S. Highway 90 Business (officially U.S. Highway 90-Z^[4]) is a business route of U.S. Highway 90 in and near New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Unlike a standard business route, it is built to higher standards than the segment of U.S. 90 that it parallels, with over half built to freeway standards and designated (but not signed as) Interstate 910. It crosses the Mississippi River on the Crescent City Connection (tolled eastbound) and runs along the Westbank Expressway west of the bridge and part of the Pontchartrain Expressway in the New Orleans Central Business District. On the other hand, U.S. 90 runs along surface streets through New Orleans, crossing the Mississippi on the older and narrower Huey P. Long Bridge.

Route description

The Expressway takes its name from its location, the West Bank of the Mississippi River. The Westbank Expressway begins just west of Westwego at US 90, where US 90 Business heads east as a four lane divided road, entering Westwego just east of the western terminus, with residential areas to the north and Bayou Segnette State Park to the south. Just east of Circle Drive, US 90 Business expands it median width to 250 feet. Continuing east, the road intersects LA 18 Spur, as the road begins to pass by local businesses, with many at-grade intersections. At the Marrero city limits, between Westwood Drive and Ames Boulevard, the expressway portion of US 90 Business begins as a six lane elevated expressway, with the four lane road continuing as frontage roads.

Continuing east, the expressway's first interchange is with Ames Boulevard, which is an exit westbound and entrance eastbound. The next interchange is a full interchange, Barataria Boulevard (LA 45)/Avenue D. The expressway then enters Harvey, with an incomplete interchange at Mac Arthur Avenue before crossing the Harvey Canal, with the expressway crossing over it and the frontage road taking the Harvey Tunnel. Following the Canal, the expressway has a full interchange with Manhattan Boulevard. In Gretna, the expressway has an interchange with Lafayette Street (LA 18/LA 23), with LA 18 terminating and LA 23 starting a brief concurrency with US 90 Business, which ends at the next exit, Stumpf Boulevard. Entering New Orleans, the next exit is with General de Gaulle Drive (LA 428)/Terry Parkway, the last exit on the Westbank. Following the exit, the expressway crosses the Mississippi River on the Crescent City Connection bridge, which is tolled eastbound. Now known as the Pontchartrain Expressway, it heads in a north northwest direction through the Central Business District of New Orleans towards US 90 and Interstate 10, the eastern terminus.

Harvey Tunnel

The Harvey Tunnel is an automobile tunnel built in 1957 and located on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana (suburban New Orleans).^[5] It carries traffic on old Business US 90 or Westbank Expressway under the Harvey Canal which is part of the Intracoastal Waterway.

The main course of US 90 is now carried over the canal on a bridge and the tunnel is currently used for traffic on the service road.^[6]

History

US 90 Bus' exit numbers were in place by the 1990's, years before I-910 was signed on the highway.

AASHTO requested "that Louisiana submit an application to AASHTO in accordance with the Federal Highway Administration's letter dated September 22, 1999 to sign the part of the route from I-10 in New Orleans to Ames Boulevard in Marrero as Interstate 910."^[7] However, Louisiana did not follow through, and the road is neither signed as I-910 nor considered I-910 by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, which prominently calls it Future I-49.^[8][9]

Future

U.S. 90 Business is planned to become part of the Interstate 49 extension from Lafayette to New Orleans; the Interstate 910 designation is a temporary one. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved the extension of I-49 (as Future I-49) to Interstate 310 west of New Orleans on November 6, 1998,^[10] and on October 1, 1999 the extension from I-310 to I-10 in New Orleans was approved.

Major junctions

References