Interstate 90 (I-90) runs east–west across the northern tier of the US state of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Much of it is along the Ohio Turnpike, but sections outside the turnpike pass through

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and northeast into

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The entire free section of I-90 in Ohio is called the " AMVETS Highway". Selected stretches are named for various individuals. In

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 census results, the six-county Cleveland, OH ...

, portions of I-90 carry various names, such as the Innerbelt Freeway, Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, Lakeland Freeway, and Euclid Spur.

Route description

Interstate 90 and Carnegie-Lorain Avenues

In the western half of Ohio, I-90 is jointly signed with the Ohio Turnpike/

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

. The Ohio Turnpike/I-90 connector (designated exit 8A, now exit 142) was built in Lorain County in Amherst Township and Elyria Township in 1975. From the exit east, I-90/ State Route 2 (SR 2) travels east along the south shore of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

through

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...

Downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The economic and cultural center of the city and the Cleveland metropolitan area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square, Cleveland, Publi ...

. SR 2 separates from I-90 at Detroit Road in Rocky River. I-90 crosses the

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River (see ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

via the George V. Voinovich Bridges, which replaced the Innerbelt Bridge in 2013 (westbound) through 2016 (eastbound), into Downtown Cleveland and intersects I-77. The innerbelt continues around Downtown Cleveland to a sharp east turn, nicknamed " Dead Man's Curve" for its frequent crashes. While there are plenty of large signs, flashing lights, and rumble strips alerting motorists to this turn, there have still been a large number of crashes resulting from inattentive motorists. There are plans to realign the freeway along a shallower curve within the next decade, as part of a larger project to improve the highway system in Cleveland. I-90 then follows the East Shoreway northeastward along the lakeshore toward

Euclid Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely domina ...

, again cosigned with SR 2. I-90 separates from SR 2 in Euclid and passes through Lake County, eventually crossing over the Grand River. Finally, I-90 enters Ashtabula County as it continues to travel northeast towards the

state line in Conneaut. US Route 20 (US 20) parallels I-90 throughout Ohio, as it does in all locations from Illinois eastward; US 6 also parallels I-90 to a lesser extent throughout the state. East of I-271, SR 84 and SR 307 also closely parallel I-90. These routes are usually easily accessible from I-90's interchanges.

History

The very first portion of I-90 in Ohio was built in 1935. This portion was a part of the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, running from East 9th Street to East 55th Street. The year 1938 saw the addition of an eastward expansion to the Illuminating Company plant, which was within close proximity of Gordon Park. The interchange with East 9th Street was completed in 1940. 1941 saw an addition of the freeway, running between the former terminus at Gordon Park, to East 140th Street in Euclid. The westernmost part of I-90 in Ohio was built from 1952 to 1955, with the construction of the Ohio Turnpike. The Innerbelt Freeway was built in 1959 and was the main freeway that ran through Cleveland. I-90 opened between SR 528 in Madison and SR 7 in Conneaut on December 15, 1959, and between SR 44 in Concord Township and SR 528 in Madison on June 30, 1960. A part of I-90 running from East 140th Street to the Lakeland Freeway split was built in 1962, with the construction of the Lakeland Freeway. The part connecting the Lakeland Freeway and I-271 was built in the mid-1960s. From the mid-1960s to 1978, the part of I-90 running from the Ohio Turnpike in Lorain County to the interchange with I-71 and what is now I-490 was built. The final section of that part of the road opened on November 4 of that year. The Innerbelt in Cleveland previously used a steel-gusset bridge of the same design as the I-35W Mississippi River bridge that failed in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, in 2007. Construction of a new crossing, the George V. Voinovich Bridges, began in 2011. It includes two parallel bridges, one for each direction of traffic; the westbound bridge opened in 2013, while the eastbound bridge opened in 2016 on the site of the Innerbelt Bridge.

Exit list

Auxiliary Routes

Interstate 490 is a spur route in Cleveland that connects I-90 and I-71 to I-77 and the Opportunity Corridor, functioning as an inner bypass of downtown.

Notes

References

External links