U.S. Route 90 in Louisiana

Infobox LA Highway
type=U.S.
route=90
length_mi=304.8 [ [http://www.southeastroads.com/la_us_highways.html Louisiana U.S. Highway Log] ] [Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, [http://www.dotd.state.la.us/highways/project_devel/design/road_design/tifs/calcasieu_west.tif Calcasieu Parish west section] , printed 2001 (TIFF)]
length_km=490.6
formed=1926
dir1=West
dir2=East
from=
junction=
to=
previous_type=State
previous_route=89
next_type=State
next_route=91
browse=la browse
previous_type=State
previous_route=3051
route=3052
next_type=State
next_route=3053

U.S. Highway 90 , one of the major east-west U.S. Highways in the Southern United States, runs through southern Louisiana, 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 for all but local traffic, but the part 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. 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. A long section of freeway exists from Berwick (just west of Morgan City) to northeast of Raceland; the rest of US 90 from Lafayette to New Orleans is mainly a high-speed expressway 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 the whole 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 old road, from Lafayette to northeast of Raceland, is now Louisiana Highway 182.

Bannered and other 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.

Exit list

This exit list covers the full-freeway section from Berwick (just west of Morgan City) to northeast of Raceland.

References