Interstate 490 (New York)

Infobox road
state=NY
route=490
type=I


maint=NYSDOT
alternate_name=Eastern Expressway
length_mi=37.40
length_round=2
length_ref=
year_established=1974 (completion date) [http://www.gribblenation.net/nyroutes/ind/450_499.htm#490i New York Routes - Interstate 490] ]
direction_a=West
terminus_a=jct|state=NY|I|90|NYST in Le Roy
junction=jct|state=NY|I|390|NY|390 in Gates
jct|state=NY|I|590|NY|590 in Rochester
direction_b=East
terminus_b=jct|state=NY|I|90|NYST in Victor
previous_type=NY
previous_route=488
next_type=I
next_route=495

Interstate 490 (abbreviated I-490) is an 37.40-mile interstate highway loop route that serves the City of Rochester in Monroe County, New York. The western terminus is located in the town of Le Roy at Interstate 90 (the New York State Thruway). It interchanges with Interstate 390 and New York State Route 390 on the western side of Rochester and Interstate 590 and New York State Route 590 on the east side of the city (the latter is a complex interchange nickanamed the Can of Worms by locals describing the interchange prior to its reconstruction from 1988 to 1991). I-490 terminates in Victor where it meets back with the New York State Thruway.

I-490 comprises the southernmost portion of the Inner Loop, a beltway around the interior of Rochester. West of the Inner Loop, I-490 was known as the "Dutchtown Expressway", a name given to the freeway by the locals to describe the area's original immigrant settlers, now it is officially known as The Erie Canal Expressway. East of the Inner Loop, I-490 is known as the Eastern Expressway, a name given to the freeway upon its construction in the former Rochester Subway bed in 1957.

Route description

Heading northeast from the Thruway, I-490 passes through rural western Monroe County, skirting the villages of Bergen and Churchville. Gradually, the expressway takes a more easterly alignment near exit 3 before returning to the northeast at exit 4. At exit 6, I-490 intersects the Airport Expressway (NY 204). Past this interchange, I-490 heads due north, interchanging with NY 33 and NY 531 before returning east. Prior to crossing the Erie Canal, I-490 interchanges with NY 390 and I-390 as I-490 enters the city of Rochester.

Between the Mount Read Blvd. interchange at exit 10 and the Genesee River, I-490 is referred to as the "Western Gateway". This section, which has seen major decorative as well as structural improvements in recent years [ [http://www.dot.state.ny.us/reg/r4/490gateway/490.html NYSDOT 490 Gateway Website] ] , travels due east through heavily residential neighborhoods before turning to the southeast near Frontier Field and the junction with the Inner Loop at exit 13. I-490 now becomes part of the Inner Loop as it passes just south of the city center and heads toward the Genesee River. I-490 crosses both the river and NY 383 by way of the Frederick Douglass-Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge, then turns south into the former pathway of the Erie Canal and the Rochester Subway through the east side of the city.

I-490 continues to run in the former bed until exit 21, when I-490 continues east past NY 590 and I-590, the latter of which runs in the former Erie Canal route through the eastern suburbs. Between exits 21 and 24, I-490 parallels the CSX Rochester Subdivision rail line, intersecting NY 441, a limited-access highway in the process. South of exit 25, I-490 runs through the eastern suburbs of Rochester, passing close to East Rochester, Pittsford and Bushnell's Basin before intersecting NY 96 three times and passing Eastview Mall as it approaches its eastern terminus at the Thruway in Ontario County.

History

The portion of I-490 from exit 9 (I-390/NY 390) in Gates to exit 27 (NY 96) in Perinton was designated the Erie Canal Expressway by the New York State Legislature on August 16, 2005. The name is ceremonial in nature and is not part of the official name of the expressway. [cite web|url=http://nysosc9.osc.state.ny.us/product/mbrdoc.nsf/0/6ccc1c015ba5241a852570a00060adce?OpenDocument|title=Laws of New York, Chapter 494|accessdate=2007-04-29]

The planned construction of I-490 through downtown Rochester, in the Corn Hill area just west of the Genesee River, was the driving factor for Rochester Institute of Technology to relocate to its present location in Henrietta, NY in the mid to late 1960s. The plan called for the demolition of a number of RIT buildings, and would have resulted in splitting the campus into two halves separated by I-490.

Exit list

References