Interstate 490 (Ohio)

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title: "Interstate 490 (Ohio)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["auxiliary-interstate-highways", "interstate-highways-in-ohio", "interstate-90", "cleveland-area-expressways", "transportation-in-cleveland", "transportation-in-cuyahoga-county,-ohio"] description: "Highway in Ohio" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_490_(Ohio)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Highway in Ohio ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox road"]

Field	Value
state	OH
type	I
route	490
map
map_custom	yes
map_notes	I-490 highlighted in red
alternate_name	Troy Lee James Highway
spur_type	I
spur_of	90
length_mi	2.43
length_ref
history	Designated in 1973
direction_a	West
terminus_a	in Cleveland
junction	in Cleveland
direction_b	East
terminus_b	in Cleveland
counties	Cuyahoga
browse
::

| state = OH | type = I | route = 490 | map = | map_custom = yes | map_notes = I-490 highlighted in red | alternate_name = Troy Lee James Highway | spur_type = I | spur_of = 90 | length_mi = 2.43 | length_ref = | history = Designated in 1973 | direction_a = West | terminus_a = in Cleveland | junction = in Cleveland | direction_b = East | terminus_b = in Cleveland | counties = Cuyahoga | browse = Interstate 490 (I-490) is a 2.43 mi auxiliary Interstate Highway in Cleveland, Ohio. The western terminus is a junction with I-90 and I-71 on Cleveland's west side. After spanning the Cuyahoga River, I-490 reaches its eastern terminus at a junction with East 55th Street, just east of I-77, at which point drivers continue onto Opportunity Corridor/Ohio State Route 10.

Route description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Opportunity_Corridor_I-490_eastbound.jpg" caption="Eastern terminus of I-490, meeting with I-77 and the now-opened Opportunity Corridor"] ::

I-490 begins at a partial stack interchange with I-90/I-71 in the Cleveland neighborhood of Tremont. This interchange does not provide access from westbound I-490 to eastbound I-90 as well as from westbound I-90 to eastbound I-490. The Interstate then meets West 7th Street in an incomplete partial cloverleaf interchange. The freeway then crosses over industries, railroads, and the Cuyahoga River. After that, the freeway meets State Route 14 (SR 14) and, at a stack interchange, I-77/SR 10. While I-490 ends at this particular stack interchange, the roadway, which becomes at-grade at East 55th Street, continues east as SR 10 (Opportunity Corridor) all the way toward University Circle.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/UNFINISHED_FREEWAY,_INTERSTATE_90,SEEN_FROM_WEST_14TH_STREET_LOOKING_EAST-NARA-_550278.tif" caption="Incomplete I-490 in Cleveland, looking east from West 14th Street in July 1973"] ::

The original plans of the Cleveland and other city and federal highway authorities called for the highway—also known as the Clark Freeway and, at various times and in various sections, as I-80N and Interstate 290 (I-290)—to bisect the east side of the city and the eastern suburbs; the I-290 designation would then have continued north along I-271. I-71 was to have continued along the innerbelt to Dead Man's Curve, while I-290 was to have used the portion of present I-90 westward to the Parma Freeway near West 65th Street. The I-490 designation was applied to the Clark Freeway's altered proposed path in 1973, but this alignment was also not built east of East 55th Street, being cancelled in 1979. Ultimately, I-90 was realigned to follow the Clark Freeway routing west of I-71 and the innerbelt, and the middle segment of the Clark Freeway between I-71 and I-77 opened in 1990. The Opportunity Corridor expressway was constructed in the late 2010s and early 2020s to follow the path of the canceled portion of I-490/Clark Freeway eastward from East 55th Street until it veers north toward the University Circle neighborhood.

In 2003, I-490 was dedicated to Troy Lee James, former member of the Ohio House of Representatives.

In April 2011, the ramps between I-77 and I-90 to and from the west were removed, making I-490 the official route between those highways and between I-77 and I-71.

Exit list

|exit=— |mile=0.00 |road= |notes=Western terminus; I-90 exit 170C |exit=1A |mile=0.20 |type=incomplete |road= |notes=Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; I-71 exit 247B |exit=1B |mile=0.92 |type=incomplete |road=West 7th Street / Houston Avenue |notes=Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |exit=2A |mile=1.72 |type=incomplete |road= |notes=Eastbound exit and westbound entrance |exit=— |mile=1.88 |type=concur |road= |notes=Exit 161 on I-77; western terminus of SR 10 concurrency |exit=— |type=concur |mile= |road= |notes=Ramp connection to East 55th Street

References

References

1. Starks, Edward. (January 27, 2022). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". [[Federal Highway Administration]].
2. Thoma, Pauline. (1990-09-12). "Ceremony gets I-490 on road; Long-awaited bridge opens for business". [[The Plain Dealer]].
3. "Overview map of I-490 (OH)".
4. [[Cuyahoga County, Ohio]]. (August 1966). "Route Location Studies: Clark Freeway, East 55th Street to Outer Belt East Freeway (Report Number 8)". [[HNTB.
5. [[Ohio Department of Transportation. "1957-1958 Biennial Report excerpt".
6. (1964). "Map of Ohio Showing State Highway System". Ohio Department of Highways.
7. O'Malley, Michael. (2006-09-25). "Women saved Shaker Lakes from freeways". The Plain Dealer.
8. [[Cleveland Heights, Ohio. "Feature Stories: When Bad Ideas Happen to Good Suburbs: The Clark, Lee and Heights Freeways".
9. {{AASHTO minutes. (1973A)
10. Weingroff, Richard. (1998). "Part V — Interstate Withdrawal-Substitution Program: Withdrawal of I-490 — Cleveland, Ohio". [[Federal Highway Administration]].
11. (2003-03-19). "§5516.05: Troy Lee James highway". [[Ohio Revised Code]].
12. "[http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D12/Deputy%20Director/News/Pages/TwoInterstate7790RampstoClosePermanentlyasPartofInnerbeltWork.aspx Two Interstate 77/90 Ramps to Close Permanently as Part of Innerbelt Work]" (press release). ''Ohio Department of Transportation District 12'', April 5, 2011. Retrieved on 2011-07-19.
13. (March 10, 2022). "Cuyahoga County Roadway Description Inventory Report - DESTAPE". [[Ohio Department of Transportation]].
14. (2013-10-01). "Opportunity Corridor Public Hearing". City of [[Cleveland]].

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