Interstate 490 (Ohio)

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 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 after 55th Street, continues east as SR 10 (Opportunity Corridor) all the way toward University Circle.[4]

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[5] and, at various times and in various sections, as I-80N[6] 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.[7] 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.[6] Freeway revolts in the late 1960s prevented the Clark Freeway east of East 55th Street and the Parma Freeway from being built; specifically, a referendum in Shaker Heights barred the city from allowing the Clark Freeway to pass through the city and its Shaker Lakes.[8][9] The I-490 designation was applied to the Clark Freeway's altered proposed path in 1973,[10] but this alignment was also not built east of East 55th Street. 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.[3] The Opportunity Corridor expressway was constructed to follow the path of the canceled portion of I-490/Clark Freeway eastward from the end of the completed portion 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.[11]

In April 2011, the ramps between I-77 and I-90 to the west were removed, making I-490 the official route between those highways and between I-77 and I-71.[12]

The entire route is in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County.

mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
0.00	0.00	—	I-90 west – Toledo	Western terminus; I-90 exit 170C
0.20	0.32	1A	I-71 south / SR 176 south – Columbus	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; I-71 exit 247B
0.92	1.48	1B	West 7th Street / Houston Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
1.72	2.77	2A	SR 14 / SR 43 (Broadway)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.88	3.03	—	I-77 / SR 10 west – Downtown Cleveland, Akron	Exit 161 on I-77; western terminus of SR 10 concurrency[13]
		—	SR 10 east (Opportunity Corridor)	Ramp connection to East 55th Street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

• Breckenridge, Tom (September 18, 2010). "Homes, businesses in Cleveland neighborhoods would be leveled to make way for Opportunity Corridor". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved September 22, 2010.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 490 (Ohio).

• Opportunity Corridor project page (Ohio Department of Transportation)