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Interstate 90 in Montana

Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway across the northern United States, linking Seattle to Boston. The portion in the state of Montana is 552.54 miles (889.23 km) in length, passing through 14 counties in central and southern Montana. It is the longest segment of I-90 within a single state.

Route description
Mineral County I-90 enters Montana and Mineral County from Shoshone County, Idaho over the high Lookout Pass, which traverses the Coeur d'Alene Mountains of the Bitterroot Range, and immediately has its first interchange, a partial cloverleaf interchange serving extreme northwest Mineral County and access to Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area. The highway continues southeasterly through woodlands, paralleling the St. Regis River, before meeting the Dena Mora (Lookout Pass) rest area east of the Idaho–Montana border. About from the rest stop is a diamond interchange, serving a small minor road into the St. Joe National Forest in Idaho. The highway continues, winding through the woodlands until another diamond interchange, serving the small unincorporated community of Saltese. Continuing east for about , each direction diverges for a small distance before returning side to side for a diamond interchange serving the unincorporated community of Haugan. after Haugan, I-90 intersects the census-designated place (CDP) of De Borgia, continuing southeasterly, intersecting several minor roads, before reaching the CDP of St. Regis and Montana Highway 135 (MT 135). The highway stops paralleling the St. Regis River, and begins to parallel, and cross over several times, the Clark Fork River. Superior, the county seat, is intersected before the highway turns south through the Quartz Flats rest area, located from the Idaho border. providing access to the Garnet Range on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. The highway passes north of Lolo National Forest while headed easterly. The highway continues through northern Granite county, intersecting MT 1 before exiting the county entering Powell County. I-90 intersects S-272 after entering the county, which clips the eastern segment of Lolo National Forest, before the seasonal Gold Creek rest area is intersected. before intersecting S-275 and the county seat, Deer Lodge. Continuing south, I-90 exits Powell County at Racetrack. I-90 intersects the Columbus rest area, from the Idaho border, followed by Park City before exiting Stillwater County. Yellowstone and Big Horn counties US 212 becomes concurrent with I-90 just east of Laurel before entering the county seat of Billings. I-90 Business (I-90 Bus.) passes into town as the main freeway travels south of Billings and bisects Billings Heights and Lockwood intersecting MT 3 and US 87, which joins the I-90/US 212 concurrency. On the extreme eastern end of Billings, the three highways intersect the western terminus of I-94, which heads northeast toward North Dakota, while I-90 turns southeast into Big Horn County. Immediately after entering Big Horn County, the three highways pass the seasonal Hardin rest area. Entering Hardin, the county seat, the three highways intersect S-313 and MT 47. S-313 provides access to Yellowtail Dam, while MT 47 connects back to I-94. After exiting Hardin, I-90 turns south, entering the Crow Indian Reservation and intersects S-384, before reaching Crow Agency. Crow Agency is home to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and Reno–Benteen Battlefield Memorial, which are passed after US 212 departs to the east. Continuing south, I-90/US 87 parallels S-451 and the Little Bighorn River, passing by Garryowen, Benteen, Lodge Grass, and Wyola before exiting the state of Montana and entering Sheridan County, Wyoming. == History ==
History
I-90 replaced US 10 between Livingston and the Idaho border, and, before that, the Yellowstone Trail. Some sections of the highway follow the historic Mullan Road, a military road constructed from 1859 to 1862 between Fort Walla Walla in modern-day Washington and Fort Benton in Montana. The section over Homestake Pass cost $18.5 million (equivalent to $ in ) to construct and was completed on October 30, 1966. The final two-lane section of the highway, near Springdale, was expanded to four lanes in May 1987. Until 1995 in Montana near the Idaho border, I-90 was not a divided highway for a few stretches, having only a narrow paved median. From 1995 until 1999, the daytime maximum speed limit in Montana was "reasonable and prudent". , the daytime and nighttime speed limits on Interstate Highways are for cars and light trucks and for heavy trucks, except within urban areas, where the maximum speed limit is for all vehicles, day or night. The western have a lower speed limit, as well as the Missoula and Butte urban areas. In 1996, a section of I-90 was closed for 19 days due to a train derailment and chlorine spill near Alberton. Expansion of the Billings area corridor The 2012 Billings area I-90 corridor planning study recommends many improvements to the corridor from Laurel through Lockwood, including construction of new east and westbound bridges over the Yellowstone River, with each bridge having three to four traffic lanes. Also recommended are construction of additional eastbound and westbound traffic lanes from Shiloh to Johnson Lane and reconstruction and widening of many of the bridges, interchanges and on/offramps along the corridor at an estimated cost of $114 million. == Exit list ==
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