There is little point in being generous with direct routes on paper (in the IFPS system) if they are not provided or not suitable in reality.
The point remains that if your get an ACK for your flight plan then it meets the requirements of ATC and if no CTOT then there should not be any serious delay in providing what you asked to do.
To add to the point, the LOREL 2M arrival specifically provides for flights at FL80 or below.
Not a good situation to design a STAR for a level that puts aircraft on that STAR straight into the teeth of departures and mucks up standing agreements.
I wonder what the delay would have been if you were unable to accept FL90 on the day or what would happen with a Radio Failure situation?
Regards,
DFC