Interstate 80 in Ohio

Template:Short description Template:Highway detail hatnote Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox road Interstate 80 (I-80) in the US state of Ohio runs across the northern part of the state. Most of the route is part of the Ohio Turnpike; only an stretch is not part of the toll road. That stretch of road is the feeder route to the Keystone Shortway, a shortcut through northern Pennsylvania that provides access to New York City.

Route description

File:Ohio Turnpike westbound.jpg

I-80 westbound Ohio Turnpike

In Ohio, I-80 enters with I-90 from the Indiana Toll Road and immediately becomes the Ohio Turnpike. The two Interstates cross rural northwest Ohio and run just south of the Toledo metropolitan area. In Rossford, the turnpike intersects with I-75 in an area known as the Crossroads of America.

In Elyria Township, Lorain County, just west of Cleveland, I-90 splits from I-80 (leaving the turnpike and running northeast as a freeway). I-80 runs east-southeast through the southern suburbs of Cleveland and retains the Ohio Turnpike designation. Just northwest of Youngstown, the Ohio Turnpike continues southeast onto I-76, while I-80 exits the turnpike and runs east to the north of Youngstown, entering Pennsylvania south of Sharon, Pennsylvania.

History

File:I80Cuyahoga.JPG

I-80 over the Cuyahoga River

I-80 was constructed as part of the Ohio Turnpike (with the exception of modern I-76 and I-480), the origins of which predate the establishment of the Interstate Highway System in 1956. The Ohio General Assembly created the Ohio Turnpike Commission in 1949, which was the first step in designing and constructing the east–west freeway. Construction began on October 27, 1952, and the freeway was completed on October 1, 1955 (a total of 38 months).

Although I-80 presently uses the Ohio Turnpike across most of the state, it was once planned to split between Norwalk and Edinburg Township, with I-80N passing through Cleveland and I-80S passing through Akron.

Auxiliary routes

	Interstate	City	Notes
File:I-280.svg	Interstate 280	Toledo	Connects the Ohio Turnpike to I-75
File:I-480.svg	Interstate 480	Cleveland	Connects the Ohio Turnpike to I-271 and Cleveland
File:I-480N.svg	Interstate 480N	Cleveland	Connects I-480 to I-271 north
File:I-680.svg	Interstate 680	Youngstown	Connects I-80 to the Ohio Turnpike (I-76)