Existed: 1956 – present Constructed 1956 | Length 382.2 km | |
 | ||
West end: I-80 / I-90 / Indiana Toll Road at Indiana state line East end: I-80 at Pennsylvania state line | ||
Interstate 80 (I-80) in the U.S. state of Ohio runs across the northern part of the state. Most of the route is part of the Ohio Turnpike, with only an 18.78-mile (30.22 km) stretch 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.
Contents
Route description
In Ohio, I-80 enters with I-90 from the Indiana Toll Road and immediately becomes the "James W. Shocknessy Ohio Turnpike", more commonly referred to as simply the Ohio Turnpike. The two Interstates cross rural northwest Ohio and run just south of the metropolitan area of Toledo. In Rossford, Ohio the turnpike intersects with I-75 in an area known as the Crossroads of America. This intersection is one of the largest intersections of three Interstate Highways in the United States.
In Elyria Township, 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
Interstate 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 state legislature 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, with Interstate 80N passing through Cleveland and Interstate 80S passing through Akron.