Ohio Turnpike
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Current revision Lar (Talk | contribs) add Image:Ohio Turnpike Service Area Dscn7189.jpg and service area info |
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The Ohio Turnpike (officially the James W. Shocknessy Ohio Turnpike) is a publicly-built toll east-west expressway across northern Ohio. It enters Ohio at the Pennsylvania state line near Petersburg, Ohio, feeding to and from the Pennsylvania Turnpike and at the Indiana state line, feeding to and from the Indiana Toll Road near Columbia, Ohio. To the west it leads toward South Bend, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois; to the east it leads toward Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and points in the middle-Atlantic states. It passes such large cities as Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown.
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History and routing
The Turnpike was built during the 1950s by the Ohio Turnpike Commission which continues to own and operate it. The portion east of the Ohio State Highway 18 exit (near the present-day Interstate 76/Interstate 80 exit) was opened December 1, 1954, and the remaining portion to the west was opened October 1, 1955. Tolls, collected at interchanges and near the state line by ticket upon leaving the Turnpike, financed the cost of original construction and debt service and now maintenance and renovation projects. All of it is incorporated into the Interstate Highway System as Interstate 80 and Interstate 90 west of Greater Cleveland, Interstate 80 south of Cleveland and north of Akron, and Interstate 76 between the junction of Interstates 76 and 80 west of Youngstown and the Pennsylvania state line. It was built as a long-distance route, and nowhere as an urban highway; it in fact skirts the large cities along its path, probably as cost-containment. It should be noted that the Ohio Turnpike actually enters within the city limits of a number of cities along its route--notably, Toledo, Elyria, and several cities in the Southern portion of Cuyahoga County. However, unlike other Interstates in Ohio and most other states, the Ohio Turnpike does not include any city limit signs. However, it does note county boundaries, although in a different format than is used elsewhere in Ohio by signing such boundaries as "(Name of County) CO LINE".
Image:Ohio Turnpike Service Area Dscn7189.jpg
Service Areas
Like many other tolled interstates, the Ohio Turnpike has had service areas since its inception, with food and fuel as well as bathrooms, rather than rest areas with just bathrooms. Since exit and entry points are relatively few, and exiting/reentring is time consuming compared to a freeway, these areas have a captive audience. The Turnpike Commission has recently modernised many of them, and most areas have 2 or 3 different well known fast food chains, and possibly a sit down restaurant, as well as a gift shop, information counter, and bathroom facilities inside, and a large fueling area for passenger and cargo vehicles. Chains, and gasoline brands, vary from one area to the next.
Access points
It had relatively few access points (17) when built, but in recent years more have been added. Some of those access points, new and old, include Interstate 75 and Interstate 280 near Toledo and serving also southeastern Michigan; Interstate 90, Interstate 71, and Interstate 480, serving Cleveland; Interstate 77 and Ohio State Highway 8, serving Cleveland, Akron, and Canton; Interstate 76 and 80, which switch highways, serving Akron to the west and Youngstown to the east, and Interstate 680, leading to and from Youngstown.
In 1998, the turnpike commission began phasing in the marking of exits by milepost. The old exit numbering system was phased out within four years.
The segment between the Indiana state line and Cleveland is part of (with the Indiana Toll Road) what John Steinbeck called "US 80/90" (by mistake). It's low, flat, and with few curves, with little scenic attraction. East of Cleveland it enters more hilly terrain that becomes characteristic of western Pennsylvania.
The 'toll booth' scene in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which supposedly occurred at the western end of the toll road, is not a genuine portrayal of the toll road.
Shunpiking the Ohio Turnpike
It is possible to avoid the Ohio Turnpike, particularly the Toledo to Cleveland section. Traveling eastbound, exit at I-75/OH 795, follow 795 to I-280. Take I-280 North to OH-2. OH-2 parallels the turnpike the entire distance between Toledo and the junction with I-90 in Elyria. OH-2 is a complete freeway most of the entire distance, starting just west of Port Clinton. This bypass is most commonly used by Michiganders going to Cleveland and Sandusky, as it is the most direct route (I-75 to I-280 to OH-2). Also, many view this route to be more enjoyable, as there is more scenery (for instance, the nuclear power plant east of Toledo and the Sandusky River and Sandusky Bay bridges west of Sandusky) and signage along OH-2 than I-80/90.
Upon reaching Elyria, one can return to the Turnpike before the I-90 junction via OH-57.