Ohio Turnpike

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Ohio Turnpike
Length:	241.26 mi (388.3 km)
Formed:	October 1955
West end:	I-80/90/Indiana Toll Road at the Ohio-Indiana state line
Major junctions:	US 20 near Toledo I-75 near Toledo US 250 near Norwalk/Sandusky I-90 near Lorain I-480 near North Ridgeville I-71/US 42 near Cleveland I-77 near Akron I-480 near Streetsboro. I-76/I-80 near Youngstown
East end:	I-76/Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line.

The westbound Ohio Turnpike

The Ohio Turnpike (officially the James W. Shocknessy Ohio Turnpike) is a publicly-built toll east-west expressway across northern Ohio. It is a part of the New York-Chicago Toll Road system, and passes near Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown.

From the east, it enters Ohio at the Pennsylvania state line near Petersburg, Ohio, feeding to and from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. From the west, it enters Ohio 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.

Tolls are based upon the distance traveled, along with the type, and weight of vehicle driven. As of January 1, 2007, the toll for a typical non-commercial passenger vehicle to travel the entire distance of the turnpike is $10.25.[1]

[edit] Route numbers

The entire Ohio Turnpike is part of the U.S. Interstate Highway System. The turnpike is signed with the following route numbers:

• Interstate 76. Interstate 76 joins the turnpike at the Niles/Youngstown exit, number 218, and continues to the turnpike's eastern terminus at the Pennsylvania state line.

• Interstate 80. Interstate 80 joins the turnpike at the turnpike's western terminus at the Indiana state line, and continues east to the Niles/Youngstown exit, number 218.

• Interstate 90. Interstate 90 joins the turnpike at the turnpike's western terminus at the Indiana state line, and continues east to the Lorain County West exit, number 142.

[edit] History

The Ohio Turnpike was built during the 1950s by the Ohio Turnpike Commission which continues to own and operate it. On December 1, 1954, the first 22-mile stretch, the portion lying east of State Route 18 opened near the present-day exit 218 for Interstate 76/Interstate 80. Throngs of motorists attended a dedication ceremony that snowy Wednesday, with over 1,000 people joining a caravan, following a snow plow and an Ohio State Highway Patrol cruiser, to become among the first to drive on the new highway. The remaining section from exit 218 west to Indiana opened October 1, 1955.[2]

When it opened in 1955, the turnpike offered 17 access points. Since then, more access points have been provided, bringing the total number to 31. [3]

In 1998, the Ohio Turnpike Commission began phasing in the marking of exits by mile-marker. The old exit numbering system was phased out in September, 2002.

[edit] Service Plazas

Typical modernized service plaza

Like many other toll roads, the Ohio Turnpike has had service plazas since its inception. Although typical freeway rest areas offer restrooms and picnic areas; service plazas differ from typical freeway rest areas, in that they also offer other amenities, such as 24-hour food and fuel service.

Beginning in 1998, The Ohio Turnpike Commission began modernizing its service plazas by demolishing the original plazas, then reconstructing them from the ground-up. Besides modern restrooms, the new service plazas offer 2 or 3 different well known fast food choices (which vary between the plazas), and most offer a family-style sit-down restaurant. They also include ATMs, gift shops, travel information counters, Wi-Fi internet access, and facilities for truck drivers including shower facilities, lounge, and laundry areas. A fueling station is provided at each plaza. Facilities for overnight RV campers are provided at the service plazas located at mile-markers 76, 139, and 197.[4]

Service plazas are located in pairs (one for each side of the turnpike) near the following mile-markers: 49, 76, 100, 139, 170, 197, and 237. Presently, the service plazas located at mile-markers 49, and 237 haven't been modernized, and thus utilize the original buildings that opened with the turnpike in the 1950's.

The service plazas located west of Toledo (Mile-markers 20, and 49) are the least utilized along the turnpike. At some time in the future, the Ohio Turnpike Commission envisions the eventual demolition of the service plazas that are presently located at mile-marker 49, and building new service plazas between mile-markers 20 and 49.[5][6]

Due to the lack of a municipal water/sewer system, the service plazas located near mile-marker 20 were permanently demolished in early 2006. [7] [8]

Standard Ohio Turnpike ticket, in this case for a Class 1 vehicle (two-axle car without trailer) entering at Exit 218

[edit] Law enforcement

Since the turnpike opened, the Ohio Turnpike Commission has contracted with the Ohio State Highway Patrol (District 10), to provide law enforcement, and assistance to disabled or stranded motorists. They are the only law enforcement agency with jurisdiction on the turnpike. The patrol also monitors Citizen's Band channel 9 for distress calls.

[edit] Truck speed limit

In September 2004, the speed limit for heavy trucks was raised to 65 mph (105 km/h), creating a uniform speed limit for all traffic. For years, trucks had avoided the turnpike due to large toll increases in the 1990s, and because they could travel for free at the same speed on parallel highways such as State Route 2 and US 20. Truck traffic clogged the downtown shopping areas of such US 20 towns as Bellevue, Clyde, and Fremont, essentially driving away customers who didn't want to deal with the truck traffic; shopkeepers begged the state for relief for years.

Eventually, with some prodding by Governor Bob Taft, the Ohio Turnpike Commission lowered truck tolls and implemented the uniform 65-mph speed limit on September 8, 2004.[9] Truck traffic levels have been estimated to be 20% higher on the turnpike since these changes were made. The turnpike's 65-mph truck speed limit is unique in Ohio, as a 55-mph statutory speed limit applies to trucks on every other highway in the state.

[edit] Proposed leasing

Ken Blackwell, the defeated candidate in the 2006 Ohio governor's race, had a plan for privatizing the turnpike, similar to plans enacted in Illinois and Indiana.[10][11][12][13] Any plans for privatizing the Ohio Turnpike will need to be re-started, if at all, under a later administration.

[edit] E-ZPass

The Ohio Turnpike Commission has been hesitant to deploy an electronic tolling system; citing an apparent lack of commuter travel, as well as extensive implementation expenses. In December of 2006, the Commission indicated their intention to move forward with the implementation of an E-ZPass compatible system as a "customer convenience". [14] The system is expected to be fully functional by 2009.

[edit] Exit list

The following list shows the connecting routes at each exit, along with the interchange name (in bold blue lettering) at each exit as determined by the Ohio Turnpike Commission. [15]

The exit list of this U.S. road-related article needs to be cleaned up to conform to the exit list guide. After the exit list has been cleaned up, you may remove this message. For help, see How to Edit a Page, Category:Wikipedia help and the exit list guide.

Number			Destinations	Notes
Exit #	Old	Milepost
		0.0	Indiana state line. Becomes the Indiana Toll Road.
		2.2	State Route 49.	Non-tolled diamond interchange. [1]
2	1	2.7	Westgate Toll Barrier.
13	2	13.5	State Route 15. Bryan, Montpelier.
25	2A	25.6	State Route 66. Archbold, Fayette.
34	3	34.9	State Route 108. Wauseon.
39	3B	39.8	State Route 109. Delta, Lyons.
		49.0	Service Plaza.
52	3A	52.6	State Route 2. Toledo Airport, Swanton.
59	4	59.5	US 20. Maumee, Toledo.	Indirectly links to Interstate 475, US 23.
64	4A	64.9	Interstate 75. Perrysburg, Toledo.
71	5	71.7	Interstate 280. State Route 420. Stony Ridge, Toledo.
		76.9	Service Plaza.
81	5A	81.8	State Route 51. Elmore, Woodville, Gibsonburg.
91	6	91.6	State Route 53. Fremont, Port Clinton.
		100.0	Service Plaza.
110	6A	110.2	State Route 4. Sandusky, Bellevue.
118	7	118.5	US 250. Sandusky, Norwalk.
135	7A	135.9	Baumhart Road. Vermilion.
		139.5	Service Plaza.
140	7B[2]	140.6	State Route 58. Amherst, Oberlin.
142	8A	142.8	Interstate 90. State Route 2. Lorain County West.	Partial exit Interstate 90 exits eastbound, enters westbound.
145	8	145.5	State Route 57. Lorain, Elyria.
151	9A	151.8	Interstate 480. North Ridgeville, Cleveland.	Partial exit. Interstate 480 exits eastbound, enters westbound.
152	9	152.2	State Route 10. North Olmsted, Cleveland.
161	10	161.8	Interstate 71. US 42. Strongsville, Cleveland.
		170.1	Service Plaza.
173	11	173.2	Interstate 77. State Route 21. Cleveland.
180	12	180.3	State Route 8. Akron.
187	13	187.2	Interstate 480. State Route 14. Streetsboro.
193	13A	193.9	State Route 44. Ravenna.
		197.0	Service Plaza.
209	14	209.2	State Route 5. Warren.
215	14A	215.0	Ellsworth-Bailey Road. Lordstown West.	Partial Exit. Eastbound exit. Westbound entrance.
216	14B	216.4	Hallock-Young Road. Lordstown East.	Partial Exit. Westbound exit. Eastbound entrance.
218	15	218.7	Interstate 76, Interstate 80. County Road 18. Niles, Youngstown.	Interstate 76 exits westbound, enters eastbound. Interstate 80 exits eastbound, enters westbound.
232	16	232.9	State Route 7. Youngstown.
234	16A	234.1	Interstate 680. Youngstown, Poland.	Partial Exit. Westbound exit. Eastbound entrance.
		237.2	Service Plaza.
239	17	239.0	Eastgate Toll Barrier.
		241.3	Pennsylvania state line. Becomes the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

1. ^ Traffic entering eastbound accesses The Ohio Turnpike; westbound traffic crosses into Indiana and accesses The Indiana Toll Road.
2. ^ Exit 140 was known as exit 7B internally, and on some maps. It opened on 11/30/2004 after the switch from number based to mile-marker based exits in September, 2002.

[edit] See Also

• Interstate 80 in Ohio

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ohio Turnpike

• Ohio Turnpike Commission