US 30 in Ohio

According to Toppharmacyschools, US 30 is a US Highway in the US state of Ohio. The road forms an important east-west connection in the middle of the state and has many 2×2 and highway routes. The route is 395 kilometers long.

Travel directions

The US 30 near Van Wert.

Western Ohio

US 30 in Indiana comes from Fort Wayne and is a major 2×2 divided highway. Also in western Ohio, US 30 has continuous 2×2 lanes, has bypasses in all places and has frequent grade separations. The road runs via Van Wert and Delphos to Beaverdam, where there is a connection to Interstate 75. Then follows more than 50 kilometers over the flat meadows to Upper Sandusky, where there is a wide bypass and a double numbering with the US 23 follows. East of Upper Sandusky, US 30 becomes a freeway bypassing Bucyrus, Galion, and Mansfield to Interstate 71.

Eastern Ohio

After I-71 the US 30 is again a 2×2 divided highway to the Massillon region. This part of Ohio has more vegetation and is more varied. US 30 forms a short freeway bypass of the town of Wooster. Just before the town of Massillon, US 30 becomes a freeway again, forming the southern bypass of Massillon and then a freeway through the town of Canton. In Canton one crosses the Interstate 77. The freeway ends abruptly on the east side of Canton, traffic must then continue on US 30 single-lane into the Ohio River valley. This area is more wooded and slightly hilly. The last stretch to East Liverpool coincides with State Route 11 and has been developed as a freeway. Through the Jennings Randolph Bridgecrosses the Ohio River and continues on US 30 in West Virginia to Pittsburgh.

History

US 30 / OH-11 north of East Liverpool.

US 30 was created in 1926 and largely followed the historic Lincoln Highway, an auto trail. Originally there was US 30N and US 30S through western Ohio, between Delphos and Mansfield, with US 30S running a little further south, via Lima and Marion. This situation existed between 1932 and 1974. The rest of the global route has not changed significantly since 1926. US 30 does not serve many major Ohio cities, such as Columbus or Cleveland, but does serve a number of other medium-sized cities such as Mansfield, Massillon, and Canton. As a result, much of the US 30 is at least a divided highway with 2×2 lanes dotted with freeway sections.

In 1897 the bridge over the Ohio River at East Liverpool opened to traffic, connecting Ohio to West Virginia. This bridge was replaced in 1977 by the Jennings Randolph Bridge, which is the largest Pratt Truss type truss bridge in North America.

The first 4-lane stretch was between Wooster and Canton, which was widened in phases between 1946 and 1952. In the mid-1940s, small sections of US 30 were also widened as an approach road from Mansfield. In 1966, the first stretch of 2×2 divided highway opened from Wooster to the west, toward I-71 at Mansfield. This is not a freeway but does have some grade separated intersections. In 1967, the extension opened westward to I-71. Around 1965, the Upper Sandusky bypass also opened, but mainly to traffic using US 23traffic on US 30 could not yet use it, which would take another 30 years until the western link between US 30 and the Upper Sandusky bypass opened in 1995. Around 1969, the 2×2 divided highway opened between the Indiana and Van Wert borders, which also included some grade separated intersections and also included the Van Wert bypass.

Around 1971 a fairly long stretch of 2×2 lanes opened to traffic between Delphos and Beaverdam, a distance of approximately 30 kilometres. An unusual connection to I-75 was realized at Beaverdam, in fact two exits next to each other. In 1979, the section between Van Wert and Delphos opened as a freeway, the only section of double-lane US 30 in western Ohio that is completely grade separated.

It took until 2004 before the section between Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus was widened to 2×2 lanes. This occurred on a new route south of the original US 30 and included a spacious interchange with US 23 on the east side of Upper Sandusky. Finally, the section between Beaverdam and Upper Sandusky was constructed as a 2×2 divided highway, largely over a new route. This opened to traffic in stages in 2006-2007, providing 2×2 lanes for nearly all of US 30 in Ohio. Only the part between Canton and West Point in the east of the state is still missing.

Bucyrus – Mansfield

A linked series of bypasses has been constructed as a freeway around Bucyrus, Ontario and Mansfield. In 1958, the first section of the Mansfield bypass opened to traffic for two miles, which was extended eastwards in 1959 to the then-construction I-71. The Bucyrus bypass opened to traffic circa 1971. Around 1979, the Ontario bypass opened to traffic. After that, it took another 25 years for the missing section between the Bucyrus bypass and the Ontario bypass to open. In 2005, the missing section along Galion opened to traffic.

Massillon – Canton

Traffic had to cut through the city of Massillon and through the center of the city of Canton. A southern bypass has been constructed as a freeway for this purpose. Around 1971 the first part of approximately 13 kilometers from Dalton to the south side of Massillon opened. In 1972, an approximately 9-kilometer extension to what was then US 62 opened in the southwest of the city of Canton. In 1978, a short extension of barely a mile opened to Harrison Avenue, just short of I-77. The missing link opened a year later, including an interchange with I-77. In 1981 a 2 mile extension opened to Waynesburg Drive. The last extension to Trump Avenue opened around 1985, clearly prepared for an extension further along East Canton, which was never built.

East Liverpool

Around 1964, the first three-mile stretch of freeway from US 30 opened on the north side of East Liverpool. This was the winding part through the narrow valley from Calcutta into the city. In 1967 a 4 kilometer extension opened to OH-7. Around 1971 this was extended 5 kilometers further to West Point, where US 30 joins the freeway, which consists of the rest of the OH-11. Supposedly in 1973, a short stretch of freeway opened in East Liverpool itself, running along the west side of the city to the bank of the Ohio River, where it joined OH-7 toward Steubenville. Presumably in 1977 the section opened along the center of East Liverpool to the new Jennings Randolph Bridge over the Ohio River into West Virginia.

Future

The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to extend US 30 east from Canton as a toll road to State Route 11 near Lisbon. This new toll road would be 58 kilometers long. This is the only portion of US 30 in the state of Ohio that has not yet been expanded with 2×2 lanes.