Ohio State Route 8

State Route 8
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length:	38.37 mi[1] (61.75 km)
Existed:	1924 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-76/I-77 in Akron
	I-80/OH Tpk. in Boston Heights I-271 in Macedonia I-77 in Cleveland
North end:	US 6/US 20/US 42/US 322/SR 3 in Cleveland
Location
Counties:	Summit, Cuyahoga
Highway system
Ohio highways Interstates • U.S. Routes • State Routes ← SR 7 SR 9 →

State Route 8 (SR 8) is a road in the U.S. state of Ohio. SR 8 stretches from the eastern junction of I-76 and I-77 in Akron to Public Square in Cleveland. The route's first few miles are as a limited-access freeway from I-76 and I-77, heading north. The freeway section of the highway has 16 interchanges, and is cosigned with SR 59 for a short distance from Perkins Avenue in Akron to Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls. The freeway portion ends at I-271 in Macedonia.

Route description

SR 8 begins at an interchange with I-76 and I-77 just southeast of Akron's central business district. The Akron Expressway, as the freeway is known within the city limits, heads up the east side of Akron. SR 8's first interchange is the main access to the central business district and the University of Akron. Just before leaving the center of Akron, an interchange with Perkins Street begins a concurrency with SR 59. The road continues over a viaduct, crossing over several railroads and the Little Cuyahoga River before continuing to the north side of Akron. Between exits 3C and 4, SR 8/59 cross into Cuyahoga Falls. Those two exits connect with the same stretch of road, but they have different names and are on different sides of the city limit.

The freeway continues north through Cuyahoga Falls, parallel to the Cuyahoga River proper; the freeway crosses the river just before exit 6. SR 59 leaves the freeway at exit 6 to head east toward Kent. SR 8, which until now has been heading slightly northeast, turns to the north and northwest after exit 6, interchanging with Graham Road in the process. The road continues through a relatively rural area on the eastern edge of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Exits 10, 12, and 14A-B are normally only used as a connection to Hudson or Blossom Music Center and other points in the national park, as their immediate areas are sparsely populated and underdeveloped. Once it passes the Ohio Turnpike, SR 8 continues through a wooded area. Its last exit is with I-271, after which it suddenly enters Cleveland's southeastern suburbs.

Now known as Northfield Road, SR 8 continues parallel to I-271, intersecting SR 82, SR 14, and SR 17. Following its intersection with SR 17, SR 8 enters a brief concurrency with SR 43, during which it intersects I-480. SR 43 splits off, and SR 8 continues northward before joining US 422 and turning to the west. The new road is briefly known as Chagrin Boulevard before becoming Kinsman Road. SR 8/US 422 continues to the northwest through the immediate Cleveland area; during its approach to downtown Cleveland, SR 87 joins the concurrency, followed by an interchange with I-77.

For its final mile, SR 8/SR 87/US 422 picks up a concurrency of SR 14/SR 43, after which the road becomes known as Ontario Street and turns toward Public Square, the northern terminus of SR 8. SR 8's northern terminus is shared with seven other roads: SR 3, SR 14, SR 43, SR 87, US 42, US 322 and US 422.

History

SR 8 was one of the original state highways in Ohio. It went from Marietta all the way to Cleveland. Over time, though, parts of the route were renumbered or reassigned, especially in the part south of Akron. In 1926 the portion from Marietta to Newcomerstown became U.S. Route 21. The same year the section from Newcomerstown to Uhrichsville became State Route 16 and SR 8 was rerouted from the Ohio River town of Fly to Uhrichsville. In 1969, the section from Fly to Canton was renumbered to State Route 800, the portion from Canton to Akron was deleted, and the southern end of the highway was truncated at Akron, at U.S. Route 224.^[2]

The SR 8B freeway, as it appeared on the 1964 Ohio highway map.

By 1962, the Route 8B freeway was built in Akron. It became mainline SR 8 in 1969 north of Market Street, and in its entirety by 1971.^[2] A section of freeway between Front Street (SR 59) and Graham Road in Cuyahoga Falls and Stow opened by 1972, with the connecting section opening in 1974. The freeway carried only the SR 59 designation between Tallmadge Avenue in Akron and Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls and had no posted number north of there until 1983, when the SR 8 designation was transferred to the freeway. ^[2] The final section of freeway opened on May 20, 1988,^[3] reaching State Route 303.

SR 8 from Interstate 77 to Perkins Street was rebuilt from 2003 to 2005. The freeway in that stretch previously had onramps and offramps built closely together, creating the danger of weaving traffic. Several ramps were removed and service roads were built on both sides of the freeway.^[4]

Route 8 from SR 303 north to Interstate 271 was converted to a full freeway without at-grade intersections between 2008 and 2010.^[5][6][7] The ramp between State Route 8 northbound and I-271 northbound opened July 24, 2009,^[8] and the opposite ramp opened on September 4.^[9] The new Turnpike interchange opened in December 2010, well ahead of the projected date of fall 2011.

A new interchange was recently opened at Seasons Road to serve the area near the borders of Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, and Hudson.^[10][11] Although the interchange was completed on January 25, 2010, it was not initially scheduled to open until one month later, on February 26, when an official ribbon-cutting could take place. Two weeks before the scheduled opening, an editorial in the Akron Beacon Journal lambasted the ribbon-cutting, calling the ceremony a mere "photo op", and questioning why a finished project should sit unused for 31 days. On February 21, the government of Stow, which had been responsible for holding the ceremony, announced the interchange would open in the morning of the next day without a ribbon-cutting.^[12][13][14]

Major intersections

Limited-access segment

The list goes from south to north; entries in the # and Destinations columns reflect signage as seen by northbound traffic. Differences with southbound signage are noted in the Notes column.

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Begin limited-access segment; southern terminus of
Summit	Akron	0.00		I-76 / I-77 – Canton, Youngstown, Barberton	Southern terminus.
		1.16	1A	To SR 18 (Market St.) / Buchtel Ave. / Carroll Ave. / Exchange St.
		1.75	1B	SR 59 west (Perkins St.)	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 59.
		2.73	3A	E. Glenwood Ave.	This exit is not accessible from southbound SR 8, nor can traffic enter to northbound SR 8.
		3.05	3B	SR 261 (E. Tallmadge Ave.)	Signed as exit 3 for southbound traffic, since exits 3A and 3C are not accessible.
		3.96	3C	Cuyahoga Falls Ave.	This exit is not accessible from southbound SR 8, nor can traffic enter to northbound SR 8. The actual exit is to Gorge Blvd., although signs guide travelers from the exit to Cuyahoga Falls Ave.
	Cuyahoga Falls	4.41	4	Howe Ave.	For southbound traffic, this exit is signed for both Howe Ave. and Cuyahoga Falls Ave., since exit 3C is not accessible.
		5.47	5A	Broad Blvd.	Signed as exit 5 for southbound traffic, since exit 5B is not accessible.
		5.66	5B	N. Portage Trail	This exit is not accessible from southbound SR 8, nor can traffic enter to northbound SR 8.
		6.11	6	SR 59 east (Front St.) / Second St. – Kent	Southbound traffic exits to Second St. Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 59.
	Stow	7.68	7	Graham Road – Stow, Silver Lake
		9.11	9	Steels Corners Rd.
			10	Seasons Rd.	Opened February 22, 2010.[12]
	Boston Hts.	12.72	12	SR 303 (W. Streetsboro Rd.) – Hudson, Peninsula
			14A	Boston Mills Rd. / Hines Hill Rd.	Interchange reconstructed and reopened December, 2010.
			14B	I-80 / Ohio Tpk. – Toledo, Youngstown
	Macedonia	17.98	17	I-271 – Columbus, Erie PA
End limited-access segment
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

At-grade segment

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Summit	Macedonia	18.68	SR 82 (East Aurora Road)
Cuyahoga	Bedford	21.02	SR 14 (Broadway Avenue)
	Bedford Heights	23.34	SR 17 (Libby Road)
		23.72	SR 43	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 43.
		23.76/23.82(N)	I-480	Junction with I-480 and I-480N.
	North Randall	24.01	SR 43	Northern terminus of concurrency with SR 43.
	Shaker Heights	26.80	US 422 (Chagrin Boulevard)	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 422.
	Cleveland	35.95	SR 87 (Woodland Avenue)	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 87.
		36.81	I-77
		37.46	SR 14, SR 43 (Broadway Avenue)	Southern terminus of concurrency with SR 14 and a second concurrency with SR 43.
		37.79	SR 10 (Carnegie Avenue)
		38.37	US 6, US 42, SR 3 (Superior Avenue) US 20 (Euclid Avenue)	Northern terminus of SR 8. Northern terminus of concurrencies with US 422, SR 14, SR 43, and SR 87.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

|- |colspan=5 align=center bgcolor="#f2f2f2"|1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. ^ Mileages retrieved from Technical Services Straight Line Diagrams unless otherwise noted.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Official Transportation Map archive, Ohio Department of Transportation
3. ^ Rhoden, Yalinda (1988-05-21). "Excited Drivers Hit the Open Road". Akron Beacon Journal. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=0EB628E6D98B7D58&p_docnum=13&p_queryname=2. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
4. ^ "State Route 8 Update News Letter". Ohio Department of Transportation District 4. Archived from the original on 2004-06-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20040605071731/roadwise.org/default.asp?VIEW=PROJECT&PROJECT=SR8CENTRALAKRON. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
5. ^ State Route 8 Connection. Ohio Department of Transportation District 4.
6. ^ Boston Heights (2004) – Ohio Route 8 Upgrade Project Planned through Boston Heights, Northfield Center Township, and Macedonia, retrieved January 31, 2005.
7. ^ "State Route 8 Corridor". Ohio Department of Transportation. pp. 28. http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D04/Documents/SR%208%20corridor.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
8. ^ Armon, Rick (2009-07-30). "New Route 8 Ramp Eases Congestion". Akron Beacon Journal. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=NewsBank&p_text_direct-0=document_id=(%20129CAF791B1194A8%20)&p_docid=129CAF791B1194A8&p_theme=aggregated5&p_queryname=129CAF791B1194A8&f_openurl=yes&p_nbid=T6DA5FFVMTI1Mzc0NTkyNC40MTcwNjk6MToxMjoxOTguMzAuMjI4LjA&&p_multi=ABJB. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 
9. ^ "I-271 Southbound Ramp to SR-8 southbound is now OPEN". State Route 8 Connection, Ohio Department of Transportation District 4, 2009-09-04.
10. ^ "Seasons Road Interchange". State Route 8 Connection, Ohio Department of Transportation District 4.
11. ^ LaTourette secures millions in funding for local road projects in six-year highway and transit bill, retrieved February 1, 2005.
12. ^ ^{a b} McKenna, Marsha (22 February 2010). "Interchange to open amid controversy". Stow Sentry. http://www.stowsentry.com/news/article/4773169. Retrieved 27 February 2010. 
13. ^ Dyer, Bob (February 12, 2010). "Photo op creates roadblock". Akron Beacon Journal. http://www.ohio.com/news/84206507.html. Retrieved 3 March 2010. 
14. ^ Freeman, Laura (February 24, 2010). "New Route 8 exit opens for traffic". Hudson Hub-Times. http://www.hudsonhubtimes.com/news/article/4775559. Retrieved 3 March 2010. 

External links

• State Route 8 Endpoint Photos
• District4Sight: Akron-area project overview