Skip to main content

Great Lakes Road Trip Day 10 Part 2; Indiana Toll Road, dunes, and the Ohio Turnpike

By
For most part my route from Chicago had me sticking to I-80/I-90 through to the Cleveland area.  The Indiana Toll Road picks up I-80 in Lake Station but I turned off it onto I-94 given I was headed to the Indiana Dunes.  I thought it was interesting to see no tollbooth attendants and credit card readers in their place.


I-94 basically is a disaster zone with traffic shifted all over the place and 55 MPH speed limits.  Exiting I-90 I had to detour onto Ripley Street just to get to eastbound I-94.  Thankfully I wasn't on I-94 for very long before I got off on US 20 to head towards the Indiana Dunes.


I took IN 49 up to the Indiana Dunes which had a weird older style state route shield on a modern blank.  My understanding is that it has been in place for a good 5-6 years and I can't find a conclusive answer as to why it has retro styling.



The Indiana Dunes are both a National Seashore and a state park.  I stopped in the state park portion to climb the Devil's Slide.  I never had actually stopped at the Indiana Dunes to visit when I was traveling the area, I thought it was worth a quick look.







I attempted to use IN 39 to return to the Indiana Toll Road but the eastbound ramp was closed and I didn't want to take the detour.  I used US 20 and US 31 near South Bend to rejoin the Toll Road.





I took the Indiana Toll Road  east through the state to the Ohio Turnpike.  





Construction the Ohio Turnpike was heavy and the highway patrol was enforcing the 50 MPH despite no work going on.  Really it felt like the Turnpike ought to be 75-80 MPH east to the Cleveland area.  I made the mistake of stopping for food at a plaza which had a good twenty five people deep line, first time I've had Hardee's since the 1980s.  I left the Turnpike at I-71 and took it down to OH 18 for the night. 




Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
Wow! beach and coastal scenic views along the Great Ocean Road, taken by you are awesome. It shows that you enjoyed a lot.
Visit:Great Ocean Road Day Tours
12:13 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

By
When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...
Post a Comment
Read more