Interstate 280 is a 12.41-mile auxiliary Interstate located in the Toledo area of northwest Ohio. The corridor was originally developed as part of Ohio State Route 120 prior to the establishment of the Interstate Highway System in 1956. The corridor was briefly planned as the northern end of Interstate 77 and was renumbered to Interstate 280 in 1958. The highway was made functional between the Ohio Turnpike north to Interstate 75 via Robert Craig Memorial Bridge at the Maumee River in 1959 but contained numerous at-grade crossings. The final surface crossings were removed by 1990, and the highway was shifted to the Veterans' Glass City Skyway over the Maumee River in 2007.
Part 1; the history of Interstate 280
Ohio State Route 120 was commissioned during 1940 as a then new highway from the Michigan State line at M-120 near Morenci. The highway replaced what had been Ohio State Route 568 east to Sylvania. East from Sylvania the new highway replaced a segment Ohio State Route 263 to reach US Route 20. The highway passed through Toledo and crossed the Maumee River multiplexing US Route 20 Business (also commissioned in 1940) onwards to a terminus at US Route 20 near Gibsonburg Junction. The segment through Toledo to Gibsonburg Junction had been previously Ohio State Route 102. It is unclear if US Route 20 Business had been designated with the blessing of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) as no application appears in their database.
Ohio State Route 120 can be seen passing through northwest Ohio and the Toledo area on the 1944 State Farm Road Map of Ohio.
The multiplex of US Route 20 Business and Ohio State Route 120 through Toledo are displayed in detail on the 1948 Rand McNally map of Toledo. Both highways are shown splitting from mainline US Route 20 west of the Toledo city limit along eastbound Central Avenue. The multiplex is shown following Cherry Street and Main Street over the Maumee River. East of the river the multiplex is shown following Broadway and Woodville Street.
The Detroit-Toledo Expressway between US Route 20 near Lemoyne north to the then newly designated Ohio State Route 51 would open as a realignment of Ohio State Route 120 in 1955. The then new Ohio State Route 51 replaced what had been Ohio State Route 120 and US Route 20 Business east to Gibsonburg Junction. US Route 20 Business appears to have been deleted without an AASHO application as no entry appears in their database.
The new alignment of Ohio State Route 120 to US Route 20 near Lemoyne appears on the 1956 Shell Oil Company Map of Ohio. The new alignment is shown to directly connect with the Ohio Turnpike southeast of Toledo.
Following the passage of the 1956 Federal Highway Aid Act plans for the Detroit Toldeo Expressway would be incorporated into the Interstate Highway System. By 1957 the corridor was extended north from Ohio State Route 51 over the Maumee River to Summit Street. The then new highway was originally carried over the Maumee River by the Robert Craig Memorial Bridge. Said structure broke ground in 1956 and is a four lane, double leaf bascule design.
The Detroit-Toledo Expressway from the Ohio Turnpike north to Interstate 75 first appears numbered as Interstate 280 in a State of Ohio Department of Highways numbering proposal letter to AASHO dated August 8, 1958. The corridor is noted to have been originally planned as a segment of Interstate 77. Interstate 77 was originally intended to be carried west from the Cleveland area west which included multiplexes of Interstates 80N, Interstate 80 and Interstate 90. Interstate 77 was proposed in the same letter to be realigned into Cleveland onto what was planned as Interstate 177.
The AASHO Executive Committee advised the State of Ohio Department of Highways that their renumbering proposal was approved in a letter dated November 10, 1958. This measure functionally made the corridor of Interstate 280 active in the Toledo area active.
In 1959 the corridor of Interstate 280 reached Interstate 75 north of downtown Toledo. Despite being opened as a functional highway corridor it had numerous at-grade crossings east of the Maumee River. The completed Interstate 280 can be seen on the 1965 United States Geological Survey maps of Toledo, Oregon and Wallbridge. The corridor is displayed as being co-signed as Interstate 280 and Ohio State Route 120 south of Summit Street. In 1959 Ohio State Route 120 had been realigned from the intersection of Cherry Street and Summit Street east via the latter to Craig Bridge where it joined Interstate 280.
During 1969 the Deroit-Toledo Expressway south of the Ohio Turnpike would be renumbered as Ohio State Route 420. During the same year the corridor of Ohio State Route 120 would be truncated to Ohio State Route 65 in downtown Toledo at the intersection of Cherry Street and Summit Street. Also during the same year, the Union Road intersection on Interstate 280 had a traffic light installation.
During the 1970s numerous at-grade intersections on Interstate 280 would be closed off or converted to overpasses. Hanley Road and Latcha Road were bisected whereas Ayers Road in addition to Lemoyne Road were converted to overpasses. By the mid-1970s Curtice Road and Woodville Road were rebuilt as full interchanges. The final conversion to freeway standards along Interstate 280 was in place by 1990.
On June 24, 2007, Interstate 280 was shifted onto the Veterans' Glass City Skyway over the Maumee River. The structure is an 8,800-foot-long cable stayed span with a 130-foot clearance over the river. The Craig Bridge along with the obsolete draw span was repurposed as an extension of Ohio State Route 65.
Part 2; a drive on Interstate 280
Southbound Interstate 280 begins in the city of Toledo at Interstate 75 Exit 208.
Stickney Avenue and Lagrange Street can be accessed from the transition ramp as Interstate 280 begins.
Interstate 280 Exit 11 insects Ohio State Route 25 which is signed access to downtown Toledo.
Interstate 280 continues south over the Veterans' Glass City Skyway. Exit 9 is signed as access to Ohio State Route 65 and the Craig Bridge.
Interstate 280 Exit 8 accesses Starr Avenue.
Interstate 280 Exit 7 accesses Ohio State Route 2 and Oregon.
Southbound Interstate 280 Exits 6A and 6B permit access to Ohio State Route 51, Curtice Road and Woodville Road.
Interstate 280 Exit 4 permits access to Walbridge.
Southbound Interstate 280 Exit 2 accesses Ohio State Route 795.
Interstate 280 Exit 1A accesses the Ohio Turnpike whereas Exit 1B accesses Bahnsen Road. Interstate 280 ends at Exit 1A and the Detroit-Toledo Expressway continues as Ohio State Route 420 to US Routes 20 and 23.
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