According to iamaccepted, US 23 is a US Highway in the US state of Ohio. The road forms a north-south route through the center of the state, from Portsmouth on the Kentucky border via the state capital Columbus to Toledo on the Michigan border. The road has largely been developed with 2×2 lanes, sometimes even as a motorway. The route is 385 kilometers long.

Travel directions

Southern Ohio

Near the town of Portsmouth, US 23 in Kentucky crosses the Ohio River from Huntington via the US Grant Bridge, and thus enters the state of Ohio. In the center of Portsmouth one crosses US 52, which follows the course of the Ohio from Cincinnati. The road then runs along the Scioto River in Scioto County to the north, with 2×2 lanes. The valley is quite wide, but the area is wooded and hilly. One then enters Pike County, and at Piketon one crosses SR-32, a 2×2 highway from Cincinnati to Jackson. Just before the town of Chillicothe, US 23 becomes a highway, and follows a short double numbering with US 35, the highway from Dayton. A little way north of Chillicothe, the highway ends again, and a 2×2 trunk road continues through Ross and Pickaway counties to Columbus. In Circleville you cross US 22, a main road from Cincinnati to Lancaster. Then the road continues along the Scioto River to the capital Columbus.

Columbus

One reaches the city of Columbus from the south, first crossing Interstate 270, the city’s ring road. The road then becomes a four-lane highway through the southern neighborhoods, and one crosses State Route 104, a short east-west highway in the south of the city. One then reaches the center of Columbus. First, one crosses Interstate 70, which is sunken, and runs from Indianapolis towards Wheeling. In downtown Columbus you cross a number of US Highways, US 33, US 40 and US 62. On the north side of the center there is a connection with Interstate 670, an east-west highway through the city. The road then splits into two one-way streets, Summit Street and 4th Street. Later, both roads rejoin, and US 23 continues on Indianola Avenue, parallel to Interstate 71, which runs to Cleveland. In the north of the city you cross Interstate 270 again, leaving the Columbus metropolitan area.

Northern Ohio

The I-475/US 23 fork on the northwest side of Toledo.

North of Columbus, US 23 is a 2×2 highway through Delaware County to the town of the same name. The road runs as a grade-separated highway through Delaware, where it intersects US 36 and US 42. This is followed by a 2×2 level section until Waldo in Marion County, after which the road becomes a highway for 25 kilometers, passing the town of Marion. It then enters Wyandot County, and the road forms a bypass around Upper Sandusky. It crosses US 30, which comes from Lima, and runs as a 2×2 highway to Mansfield in the east. Just north of Upper Sandusky, US 23 turns north and continues on 2×2 SR-15 to Findlay. US 23 is then a single-lane highway, through Seneca County, where it intersects a number of east-west routes, such as theUS 224, which runs from Findlay to Tiffin and Akron. The road then runs exactly over the county line between Wood and Sandusky counties. BRadner crosses US 6, an east-west route from Bowling Green toward Sandusky. The road then turns northwest, merging with US 20, the road from Toledo to Cleveland, parallel to the Ohio Turnpike.

It connects to Interstate 280, for through traffic to Detroit. US 20 and US 23 are double-numbered to Perrysburg, a southern suburb of Toledo. Here, US 23 continues over Interstate 75 and Interstate 475 around the city. There is no direct connection with the Ohio Turnpike. It then crosses US 20 again in the north of Toledo, after which I-475 turns east towards Detroit, and US 23 continues as a highway to the north. Soon after they reach the border with Michigan, after which the US 23 in Michiganas highway continues to Ann Arbor and Flint.

History

According to ACRONYMMONSTER, US 23 was created in 1926 and followed old turnpikes. The southern terminus at the time was US 52 in Portsmouth, on the border with Kentucky. In 1929 the route was extended into Kentucky.

The Ohio River Bridge in Portsmouth opened to traffic in 1927 and was a suspension bridge. This was replaced in 2006 by the current US Grant Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge. In 1988, the Carl Perkins Bridge opened slightly to the west.

Portsmouth – Columbus

Between Portsmouth and Columbus, US 23 has been completely widened to four lanes, partly as a 2×2 divided highway, partly as a five-lane road with a center turn lane. First, the section between Portsmouth and Chillicothe was completely widened to 4 lanes, largely around 1955. By 1959, the entire section from Chillicothe to Columbus had also been widened to four lanes.

Later, at Chillicothe, the road was rerouted over a freeway along the east side of the town. This happened in stages. The first phase opened around 1969 and was part of US 35 and did not serve north-south traffic yet because the connecting sections were not yet ready. Circa 1971, a new stretch of freeway opened from the US 35 bypass north of Chillicothe. A year later, the southern section opened, allowing traffic on US 23 to use the freeway around Chillicothe.

Worthington

US 23 was originally one of the main thoroughfares through Worthington, a northern suburb of Columbus. In 2015, ‘The Trench’ was opened, a one-way tunnel under a series of intersections for traffic heading north. The connection to Interstate 270 has also been adjusted. This allowed traffic from I-270 to the north to flow better and exit traffic jams were avoided.

Columbus – Carey

The section from Columbus to Carey has been widened in its entirety to 2×2 lanes, with occasional grade separations at key intersections. This was part of the upgrade from Columbus to I-75 at Findlay, but US 23 just misses Findlay, but turns off the 4-lane divided highway at Carey.

In the mid-1950s, US 23 between Columbus and Delaware was widened to a 2×2 divided highway. Traffic then continued through downtown, but a short freeway bypass was later constructed on the east side of downtown Delaware. This opened to traffic circa 1968-1969.

Circa 1965, the Upper Sandusky bypass and the 2×2 line continued to Carey. In the second half of the 1960s, the section between Delaware and Upper Sandusky was rapidly widened to 2×2 lanes, including a significant new 19-mile section of US 23 around Marion.

Toledo

In 1963, the freeway in northwest Toledo opened to traffic. This route ran from US 20 to the Michigan border. Along with US 23 in Michigan, this was a regional bypass of Detroit. With the opening of connecting Interstate 475 along the west side of Toledo in 1969, this gained importance. US 23 joins I-475 here.