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[thenetwork]

https://www.vindy.com/news/local-news/2021/11/ohio-turnpike-paves-way-for-200m-overhaul/

Story on the new toll plaza being built in Trumbull County.

When the OTC says that some exits along the FREE Youngstown section may be redesigned, one has to wonder if Exit 218, the 76/80 split will be totally changed again.

For those who don't remember,, when the Turnpike first started, the Original Exit 15 was a double trumpet at then SR-18 (Now County Road 18/Mahoning Ave).

When the freeway connecting Akron to Youngstown was completed (The current free.sections of I-76 and I-80), the Turnpike relocated Exit 15 to it's current Exit 218 location and completely abandoned the original Exit 15 ramps.

Enter the 1990s and the ramps from Free 76/80 to Toll 76/80 were redesigned and also added a direct connection between the Turnpike and Mahoning Avenue via the original Exit 15 toll plaza area and the original trumpet t
ramps to CR-18.

With that area being a totally free interchange, perhaps they may redo Exit 218 to revert to only serving 76/80 traffic and create a separate full interchange of CR-18/Mahoning Avenue and naming it Exit 219???

[Mr_Northside]

I guess with no need for a toll plaza, the options are really limited just by just what they'd want to spend.

Maybe the only 2 real major modifications/improvements might be direct ramps that would be for the E & W I-76 movements  (with a WB flyover or something), given that even in the current configuration the I-80 movements are the easiest that a double-trumpet allows (WB 80 on the more "slip" ramps thru the area, and EB 80 getting the "easier" outer (not the full loop) trumpet movements for both trumpets, and they wouldn't have to rebuild the CR-18 ramps..... but who knows.

Also currently in the mix in that area is the OTC-Only access that appears to accommodate a salt dome (or some kind of OTC facility).

[wanderer2575]

This isn't news, rather it is a history question. Ohio's exits state-wide were sequential originally, but all routes, save the Ohio Turnpike, converted to mileage-based in the 1970s. The Ohio Turnpike did not convert to mileage-based until 1998. Does anyone know why Ohio's DOT dragged their feet on converting the Turnpike's exits to mileage-based? After all, when Pennsylvania converted its exits to mileage-based in 2001, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and it's branches converted as well.

My guess is that originally, with so few exits up until the late 80s, they didn't want to screw up familiarity of the sequential exits.

When they started building more interchanges in the 90s, there were getting to be too many EXIT #-A's and I think the confusion factor was starting to settle in.

Plus the newer "#-A"  exits were full interchanges and not half-interchanges like I-90 East,  I-480 East and I-680 North.

Plus plus, even the suffixes (suffices?) were getting out of order.  The new OH-2 interchange near the Toledo Express Airport was between exits 3 and 4, and so was given the exit number 3A.  But then what to do when the new OH-109 interchange (between exits 3 and 3A) was built five years later?  It was given exit number 3B.  I'm guessing that's about the time they really started thinking this sequential numbering thing was no longer useful.

[ysuindy]

Another story on the new toll plaza being built in Trumbull County, this time from a Youngstown TV station

https://www.wfmj.com/story/45939941/turnpike-tollgate-construction-in-trumbull-county-part-of-plan-to-shorten-travel-times?fbclid=IwAR0q_eFTMS007AmuXdGysXbqtklGLcFPlb7F3S4BaJY3d0R2LsDtty_3Tx4#.Yhd7CU4OwUs.facebook

[ysuindy]

Reading that article and looking at the Google Street View (from October 2021) it appears this new toll plaza will be about a quarter to half mile west of where the May 31, 1985 F5 tornado crossed the turnpike.  There was an A Frame house on a small lake on the north side of the turnpike that was damaged by the tornado.  There was insulation in the trees around there for many years.

[SkyPesos]

If exit 218 (I-76/I-80 interchange) gets its toll booth removed, any chances the interchange will be rebuilt with EB 80 and WB 76 flyovers (and removing the double loop for EB 76) to accommodate through movements on both interstates?

[coldshoulder]

If exit 218 (I-76/I-80 interchange) gets its toll booth removed, any chances the interchange will be rebuilt with EB 80 and WB 76 flyovers (and removing the double loop for EB 76) to accommodate through movements on both interstates?

Very much doubt it will happen anytime soon, as in the next 10 years, but it may make a long-range planning document sometime.  The EB 80 movement, providing the existing toll booths are removed, is pretty much a flyover already; EB 76 to eliminate the double loop, looks like it would be easy and cheap enough; but while a WB 76 flyover would be optimal, they already spent a ton of money on that interchange when the connection was reconstructed back to Mahoning Ave., CR 18 some 25 years ago.

[Mr_Northside]

It appears the new mainline barrier west of Toledo is much further along, according to the Oct21 GSV that's up.

[sbeaver44]

I was just perusing the Ohio Tpk website.  If I stop at a plaza it’s usually Blue Heron WB because I tend to shunpike at least to Port Clinton on SR 2.

What happened to all the food options at these plazas (Mile 77) that it only shows Sunoco and Vending?  I remember there at least being a Hardees.

All the other plazas are listed with restaurants.  Maybe just a bad location?

Is there data on service plaza usage?

[thenetwork]

I was just perusing the Ohio Tpk website.  If I stop at a plaza it’s usually Blue Heron WB because I tend to shunpike at least to Port Clinton on SR 2.

What happened to all the food options at these plazas (Mile 77) that it only shows Sunoco and Vending?  I remember there at least being a Hardees.

All the other plazas are listed with restaurants.  Maybe just a bad location?

Is there data on service plaza usage?

Possibly undergoing a remodel.  Some of the first new-generation plazas are approaching 25 years old and are probably due for renovations???

That was one of the busier plazas.  We would always stop there before we turned off at Toledo, and was usually our first pit stop out of Detroit. 

I seriously doubt it was due to lack of business.

[The Ghostbuster]

Did Ohio ever propose building any additional toll roads besides the Ohio Turnpike? I find it interesting that Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio have only one toll road, while other states built more toll roads early on.

[Bitmapped]

Did Ohio ever propose building any additional toll roads besides the Ohio Turnpike? I find it interesting that Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio have only one toll road, while other states built more toll roads early on.

Yes. The I-71/I-271/I-90 corridor from Cincinnati to Conneaut was intended to be a second toll road before the Interstate system was created.

[wanderer2575]

I was just perusing the Ohio Tpk website.  If I stop at a plaza it’s usually Blue Heron WB because I tend to shunpike at least to Port Clinton on SR 2.

What happened to all the food options at these plazas (Mile 77) that it only shows Sunoco and Vending?  I remember there at least being a Hardees.

All the other plazas are listed with restaurants.  Maybe just a bad location?

Is there data on service plaza usage?

Part of a 07/24/2022 article in the Toledo Blade:
https://www.toledoblade.com/local/transportation/2022/07/24/toledo-area-construction-and-road-closures-week-of-july-24/stories/20220723131 (may be behind a paywall)

Renovations are underway at several of the food courts east of Toledo, and the Turnpike says more such work is pending.

At the Erie Islands and Commodore Perry plazas near Fremont and Sandusky, new Burger King restaurants are being developed in the brand anchor positions, and once they open, the existing Burger King counters will close and be converted to Panda Express locations.  The Sbarro counters will be updated and the former Starbucks Coffee and Auntie Anne’s concessions will be remodeled into a combination Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins on each side.

Work will soon begin at the Great Lakes and Towpath plazas near Elyria to build new Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen restaurants that the Turnpike said will be its plazas’ largest new foodservice concessions.  The Popeye’s stores will include self-order kiosks.

And at the Blue Heron and Wyandot plazas between I-280 and Elmore, the Hardee’s restaurant and the retail store will soon be refurbished, while Starbucks and Freshens Food Kitchens will be added later to both food courts.

Food availability will be limited at times during some of the plaza construction, so travelers should be alert for signs showing updates on individual plazas’ status.

[sbeaver44]

Oh wow, I didn’t realize it had been 25 years already and they’re up for re-renovation.

Side note:  are there any good sources of pictures of the inside or outside of the old plazas?

[02 Park Ave]

I always thought that they were the best of those on any toll road.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://fox8.com/news/ohio-turnpike-toll-booth-changes-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

Say bye-bye to the gates on the Ohio Turnpike as they start making changes to the toll system, starting with the toll plazas at TP 52, TP 71, TP 151, and TP 173.

[Stephane Dumas]

GSV show a view of the new western toll booth taken last July. https://goo.gl/maps/ZnS6u1irzLrkHSVt8

[wanderer2575]

GSV show a view of the new western toll booth taken last July. https://goo.gl/maps/ZnS6u1irzLrkHSVt8

Move a little farther east and we have a Caption Contest:  https://goo.gl/maps/boDTPQubDScxsCTE7

[Brandon]

I was just perusing the Ohio Tpk website.  If I stop at a plaza it’s usually Blue Heron WB because I tend to shunpike at least to Port Clinton on SR 2.

What happened to all the food options at these plazas (Mile 77) that it only shows Sunoco and Vending?  I remember there at least being a Hardees.

All the other plazas are listed with restaurants.  Maybe just a bad location?

Is there data on service plaza usage?

It's a remodel of the food court area.  I stopped at the eastbound one last month, and one could see that they were doing remodeling work in there.

[lepidopteran]

Did Ohio ever propose building any additional toll roads besides the Ohio Turnpike?

Not sure if this wasn't just some discussion on this or another board, but I remember reading something about having I-73 be built as a toll road between Toledo and Columbus.

For what it's worth, the closest thing to a toll bridge in the state is the 1.5 mile Cedar Point Causeway; the price is only $0.50 last I heard.  There are also at least two car ferries to Lake Erie islands, and two in the state that cross the Ohio River.  There was discussion to make the Brent Spence Bridge replacement a toll bridge, but both states seem to agree that is to be toll-free.

[amroad17]

Did Ohio ever propose building any additional toll roads besides the Ohio Turnpike?

Not sure if this wasn't just some discussion on this or another board, but I remember reading something about having I-73 be built as a toll road between Toledo and Columbus.

For what it's worth, the closest thing to a toll bridge in the state is the 1.5 mile Cedar Point Causeway; the price is only $0.50 last I heard.  There are also at least two car ferries to Lake Erie islands, and two in the state that cross the Ohio River.  There was discussion to make the Brent Spence Bridge replacement a toll bridge, but both states seem to agree that is to be toll-free.

As has been discussed in other boards, where I-71, I-271, and I-90 currently are was going to be a toll road (a Cincinnati-Conneaut toll highway).  It would have tied into a short toll highway in Pennsylvania (using current I-90), which, in turn, would have connected to the New York Thruway.  This was proposed before 1956.  However, once President Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway bill, all these proposed toll highways became the proposed routes for toll-free Interstate highways.

[The Ghostbuster]

Does anyone know why the OH 49 interchange just east of the Indiana/Ohio border isn't numbered Exit 2? It seems uncharacteristic for an exit on a toll road with exit numbers to omit numbering an interchange.

[02 Park Ave]

It was probably because it is outside of the tolling system.

[ysuindy]

I was perusing the Google News archives of the Youngstown Vindicator today and took some time to review the November 30 - December 2, 1954 editions that dealt with the opening of the eastern section of the Turnpike in Mahoning County - from the Pennsylvania state line to Ohio Route 18 / Mahoning Avenue.

Much was made in the story and in pictures of a cornerstone box that was "permanently installed" at the Eastgate toll booth.

With the impending removal of the Eastgate toll plaza in Mahoning County, I wonder what has happened to this box?  Was it previously removed / destroyed in an earlier expansion of Eastgate?

From the December 1, 1954 Vindicator:

"A copy of The Vindicator's Tuesday edition was placed in a cornerstone box along with numerous historic documents, turnpike papers, pictures of President Eisenhower and Gov. Lausche, blocks of cement from the first concerted pavement in Ohio and the first concreate laid on the turnpike, maps, pamphlets, newspapers and even a box of buckeyes.

At the state line Mrs. Lausche unveiled a memorial plaque, which was taken later to the Eastgate terminal of the Ohio pike for permanent installation at Eastgate

Mrs. Robert S. Beightler, wife of the executive director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission, placed the box in the cornerstone and the plaque was laid on top of it."

[theroadwayone]

Did Ohio ever propose building any additional toll roads besides the Ohio Turnpike?

Not sure if this wasn't just some discussion on this or another board, but I remember reading something about having I-73 be built as a toll road between Toledo and Columbus.

For what it's worth, the closest thing to a toll bridge in the state is the 1.5 mile Cedar Point Causeway; the price is only $0.50 last I heard.  There are also at least two car ferries to Lake Erie islands, and two in the state that cross the Ohio River.  There was discussion to make the Brent Spence Bridge replacement a toll bridge, but both states seem to agree that is to be toll-free.

As has been discussed in other boards, where I-71, I-271, and I-90 currently are was going to be a toll road (a Cincinnati-Conneaut toll highway).  It would have tied into a short toll highway in Pennsylvania (using current I-90), which, in turn, would have connected to the New York Thruway.  This was proposed before 1956.  However, once President Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway bill, all these proposed toll highways became the proposed routes for toll-free Interstate highways.

Would it have used the same ticket system as the E-W Turnpike, or would they have been separate?