According to allcitycodes, US 42 is a US Highway in the US state of Ohio. The road forms an east-west and north-south statewide route from Cincinnati to Cleveland, mostly parallel to Interstate 71, except through Columbus, where US 42 follows a more northerly route. The road is 395 kilometers long.

Travel directions

US 42/224 at Lodi.

Region of Cincinnati

US 42 in Kentucky crosses the Ohio River via the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge and enters the city of Cincinnati. US 42 follows the street network through downtown Cincinnati and then heads northeast out of the city via a 4-lane urban arterial. US 42 runs parallel to I-71, later to I-75, and then again to I-71. US 42 is a major access road for the northern suburbs of Cincinnati. After Mason the US 42 becomes a single carriageway and continues through the center of the town of Lebanon.

Southern Ohio

Then follows a 120 kilometer stretch across the flat meadows to the Columbus region. Until Xenia, US 42 is partly constructed as a 2×2 divided highway, but after Xenia mainly a single-lane road. US 42 gradually progresses further from I-71 and closer to I-70. The road has quite long straight stretches between the towns. Just before Columbus, US 42 curves northeast to bypass the Columbus metropolitan area. The US 42 is a fairly simple single-lane road that runs through Delaware. This route crosses Interstate 70 and US 33.

Northern Ohio

After Delaware, US 42 follows a secondary route, again parallel to I-71. The US 42 is not very well developed and leads through almost all places on the route, including the city of Mansfield, where one crosses the US 30. US 42 then has bypasses along Ashland and Lodi, which coincide with US 250 and US 224. US 42 then passes through the center of the town of Medina and then curves north, still parallel to I-71.

Cleveland Region

The Detroit-Superior Bridge over the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.

US 42 then passes through the southern suburbs of Cleveland. US 42 is a major urban arterial in Brunswick, Strongsville, and Parma Heights. There is a connection here to I-71 and I-80. The long straight stretches of US 42 in the Cleveland area are characteristic. US 42 crosses the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland via the Detroit-Superior Bridge, where it merges with US 6 and US 20 to Public Square in downtown Cleveland, where US 42 ends.

History

US 42 was created in 1926. The route originally ran only in Ohio from Cincinnati to Cleveland. In 1932, the route was extended further to Louisville, Kentucky. US 42 has traditionally not been a major route, despite connecting two major Ohio cities. This is mainly because the route bypasses the capital Columbus. Interstate 71 in Ohio opened in the late 1950s and early 1960s, roughly parallel to US 42, but at a greater distance around Columbus.

Limited parts of the road have been widened to 2×2 lanes or diverted in some places. The Ashland bypass opened around 1956. The grade-separated connection between US 42 and US 250 in Ashland was replaced in 2015 by a grade-level intersection. Circa 1959, a bypass of Lodi opened with 2×2 lanes and two split-level connections. These upgrades were made before I-71 opened up in this area. Between 1961 and 1965, the section between Lebanon and Xenia in the southwest of the state was widened to 2×2 lanes.

Cleveland

The Detroit-Superior Bridge over the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland was built between 1914 and 1948. This is a large steel arch bridge and was the first high fixed bridge in the Cleveland area. The monumental bridge was one of the largest in the world at the time. It is a double deck bridge where the lower level was used for a tram. In 1968-1969 the carriageway was widened to 4 lanes, by narrowing the footpath, with 3 lanes through the inside of the arch and an extra lane on the outside. Since 1974, the bridge has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.