 State Route 8 | ||||
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byODOT | ||||
| Length | 38.34 mi[1] (61.70 km) | |||
| Existed | 1924–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   I-76 /I-77 inAkron | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |       US 6 /US 20 /US 422 /SR 14 /SR 43 /SR 87 atPublic Square in Cleveland | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Ohio | |||
| Counties | Summit,Cuyahoga | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Route 8 (SR 8) is a road in theU.S. state ofOhio. SR 8 stretches from the eastern junction ofInterstate 76 (I-76) andI-77 inAkron toPublic Square inCleveland. It is one of nine routes to enter downtown Cleveland at Public Square. The route's first few miles are as a limited-access freeway from I-76 and I-77, heading north. The freeway section of the highway has 17 interchanges, and is cosigned withSR 59 for approximately five miles (8.0 km) from Perkins Street in Akron to Front Street inCuyahoga Falls. The freeway section ends atI-271 inMacedonia.
SR 8 begins at an interchange with I-76 and I-77 southeast of downtown Akron. The Akron Expressway, as the freeway is known within the city limits, heads up the east side of Akron. SR 8's first interchange is the main access to the central business district and theUniversity of Akron. Just before leaving central Akron, an interchange with Perkins Street begins a concurrency with SR 59. The road continues over the North Expressway Viaduct,[2] which crosses over several railroads and theLittle Cuyahoga River, before continuing to the north side of Akron. Between exits 3B and 4, SR 8/59 cross intoCuyahoga Falls. Those two exits connect with the same stretch of road but have different names and are on different sides of the city limit.
The freeway continues north through Cuyahoga Falls, parallel to theCuyahoga River; the freeway crosses the river just before exit 6. SR 59 leaves the freeway at exit 6 to head east towardKent. SR 8, which until now has been heading slightly northeast, turns north and northwest after exit 6, interchanging with Graham Road in the process. The road continues through a relatively rural area on the eastern edge ofCuyahoga Valley National Park. Exits 10, 12, 14A-B and 15 are normally only used as a connection toHudson orBlossom Music Center and other points in the national park, as their immediate areas are sparsely populated and underdeveloped. Once it passes theOhio Turnpike, SR 8 continues through a wooded area. The route's last exit is withI-271, after which it enters Cleveland's southeastern suburbs.
Now known as Northfield Road, SR 8 continues parallel to I-271, intersectingSR 82,SR 14, andSR 17. Following its intersection with SR 17, SR 8 enters a brief concurrency withSR 43, during which it intersectsI-480. SR 43 splits off, and SR 8 continues northward before joiningUS 422 and turning to the west. The new road is briefly known as Chagrin Boulevard before becoming Kinsman Road. SR 8/US 422 continues to the northwest through the immediate Cleveland area; during its approach to downtown Cleveland,SR 87 joins the concurrency, followed by an interchange with I-77.
For its final mile, SR 8/SR 87/US 422 picks up a concurrency of SR 14/SR 43, after which the road becomes known as Ontario Street and turns towardPublic Square, the northern terminus of SR 8. SR 8's northern terminus is shared with six other roads:SR 3, SR 14, SR 43, SR 87,US 42, and US 422.
SR 8 was one of the original state highways in Ohio. It went fromMarietta all the way toCleveland. Over time, though, parts of the route were renumbered or reassigned, especially south of Akron. In 1926 the portion fromMarietta toNewcomerstown becameU.S. Route 21. The same year the section fromNewcomerstown toUhrichsville becameState Route 16 and SR 8 was rerouted from theOhio River town ofFly toUhrichsville. In 1969, the section fromFly toCanton was renumbered toState Route 800, the portion fromCanton toAkron was deleted, and the southern end of the highway was truncated atAkron, atU.S. Route 224.[3]
On August 6, 1954, the portion of the North Expressway inAkron opened from Perkins Street to Cuyahoga Falls Avenue.[4] By 1962, it had been extended south to the Central Interchange and numbered Route 8B; it became mainline SR 8 in 1969 north of Market Street, and in its entirety by 1971.[3] A section of freeway between Front Street (SR 59) and Graham Road in Cuyahoga Falls andStow opened by 1972, with the connecting section opening in 1974. The freeway carried only the SR 59 designation between Tallmadge Avenue in Akron and Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls and had no posted number north of there until 1983, when the SR 8 designation was transferred to the freeway.[3] The final section of freeway opened on May 20, 1988,[5] reachingState Route 303.
SR 8 fromInterstate 77 to Perkins Street was rebuilt from 2003 to 2005. The freeway in that stretch previously had onramps and offramps built closely together, creating the danger of weaving traffic. Several ramps were removed and service roads were built on both sides of the freeway.[6]
Route 8 fromSR 303 north toInterstate 271 was converted to a full freeway without at-grade intersections between 2008 and 2011.[7][8][9][10] The ramp between State Route 8 northbound and I-271 northbound opened July 24, 2009,[11] and the opposite ramp opened on September 4.[12] The new Turnpike interchange opened in December 2010, well ahead of the projected date of fall 2011.
An interchange was opened at Seasons Road in 2010 to serve the area near the borders ofCuyahoga Falls,Stow, andHudson.[13][14] Although the interchange was completed on January 25, 2010, it was not initially scheduled to open until one month later, on February 26, when an official ribbon-cutting could take place. Two weeks before the scheduled opening, an editorial in theAkron Beacon Journal lambasted the ribbon-cutting, calling the ceremony a mere "photo op", and questioning why a finished project should sit unused for 31 days. On February 21, the government of Stow, which had been responsible for holding the ceremony, announced the interchange would open in the morning of the next day without a ribbon-cutting.[15][16][17]
In 2015 SR 8 was rerouted slightly inShaker Heights due to a six-leg intersection being converted to a four-leg one.[18][19]
A complete replacement of the North Expressway Viaduct began in 2023[20][21] and is expected to be finished in 2028.[20][22]
Between 2021 and 2025, the Central Interchange in Akron, where SR 8, I-76, and I-77 converge, was completely reconstructed, including the relocation of the east-to-north and west-to-south ramps. The project also added a southbound lane to SR 8 approaching the interchange.[23][24]
In January 2014, the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS)metropolitan planning organization proposed to designate the section between the central interchange in Akron (at I-76/77) to Macedonia (at I-271) as Interstate 380.[25] ODOT declined the proposal for financial reasons.[26] The letter was resubmitted in April 2014 with support from additional local officials, including Akron mayorDon Plusquellic.[27]
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit | Akron | 0.00– 0.41 | 0.00– 0.66 | – |  I-77 south –Canton | Signed as exit 23A on I-76 and 125A on I-77 |
| 1A |  I-76 east –Youngstown | Signed as exit 125B on I-77 northbound | ||||
| 1B |   I-76 west /I-77 north –Barberton,Cleveland | |||||
| 0.99– 1.42 | 1.59– 2.29 | 1C |   ToSR 18 (Market Street) / Buchtel Avenue / Carroll Avenue / Exchange Street | |||
| 1.63– 1.85 | 2.62– 2.98 | 1D |   SR 59 west (Perkins Street) | Southern terminus of SR 59 concurrency | ||
| 2.67 | 4.30 | 2 | Glenwood Avenue | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 2.91– 3.20 | 4.68– 5.15 | 3A |  SR 261 (Tallmadge Avenue) | Signed as exit 3 southbound | ||
| 3.79 | 6.10 | 3B | Cuyahoga Falls Avenue | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| Cuyahoga Falls | 4.27– 4.58 | 6.87– 7.37 | 4 | Howe Avenue | Also signed for Cuyahoga Falls Avenue southbound | |
| 5.24– 5.73 | 8.43– 9.22 | 5A | Broad Boulevard | Signed as exit 5 southbound | ||
| 5.48 | 8.82 | 5B | Portage Trail | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 6.11– 6.73 | 9.83– 10.83 | 6 |  SR 59 east (Front Street) / Second Street –Kent | Southbound exit to Second Street; northern terminus of SR 59 concurrency | ||
| Stow | 7.54– 7.90 | 12.13– 12.71 | 7 | Graham Road –Stow,Silver Lake | ||
| 8.91– 9.30 | 14.34– 14.97 | 9 | Steels Corners Road | |||
| 10.39– 10.89 | 16.72– 17.53 | 10 | Seasons Road | Opened February 22, 2010[15] | ||
| Boston Heights | 12.56– 13.16 | 20.21– 21.18 | 12 |  SR 303 (West Streetsboro Road) –Hudson,Peninsula | ||
| 14.05– 15.21 | 22.61– 24.48 | 14A | Boston Mills Road / Hines Hill Road | Interchange reconstructed in December 2010, signed as exit 15 southbound | ||
| 14.05– 14.73 | 22.61– 23.71 | 14B |   I-80 /Ohio Turnpike –Toledo,Youngstown | Interchange reconstructed in December 2010; exit 180 on I-80 / Turnpike | ||
| Macedonia | 16.42– 18.06 | 26.43– 29.06 | 17 |  I-271 –Erie, PA,Columbus | Exits 18A-B on I-271 | |
| 17.57 | 28.28 | Northern end of freeway section | ||||
| 18.68 | 30.06 |  SR 82 (East Aurora Road) | ||||
| Cuyahoga | Bedford | 23.64 | 38.04 | SR 14 (Broadway Avenue) | ||
| Bedford Heights | 25.94 | 41.75 |  SR 17 (Libby Road) | |||
| 26.32– 26.39 | 42.36– 42.47 |    SR 43 south (Aurora Road / Mueti Drive) toI-480 east /I-271 south –Youngstown,Columbus | Southern terminus of SR 43 concurrency | |||
| I-480 west –Cleveland,Toledo | ||||||
| North Randall | 26.66 | 42.91 | SR 43 west (Miles Road) | Northern terminus of SR 43 concurrency | ||
| Shaker Heights | 29.55 | 47.56 | US 422 east (Chagrin Boulevard) / Warrensville Center Road | Southern terminus of US 422 concurrency | ||
| Cleveland |  SR 10 (Opportunity Corridor) | |||||
| 35.97 | 57.89 | SR 87 east (Woodland Avenue) / East 55th Street | Southern terminus of SR 87 concurrency | |||
| 36.75– 36.86 | 59.14– 59.32 |  I-77 south /SR 10 toI-71 –Akron | Eastern terminus of SR 10 concurrency; southbound exit and northbound entrance; exit 162A on I-77 | |||
| 36.89 | 59.37 | To East 30th Street /SR 14 (Broadway Avenue) /SR 43 | ||||
| 36.95 | 59.47 |  I-77 north toI-90 | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; exit 162A on I-77 | |||
| 37.40 | 60.19 | SR 14 /SR 43 (Broadway Avenue) | Southern terminus of concurrency SR 14 / SR 43 concurrency | |||
| 37.81 | 60.85 |  SR 10 west (Lorain Avenue) /I-77 south /I-90 west toI-71 –Akron,Airport | Eastern terminus of SR 10; exit 162B on I-77; exits 171A-B on I-90 | |||
| 38.34 | 61.70 |    US 6 /US 20 (Euclid Avenue) /US 42 south /US 322 east /SR 3 south (Superior Avenue) /US 422 east | Public Square; termini of US 42, US 322, US 422, SR 3, SR 14, SR 43, SR 87 | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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