State Route 104 (SR 104) is a north–south highway in

Southern Ohio Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines ...

. Its southern terminus is at

U.S. Route 23 } U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south U.S. Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south as Portsmouth, Ohio, and has sinc ...

(US 23) in

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Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and its northern terminus is at US 33 in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. The route passes through or close to the towns of Portsmouth, Waverly, Chillicothe, Grove City, and Columbus. From Waverly to Chillicothe, it overlaps US 23. Though officially a north-south highway for its entire length, SR 104 is also signed east-west through Columbus.

History

SR 104 is an original state highway with two parts: One from Portsmouth to Waverly, and one from Chillicothe to Columbus. The southern part of the route was decertified when U.S. Route 23 was certified in 1926. This southern route was replaced with the now defunct route number State Route 112. In 1951, the southern part of the route was recertified as State Route 104, connecting to the northern part of the route by overlapping U.S. Route 23. The route close to Portsmouth was concurrent with State Route 73. In March 1951, the Ohio Department of Highways converted an section of SR 104 south of Columbus into a test strip for traffic signs. It was the first in a series of experiments sponsored by the

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in four states and five other countries to compare the effectiveness of national traffic sign standards from around the world. A series of 24 signs from six countries were placed along the road along with distance gauges for 30 test subjects. The department abandoned the experiment four days after it started, after the signs attracted unexpected controversy and curious onlookers who posed a hazard. The experiments eventually led to the

Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals The Convention on Road Signs and Signals, commonly known as the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, is a multilateral treaty designed to increase road safety and aid international road traffic by standardising the signing system for roa ...

, which was adopted in many countries but not the United States. Since 1968, SR 104's northern terminus has been extended twice – to U.S. Route 23 in 1968 and to U.S. Route 33 via

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

in 1989 – and its southern terminus has been extended twice into Portsmouth in 1972 and to U.S. Route 23 in 1974. In 1998, a section of SR 104, concurrent with SR 73, in Scioto County had its grade raised out of the

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

to prevent recurring flooding on the roadway in a $3.8 million project. In 2010, a section of SR 104 north of Chillicothe to SR 207 in Ross County was widened into a four-lane highway. $6.5 million out of the $10.6 million cost to widen were from funds from the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Major junctions

References

External links

*{{Commons category inline 104 Transportation in Scioto County, Ohio Transportation in Pike County, Ohio Transportation in Ross County, Ohio Transportation in Pickaway County, Ohio Transportation in Franklin County, Ohio History of transportation in the United States