State Route 235 (SR 235) is a north–south

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the western portion of the

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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 ...

. Its southern terminus is at

US 68 U.S. Route 68 (US 68) is a United States highway that runs for from northwest Ohio to Western Kentucky. The highway's western terminus is at US 62 in Reidland, Kentucky. Its present northern terminus is at Interstate 75 in Findlay, Ohio, though ...

near the small town of Oldtown just north of Xenia, and its northern terminus is at State Route 65 at the

Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) ( sjw, Hotaawathiipi; mia, Taawaawa siipiiwi) is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and ...

nearly east of

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, west of Otsego. Prior to late 1968, SR 235's northern terminus was at an intersection with

State Route 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * AH4, Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...

and then State Route 69, which ran from downtown Dayton northward to State Route 65. With the reconstruction of SR 4/SR 69 to a high speed thoroughfare from I-75 to I-70, SR 69 southwards was discontinued, and northwards from the intersection was renumbered as an almost 200 mile northern extension of SR 235. There are a number of urban legends pertaining to why this renumbering occurred. One is that the number 69 has certain sexual meanings in popular culture, and the signs kept getting stolen. (There were actually numerous cases of people stealing the signs for this route.) Another was that it was too close to

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

(less than in some areas) and the state decided to avoid the confusion. The resulting denontation suggests a spur of

US 35 U.S. Route 35 (US 35) is a United States Highway that runs southeast-northwest for approximately from the western suburbs of Charleston, West Virginia to northern Indiana. Although the highway is physically southeast-northwest, it is nomi ...

which might also have been considered.

Route description

The portion of SR 235 within

Fairborn Fairborn is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 34,620 at the 2020 census. Fairborn is a suburb of Dayton, and part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the only city in the world named Fairborn, a port ...

is designated "

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Specialist Jesse Adam Snow Memorial Highway", in honor of a Fairborn High School graduate who was killed by enemy fire on November 14, 2010 in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

History

*1926 – Original route certified; originally routed along its current alignment from Oldtown to Fairborn (which was Fairfield and Osborn in 1926). *March 9, 1932 – Extended north to

approximately north of Fairborn along previously unnumbered road. *1969 – Extended north to its current terminus along previous State Route 69. On November 9, 2012, the Clark County-Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee announced that a

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

would be constructed at the intersection of SR 235 and SR 41 in Pike Township, which has been the site of numerous vehicle crashes, including five fatalities from 1992 to 2013. Construction on the $1.1 million project began in June 2014 and was completed the weekend before Monday, September 15. It is the first roundabout in Clark County and is believed to be the first in Ohio with all approaches at high speed, .

State Route 69 before 1969

*1923 – Originally routed from

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. *1938 – Extended north to McComb along previously unnumbered road, from McComb to Hoytville along the previous alignment of State Route 186, and from Hoytville to east of

along a previously unnumbered road.

Future

The

Ohio Department of Transportation The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT; ) is the administrative department of the Ohio state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and U.S. roadways outside of municipalities and all Interstates except the Ohio T ...

(ODOT) and the Clark County-

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

Transportation Coordinating Committee have conducted a SR 235 Corridor Management Study, examining improvements to SR 235 in Bethel Township, between

US 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

to the north, and the Greene County line to the south. The study primarily covered the Park Layne section of the township. The study area has had many vehicle crashes and four pedestrian fatalities between 2007 and 2010. The road has many closely spaced commercial

driveway A driveway (also called ''drive'' in UK English) is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and is owned and maintained by an individual or group. Driveways rarely have traffic lights, but some that bear ...

s and lacks

crosswalk A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road ...

s, among other problems. Proposed changes included a raised

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

with breaks only at a few major cross streets, consolidated driveways limited to

right-in/right-out Right-in/right-out (RIRO) and left-in/left-out (LILO) refer to a type of three-way road intersection where turning movements of vehicles are restricted. A RIRO permits only right turns and a LILO permits only left turns. "Right-in" and "left-in" r ...

access, and

jughandle A jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left at an at-grade intersection (in a country where traffic drives on the right). Instead of a standard left turn being made from the left lane, left-turning traffic ...

s or

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a m ...

s at each end of the corridor for turnarounds. Other proposals included U-turns at the busiest cross street, Styer Drive,

s at the major cross streets and "backage" roads. Public meetings related to this study were held in September 2011 and April 2012. The projected cost of the improvements ranged from $7.4 million to $12.2 million and construction was not expected to begin until 2017 to 2020. In mid-October 2012, it was decided by the Ohio Department of Transportation and Clark County officials to make about $3 million in improvements to this stretch of SR 235, including the consolidation of driveways and the construction of

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

s. Construction is expected to begin in 2015. The development of any "backage" roads will be left to future private developers. In Xenia Township, Greene County, north of Xenia, ODOT plans to convert the intersection with US 68, SR 235's southern terminus, to a

. As of summer 2020, construction is expected to begin in spring 2023 and to be completed that fall, with an estimated cost of $2 million.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist, 2 235 Transportation in Hardin County, Ohio Transportation in Montgomery County, Ohio Transportation in Greene County, Ohio Transportation in Clark County, Ohio Transportation in Champaign County, Ohio Transportation in Logan County, Ohio Transportation in Hancock County, Ohio Transportation in Wood County, Ohio