State Route 261 (SR 261) is an east–west

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 ...

located in northeastern

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 ...

that passes through

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

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, and

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counties. At a length of , SR 261 runs from a signalized intersection with SR 94 in

Wadsworth Wadsworth may refer to: People * Wadsworth (surname) * Wadsworth (given name) Places * Wadsworth, Illinois, United States, a village * Wadsworth, Kansas, United States * Wadsworth, Nevada, United States, a census-designated place * Wadswo ...

to a signalized T-intersection with SR 59 in Franklin Township just east of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. State Route 261's routing is more complicated than other state highways, frequently changing streets and direction. It runs through downtown

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

as two sets of one-way surface streets. It has a divided highway section from the outskirts of southern Kent to just east of SR 43. This divided section was originally planned to be limited access and tie in with another highway, SR 435, but this plan was never implemented.

History

SR 261 was commissioned in 1927 between SR 18, in Tallmadge, and Kent. In 1930 the highway was extended southwest to SR 8 in Akron. The route was extended west to

, in 1937. The southeast section of the Kent bypass, between SR 43 and SR 59 opened between 1969 and 1971, with SR 261 be rerouted onto it then. The bypass of Kent west of SR 43 was completed in 1972, with SR 261 being rerouted onto that section then. In 1983 the highway was rerouted towards the northwest in the City of Akron.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Ohio State Route 261 261 Transportation in Medina County, Ohio Transportation in Portage County, Ohio Transportation in Summit County, Ohio Transportation in Akron, Ohio