State Route 340 (SR 340) is a
state highway in eastern
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 ...
. The route runs from its western terminus at
SR 284 in the
Meigs Township community of Zeno to its eastern terminus at
SR 821 in the northwestern corner of
Belle Valley.
Route description
The road begins at a
T-intersection
A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T ...
with SR 284 in a forested area of Meigs Township,
Muskingum County. SR 340 heads northeast up some hills until it crests the highest hill and curves to the east-northeast. For the next , the road is straight and runs through an open area with a pair of ponds; this area was formerly part of a
strip mine
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whic ...
. Past the strip mine, the road passes through a mix of forest and open land paralleling Collins Fork and begins to curve to the northeast again. After briefly entering
Brookfield Township,
Noble County, the route enters
Spencer Township,
Guernsey County and joins a
concurrency with
SR 146. The two roads head east into
Cumberland along Main Street. On the west side of the village, Main Street intersects
SR 83, a north–south highway that carries Church Street through the village. Through Cumberland, the road heads mainly through residential neighborhoods with some commercial businesses along the road. At Cambridge Street, SR 146 heads north along it while SR 340 travels south along the road out of the village. At the village's southern border, the road curves to the southeast heading briefly through open land. Upon its reentry to Brookfield Township, Noble County, SR 340 passes through forest but further east in the township, the land opens to clear fields and the road passes the transmitter facility for
WWKC. The road crosses into
Noble Township and passes through the community of
Hiramsburg, a settlement consisting of only a small number of houses. Continuing southeast towards Belle Valley, SR 340 passes a few houses before curving to the east and ending at an intersection with SR 821 on the border of Belle Valley and Noble Township.
No part of SR 340 is included within the
National Highway System.
History
SR 340 was first proposed in 1932 and 1933 as a road connecting
Cumberland with Coal Ridge at what was then
US 21.
By 1934, the route was shifted slightly south; it ran from Cumberland to Belle Valley.
In 1938, SR 340 took over the entire alignment of
SR 673 which ran from
Blue Rock to Cumberland, but once again, the eastern terminus was in Coal Ridge.
The eastern terminus was moved back to Belle Valley by 1940 and has remained there since.
Between 1962 and 1964, the section of roadway between Blue Rock and SR 284 was removed from the state highway system and the remaining route has been unchanged since.
Major intersections
References
{{Reflist, 30em
340
Year 340 (Roman numerals, CCCXL) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Acindynus and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1093 ...
Transportation in Guernsey County, Ohio
Transportation in Muskingum County, Ohio
Transportation in Noble County, Ohio