State Route 338 (SR 338) was a state highway in the southeastern portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

, entirely in Meigs County. Running along the Ohio River, the route existed from 1932 until about 2012. For most of its history, SR 338 ran along the river between

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

and Lebanon Township with both ends at SR 124. At the time of its removal from the state highway system, the last remnant of the route was a segment (designated by 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) as SR 338-J) between

US 33 U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs northwest–southeast for from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S. routes are north–s ...

near the

Ravenswood Bridge The William S. Ritchie Jr. Bridge, more commonly known as the Ravenswood Bridge, is a two-lane cantilever bridge in the United States, connecting Ravenswood, West Virginia and rural Meigs County, Ohio, across the Ohio River. It has a total l ...

and SR 124.

Route description

''The following description is the description of SR 338-J '' SR 338 began at an intersection with US 33 near Racine. The route headed northward, running near the banks of the Ohio River. SR 338 intersected with a few private roads leading to nearby homes. A field is visible to the east, as the highway made its namesake turn as Great Bend Road. Through the bend, SR 338 turned and headed into a dense forest. After a short distance, SR 338 broke out of the dense patch of trees. With the Ohio River in view, the highway terminated at an intersection with SR 124 northeast of Racine.

History

The original route was certified in 1932; originally routed from Letart Falls (about south of Racine) to east of Letart Falls. The highway was extended to Racine in 1937 along a previously unnumbered road from Letart Falls to Antiquity, and along the former SR 337 from Antiquity to Racine. SR 338 was extended east of Racine along the previous and current alignment of SR 124. In 1941, SR 338 swapped alignments with SR 124 from to east of Racine; SR 338 was given the southern alignment along the Ohio River. By 2003, SR 338 was truncated at the new alignment of US 33 approximately east of Racine; the former alignment of SR 338 from Racine south along the river and back up north to east of Racine designated as SR 124; from east of Racine to US 33 decertified. When SR 338 was truncated in 2003, the remains of the highway became known as SR 338-J. At the time of the truncation, the route was unsigned and the "J" suffix meant that the route was awaiting abandonment. ODOT was making constant repairs to SR 338 due to its close proximity to the river, which led to soil instability. Between 2008 and 2012, the last segment of SR 338 had been removed from the state's jurisdiction. Part of the road itself had been abandoned leaving the former SR 338 as two separate township-maintained roads at either end. Today, the former SR 338 is designated SR 124 between Racine and the intersection of SR 124 and Great Bend Road, Meigs County Road 338-A along Great Bend Road between SR 124 and US 33, Stone Road (Township Road 708) between US 33 and a dead end, and Cleek Road (Township Road 707) between a dead end and SR 124 near Portland.

Route description

History

Major intersections

1941–2003 route

2003–2012 route

References