Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with

I-64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...

and

I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

(the

Kennedy Interchange The Kennedy Interchange, unofficially, though universally, referred to as Spaghetti Junction, is the intersection of Interstate 64 (I-64), I-65 and I-71 at the northeastern edge of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is named f ...

) in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and its northern terminus at an interchange with I-90 in Cleveland, Ohio. I-71 runs concurrently with

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

from a point about south of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, into

Downtown Cincinnati Downtown Cincinnati is the central business district of Cincinnati, Ohio, as well the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It also contains a number of urban neighborhoods in the low land area between the Ohio Ri ...

. While most odd numbered Interstates are north–south, I-71 however is designated more of a northeast–southwest highway, with some east–west sections, and is mainly a regional route, serving

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

and

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 ...

. It links

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

and I-90 to

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

, and ultimately (via I-65) links to

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

. Major metropolitan areas served by I-71 include

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Columbus, and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Approximately three quarters of the route lie east of I-75, leaving I-71 out of place in the Interstate grid.

Route description

, - , KY , , - , OH , , - , Total ,

Kentucky

I-71 (Southbound) between Cincinnati and Louisville

, I-71 begins east of

Downtown Louisville Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jaco ...

at the

, where it meets I-64 and I-65. This interchange is sometimes called the "

Spaghetti Junction Spaghetti junction is a nickname sometimes given to a complex or massively intertwined road traffic interchange that is said to resemble a plate of spaghetti. Such interchanges may incorporate a variety of interchange design elements in ord ...

". From Louisville, it roughly follows the Ohio River in a diagonal path toward Northern Kentucky. Between Louisville and Cincinnati, I-71 is largely a four-lane highway, except for the approach to Kentucky Speedway in

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

in which it runs three lanes each way for about . Near the town of Carrollton, there are signs marking the location of a tragic accident that occurred on May 14, 1988, when a drunk driver was driving north in the southbound lanes and struck a church bus full of children and teenagers, causing the bus's fuel tank to ignite into flames and killing 27 people on board. It is one of the worst bus accidents in state and national history. After having run from Louisville, I-71 merges with

near

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

after which it intersects

I-275 Interstate 275 (I-275) may refer to: *Interstate 275 (Florida), a loop through Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Bradenton in Florida *Interstate 275 (Michigan), a western bypass of Detroit, Michigan * Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), a full bel ...

, the Cincinnati

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

. After passing through Covington, the freeway crosses the Ohio River via the lower level of the Brent Spence Bridge (while the southbound direction uses the upper level) and continues into Cincinnati.

Ohio

, it splits immediately from I-75 and heads due east onto

Fort Washington Way Fort Washington Way is an approximately section of freeway in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The eight-lane divided highway is a concurrent section of Interstate 71 (I-71) and U.S. Route 50 (US 50) that runs from west to east ...

, where it continues through Downtown Cincinnati concurrently with U.S. Route 50 (US 50) for less than . Just east of downtown, US 50 splits from I-71 and continues east; I-71 bends north and receives I-471, a spur from southeast of the city. I-71 then heads in a general northeast direction through urban Cincinnati and into its surrounding suburbs. After another interchange with the

beltway, the freeway leaves the metropolitan area and heads toward Columbus. It continues northeast until it reaches

South Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...

, where it begins cutting east across the flat plains of southwest Ohio. The freeway crosses the

Little Miami River The Little Miami River ( sjw, Cakimiyamithiipi) is a Class I tributary of the Ohio River that flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 26, 2011 through five counties ...

on the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge, which is a

continuous truss bridge A continuous truss bridge is a truss bridge which extends without hinges or joints across three or more supports. A continuous truss bridge may use less material than a series of simple trusses because a continuous truss distributes live loads ...

and the tallest bridge in Ohio, at above the river. I-71 heads toward Columbus then intersects with the bypass I-270 before heading north into urban Columbus, where it junctions

. About north of the I-70 junction, it intersects with I-670. After another interchange with the I-270 bypass, the highway exits Columbus and continues north until near

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, where it again turns northeast. Beginning its path to

, I-71 enters the rolling farm country on the edges of the

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York (state), New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Oh ...

. It continues in this fashion to Lodi/ Westfield Center and its junction with

I-76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular ...

, which provides access to

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 ...

and points east. Heading north to

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 second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

, it meets the terminus of I-271. The highway then continues north into urban Cuyahoga County and Cleveland's suburbs, intersecting the

Ohio Turnpike The Ohio Turnpike, officially the James W. Shocknessy Ohio Turnpike, is a limited-access toll highway in the U.S. state of Ohio, serving as a primary corridor between Chicago and Pittsburgh. The road runs east–west in the northern section o ...

. Passing

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is an international airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the primary airport serving Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, the largest and busiest airport in the state, and the 43rd busiest ...

, I-71 meets

I-480 Interstate 480 may refer to: *Interstate 480 (Nebraska–Iowa), a loop through Omaha, Nebraska into Council Bluffs, Iowa * Interstate 480 (Ohio), a loop through Cleveland, Ohio *Interstate 480 (California), the former Embarcadero Freeway in San Fran ...

and enters Cleveland's west side, continuing on to downtown. It junctions with State Route 176 (SR 176) and terminates at I-90 on the

Innerbelt An innerbelt or outerbelt is a ring road or collection of roadways which is or implies that it is inner or outer ring road in relation to another ring road. Use of these terms is most common and near-exclusive to routes in the United States, mostly ...

History

Kentucky

The first section of I-71 in Louisville opened in December 1966 between its terminus at Spaghetti Junction and Zorn Avenue, its first exit. Its junction with

I-264 Interstate 264 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 64: *Interstate 264 (Kentucky), a bypass of Louisville, Kentucky *Interstate 264 (Virginia) Interstate 264 (I-264) i ...

opened in July 1968, and the complete Kentucky portion of the Interstate was opened to the public in July 1969. At that point, it replaced US 42 as the primary link between Cincinnati and Louisville.

Ohio

Much of I-71 in Ohio was intended to be SR 1. SR 1 was originally planned in the 1950s as a second

extending southwest to northeast across the state. It was planned to run from Cincinnati to Conneaut and connect with an extension built across the panhandle of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

to the New York State Thruway. As the highway was being planned, the

Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization of $25 billion for ...

was enacted, and the project was converted from a toll road to a freeway. It was designated as SR 1, since the Interstate Highway numbering system had not yet been implemented. Portions of the freeway began to be completed and opened in 1959 with the new Interstate Highway funding, and they were marked as SR 1 as well as with their new Interstate Highway number. Since large gaps existed along the corridor where no freeway had yet been completed, existing two-lane or four-lane highways were also designated as SR 1 in order to complete the route. The SR 1 signage was removed in 1966 as the Interstate Highway numbers adequately marked the route by then and the state highway numbering was superfluous. Sohio columbus i71-1

In Columbus, the portion of I-71 that bounds Worthington's eastern edge was originally called the North Freeway. Costing $13.8 million (equivalent to $ in ), it was constructed south from SR 161, arriving at 11th Avenue by August 1961. It took another year to construct the portion between 11th Avenue and 5th Avenue, mainly due to the need to construct a massive underpass under the Pennsylvania Railroad's Grogan Yard. Today, only two tracks cross the viaduct, and the rest of the structure supports a large, weedy field. By August 1962, the freeway had reached Fifth Avenue, and it reached downtown in November 1962. I-71 was originally planned to follow the Innerbelt Freeway northward from its current northern terminus to the

Cleveland Memorial Shoreway The Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, often shortened to "the Shoreway", is a limited-access freeway in Cleveland and Bratenahl, Ohio. It closely follows the shore of Lake Erie and connects the east and west sides of Cleveland via the Main Avenue Bri ...

Dead Man's Curve Dead Man's Curve is an American nickname for a curve in a road that has claimed lives because of numerous crashes. Examples * A curve on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles memorialized in the hit song "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean. The son ...

when I-90 was planned to continue westward from there along the Shoreway. Upon its completion, I-71 replaced SR 3 as the primary highway link between Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. Between 2004 and 2006, the interchange at milepost 121 in the far northern reaches of Columbus was reconstructed to allow access to the eastern extension of Gemini Place. Before that, it was a simple diamond interchange with SR 750 (Polaris Parkway).

Rebuilding and widening program

In 1999, the state of Ohio began a 10-year, $500-million (equivalent to $ in ) project to improve I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland. The plans did not include widening the stretch in

and

Morrow Morrow is a word meaning "the next day" in literary English. It also means "morning" in archaic English Morrow may also refer to: Places in the United States and Canada United States * Morrow, Arkansas *Morrow, Georgia * Morrow, Louisiana *Morr ...

counties, calling for patching that section instead. At that time, state transportation officials said they did not plan to widen that section for two reasons: Traffic studies didn't support the widening, and there was no money for the project. But

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) officials eventually gave in under pressure from elected officials and business owners to widen the remaining stretch of I-71 from just north of the US 36/ SR 37 interchange in Delaware County to the Morrow– Richland county line. The reconstruction and widening on the last stretch of I-71 in Delaware and Morrow counties began in spring 2012, and the work was completed in mid-2015 at a cost of $144 million (equivalent to $ in ).

Exit list

Auxiliary routes

I-71 has two auxiliary routes in the Cleveland metropolitan area and in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. I-471 links downtown Cincinnati with

. I-271 provides access to Cleveland's eastern suburbs and enables travelers on I-71 to access I-90 east without going through Cleveland proper.

References

External links

I-71 on Cincinnati-Transit.net
*Historic photos
1963 aerial view of I-71 construction between 17th and 5th avenues in Columbus, OhioGasoline tanker crash and fire collapses Cleveland Avenue overpass in Columbus, Ohio 6/28/1966Rebuilding the Cleveland Avenue overpass after it was destroyed by a gasoline tanker fire in 1966
{{Authority control

Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64 in Kentucky, I-64 and ...

Route description

Kentucky

Ohio

History

Kentucky

Ohio

Rebuilding and widening program

Exit list

Auxiliary routes

See also

References

External links