State Route 144 (SR 144) is a north–south
state highway in the southern portion of
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 ...
, a
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 ...
. The southern terminus of State Route 144 is at is a T-interchange with
State Route 124 in
Hockingport. Its northern terminus is at another T-intersection, this time with
State Route 329 in the
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
of
Stewart.
Route description
State Route 144 exists entirely within the southeastern portion of
Athens County. There are no portions of this highway that are included within the
National Highway System, a network of highways identified as most imperative for the economy, mobility and defense of the country.
History
1923 marked the year in which State Route 144 was established. Its original routing was composed of the current stretch of
U.S. Route 50 from
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
to its current junction with State Route 144 near
Coolville, the current stretch of State Route 144 from that point to its current southern terminus at
State Route 124 in
Hockingport, and State Route 124 from there to its eastern terminus southwest of
Belpre.
In 1926, with the coming of the
U.S. Highway System
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...
, the U.S. Route 50 designation replaced what was the section of State Route 144 between Athens and the current junction of the two routes near Coolville.
Another shortening of State Route 144 took place in 1934, when State Route 124 was extended north to Hockingport. From there, State Route 124 replaced the State Route 144 designation heading northeast to that route's eastern terminus southwest of Belpre.
However, in 1937, State Route 144 would see an extension. Coinciding with a northward extension of
State Route 329, State Route 144 was extended to the northwest from near
Coolville to its current northern terminus at State Route 329 in
Stewart.
SR 144 was rerouted around Coolville in 2006 as a result of
landslides that occurred on the banks of the
Hocking and
Ohio Rivers in 2005 and 2006. SR 144 exited Coolville on a bridge just south of the US 50 / SR 7 / SR 32 bridges until that bridge was damaged as a result of the landslides.
Because of the damaged bridge and nearby damaged roadway along the east side of the Hocking River, SR 144 was rerouted south of Coolville on County Road 59 to a new bridge over the river.
[ 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) formerly maintained this old alignment as SR 144-J, but no longer maintains it as of 2013.
Major intersections
References
{{Reflist
144
Transportation in Athens County, Ohio