State Route 3 (SR 3) is a major north–south (physically northeast-southwest) highway in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

which leads from

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 w ...

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

by way of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. It is the second longest state route in Ohio. Because of this, the road is also known as the 3-C Highway, a designation which predates the Ohio state highway system. It is the only state route to enter all three of Ohio's largest cities, though it has largely been bypassed by

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 ...

(I-71). The route's southern terminus is in downtown Cincinnati at the U.S. Route 27 (US 27)/

US 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follo ...

/ US 127 concurrency, which is also the western terminus of

US 22 U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is a west–east route and is one of the original United States highways of 1926, running from Cincinnati, Ohio, at US 27, US 42, US 127, and US 52 to Newark, New Jersey, at U.S. Route 1/9 in the Newark Airport Interchang ...

. SR 3 and US 22 share the same path for nearly , parting ways in the city of

Washington Court House Washington Court House (often abbreviated as Washington C.H.) is a city in Union Township, Fayette County, Ohio. It is the county seat of Fayette County and is located between Cincinnati and Columbus. The population grew almost 1.5% from 2010 ...

, where SR 3 is joined with

US 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian border. It is the only east-west United States Numbered Highway that connects Mexico and Canada ...

. This concurrency runs nearly to Columbus. From there, SR 3 continues solo to Sunbury, where it joins

US 36 U.S. Route 36 (US 36) is an east–west United States highway that travels approximately from Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado to Uhrichsville, Ohio. The highway's western terminus is at Deer Ridge Junction, an intersection i ...

for just over until it reaches

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

. SR 3 ends in Cleveland at

Public Square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, with the last several miles concurrent with US 42 from

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...

. It is one of nine other routes to enter downtown Cleveland at Public Square.

History

*1923 – Original route established;Explanation of the Ohio State Highway System
(The Unofficial Ohio State Highways Web Site) by John Simpson originally followed its current alignment (more or less) from

to north of Loudonville, the SR 226 alignment from north of Loudonville to south of Wooster, its old alignment from south of Wooster 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 Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

, and US 42's alignment from Medina to

.Route 3
(The Unofficial Ohio State Highways Web Site) by John Simpson *1927 – north of Loudonville to south of Wooster rerouted to current alignment, along former SR 250; original alignment certified as SR 250; Medina-to-Parma routing changed to current alignment, and former alignment here certified as US 42. *1932 – Alignment from Cincinnati to

dually certified with

; alignment from Washington Court House to

dually certified with

. *1938 – Medina-Parma alignment changed to the pre-1926 routing and dually certified with US 42; previous alignment signed SR 200 until 1939. *1939 – Medina-Parma alignment switched back to current alignment.

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 ...

br>Official map for 1939
/ref> *1961 – SR 3 routed to new freeway alignment from

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in ...

to Columbus. *1962 – Harrisburg-Columbus alignment dually certified as

I-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 ...

. *1967 – Reverted to US 62 alignment from Harrisburg to Columbus.

Major intersections

References

External links