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. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

which leads from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

by way of Columbus. It is the second longest state route in Ohio. For this reason, the road is also known as the 3-C Highway, a designation which antedates 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 midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

(I-71).

Route

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 Numbered Highway System, U.S. Highway in the central United States, Central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even ...

US 127 U.S. Route 127 (US 127) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the eastern half of the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at US 27 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The northern terminus is at Interstate 75 (I-75) near ...

concurrency, which is also the western terminus of US 22. SR 3 and US 22 share the same path for nearly , parting ways in the city of Washington Court House, where SR 3 is joined with US 62. This concurrency runs nearly to Columbus. From there, SR 3 continues solo to Sunbury, where it joins US 36 for just over until it reaches

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

. SR 3 ends in Cleveland at

Public Square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

, with the last several miles concurrent with US 42 from

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. 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, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, 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 Washington Court House dually certified with US 22; alignment from Washington Court House to Columbus dually certified with US 62. *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 government of Ohio, Ohio state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and U.S. roadways outside of municipalities and all List of In ...

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

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

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

I-71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

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

Major intersections

References

External links

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003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: * 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) * 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway * ''O03 (O2)'' and other related blood type alleles in the AB ...