Interstate 74 (I-74) in the US state of

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 ...

runs for southeast from the

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

border to the western segment's current eastern terminus at

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...

just north of

Downtown Cincinnati Downtown Cincinnati is one of the 52 List of Cincinnati neighborhoods, neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the central business district of the city, as well as the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Original ...

. It is also signed with U.S. Route 52 (US 52) for its entire length.

Route description

The Ohio portion of I-74 begins on the Indiana border near Harrison and travels east. Shortly after crossing into Ohio, the Interstate curves southeast before it intersects with I-275 near milepost 5. It then overlaps with that beltway route, heading generally east for approximately before splitting from I-275 to continue southeast into

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 ...

. Approximately later, I-74 reaches its eastern terminus at

, about north-northwest of Downtown Cincinnati.

History

I-74 was completed in the Cincinnati area by 1974, when the intersection with I-75 was completed. By the 2010s, this intersection had become inadequate. Construction started on reconfiguring the I-74/I-75 interchange in 2018, with construction expected to be complete by 2025.

Future

Proposals call for I-74 to be continued through

and into

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, concurrent with I-73; with both of these roads continuing through

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

to end in

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

. Due to funding concerns, there have historically been no concrete plans for this to occur, although the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

approved a resolution urging for the completion of both I-73 and I-74 in 2022. Several plans are in the running for the extension through the

Cincinnati metropolitan area The Cincinnati metropolitan area (also known as the Cincinnati Tri-State area or Greater Cincinnati) is a metropolitan area with its Urban area, core in Ohio and Kentucky. Its largest city is Cincinnati and includes surrounding counties in the U. ...

. They include: #Running along I-75 to the interchange at I-275, then onto State Route 32 (SR 32); #Along I-75 between the I-74/I-75 interchange and I-75/ SR 562 interchange, then onto SR 562, then to the interchange at I-71/SR 562, then to the I-71/Red Bank corridor interchange, down the Red Bank corridor, and then finally along a new highway connector to SR 32; and #From the I-74/I-75 interchange to I-75/SR 562 interchange, then onto SR 562, then on through the I-71/SR 562 interchange, and then finally to the I-71/I-275 interchange before connecting to SR 32. The second route was eliminated due to opposition regarding a key part of its completion: a $366.2-million highway that would need to be constructed near Mariemont and Newtown (terminuses: Red Bank Road/Wooster Pike intersection and Bells Lane). Total costs would have been $809.1 million ($62 million per mile (/km)). Improvements to existing roads have been proposed instead. The Norwood Lateral (SR 562) would need to be reconstructed in order to become part of I-74. Here are the possible and/or most likely needs: a third travel lane in each direction (two each way currently), overpasses requiring more vertical clearance ( minimum), upgraded ramp extensions at interchanges (), and shoulders of more width. There are highways with shoulder widths of , however; so this might not be a serious issue. This problem could be resolved through

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

if they wanted to designate the Norwood Lateral as a future segment of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

Exit list

References

{{state detail page browse, type=I, route=74, state=Ohio, stateafter=West Virginia, statebefore=Indiana Ohio 74 U.S. Route 52 Roads in Cincinnati Transportation in Hamilton County, Ohio