The Lakeland Freeway (often called "Route 2" in the section that carries solely

Ohio State Route 2 State Route 2 (SR 2), formerly known as Inter-county Highway 2 until 1921 and State Highway 2 in 1922, is an east–west highway crossing most of northern Ohio. Its western terminus is at the Indiana state line near Hicksville, Ohio, Hicksvill ...

) is a

limited-access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, partial controlled-access highway, and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a contro ...

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

in the northeastern suburbs of

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

. It runs with and parallel to

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

, and follows the shore of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, linking the suburban areas of Lake County to Cleveland and

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...

Route description

The Lakeland Freeway passes through the municipalities of

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 ...

Euclid Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely domina ...

, Wickliffe, Willowick, Willoughby, Eastlake,

Mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

Painesville Painesville is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Grand River, it is a northeast suburb of Cleveland. Its population was 20,312 at the 2020 census. Painesville is included in the Greater Clevelan ...

, and Painesville Township. The freeway is eight lanes in the I-90/SR 2 section. The SR 2 section to the east had consisted of six lanes only to

Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, and Melrose Avenue. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine being symbolic of Hollywood itself. The intersection has be ...

, but the third lane in each direction was extended to SR 44 between 2006 and 2012.Improving State Route 2 Project Plan
(Lake County Engineer's Web Site) It then narrows to four lanes from there to its eastern terminus in Painesville Township at US 20. The freeway has seen tremendous growth since it opened in the 1960s. In 2003, average daily traffic ranged from about 94,100 at the I-90/SR 2 split to 31,200 east of Painesville.

History

The Lake County section of freeway was authorized by Lake County Commissioners in 1957, and constructed and opened to traffic in the early 1960s. It was blended into 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 Br ...

at the western end in Cuyahoga County; because of that, the "Shoreway" name is often applied to the Lakeland Freeway from its west end to the I-90/SR 2 split.Example:

Exit list

References

{{Reflist

External links

Memorial Shoreway
from the ''Encyclopedia of Cleveland History'' - has Lakeland Freeway reference.

by John Simpson
End photos of Ohio 2
fro
state-ends.com
by Dan Garnell Transportation in Cleveland Transportation in Lake County, Ohio Cleveland area expressways Interstate 90

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links