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| Back in June 1971, you couldn’t do this yet: get on State Route 2 at Baumhart Road and go west |
Fifty years ago, westbound State Route 2 out of Lorain ended at Baumhart Road. It’s a funny thought to those of us used to taking it to get to Port Clinton.
But that was about to change, as noted in the article below, which appeared in the Journal on June 18, 1971.
As the article noted, “Bids will be opened July 20 for a $7.9 million project extending SR2 five miles west from Baumhart Road and creating picnic areas above the Vermilion River.
“This part of SR2 will then become a section of Interstate 90.”
“Still not completed on the western leg is a stretch between SR 60 and SR 61 in Berlin Heights.
“Also not built is a connection to the Jackie Mayer Expressway in Huron from SR 61.”
A close look at the map shows how different the plan was back then, compared to how the highways are designated now.
Both the article and the map indicate that part of State Route 2 was going to be part of I-90. As it turned out, at least in this area, I-90 is one of the designations for the Ohio Turnpike. State Route 2 strikes out on its own west of the Route 57 interchange, staying fairly close to Lake Erie all the way to Toledo.
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I’ve posted quite a few articles about State Route 2 construction. It’s of great interest to me because I was very aware of it while it was slowly happening.
This post describes how far along the highway was in 1966 – when it was going to be part of I-90.
This post describes what the plan was in 1967 to close the ‘Vermilion Gap’ of Route 2.
This post shows the progress by 1968.
This post noted how in 1969, highway signs gave the impression that you could take State Route 2 all the way to Toledo, but the highway really ended at Baumhart Rd.
This post noted how the section of Route 2 from Baumhart Road to State Route 61 finally opened in August 1975.