Primer on navigating area highways

Highway Designations
There are multiple layers of highway systems in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. The most basic are municipal streets and township and county roads. With township or county roads that use numbers instead of names, the name of the township or county shall be included in references unless it can be inferred by context.

Major highways, including Interstate System routes, are maintained by the state transportation departments (with the exception of the Ohio Turnpike), and are normally identified by their route number. An exception can be made for reference to sections of state highways that are entirely within municipal limits, such as Monroe Street or Detroit Avenue in Toledo, where the numbered route functions as a local street and the street’s role as carrier of a state highway is inconsequential to the reporting being done.

Ohio Turnpike
The Ohio Turnpike carries the I-80 and I-90 designations through the Toledo area. It is a toll road and thus shall not be described as a freeway. It also is maintained by the Ohio Turnpike Commission, an agency distinct from and largely independent of the Ohio Department of Transportation. All other Interstate system roads in the region, including I-75, I-275, I-280, and I-475, are freeways. Other I routes in Ohio include I-70, I-71, I-74, and I-77, while Detroit’s other principal Interstates include I-94, I-96, and I-696.

The only freeway in the immediate Toledo area that is not an Interstate is U.S. 23 north of I-475 in Sylvania and into Michigan. Do not refer to U.S. 23 as I-23. Some other roads in the broader region also have sections that are freeways, including State Rt. 2 east of Camp Perry, near Port Clinton. But four-lane divided highways that have intersections as well as interchanges, like State Rt. 15 east of Findlay and U.S. 30 across northern Ohio, are for the most part not freeways.

‘M’ for Michigan
In Michigan, state trunk highways are identified as “M” routes. Primary trunk highways in The Blade’s coverage area include M-34, M-50, M-52, M-99, M-125, and M-156. In other states, such trunk highways are identified by “State Rt.” on first reference and “Route” on subsequent reference. Principal Ohio trunk highways in northwest Ohio include State Rts. 2, 4, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 25, 34, 37, 49, 51, 53, 65, 66, 67, 81, 101, 108, 109, 117, 120, 162, 163, 199, and 281. There are numerous smaller state routes in the region, and the less-significant state highways usually but do not always have higher numbers.

Both Ohio and Michigan have federal shield (“U.S.”) highways as well. In the Toledo area these include U.S. 6, 12, 20, 23, 24, 68, 127, 223, 224, and 250. Be aware that law enforcement officers or other officials often misidentify these highways as “state routes,” especially in Ohio. Also, State Rt. 25 in Ohio was formerly part of U.S. 25, but that designation no longer applies. In The Blade’s coverage area, U.S. 12 is entirely within Michigan, so “Route 12” in Ohio is a state highway.

The Interstate System is a network of long-distance highways originally designated by the federal government in 1956 and modified from time to time thereafter. In the Blade, these routes are identified as “I” routes. References to the Interstate System should be capitalized as such, but the generic “interstate” is not capitalized.

This primer was written for Your SOURCE by David Patch, a Blade staff writer who covers transportation.