Ohio Interstate 73 Talks Spark Up Again!

Interstate 73 and 74 in Rockingham, North Carolina. The proposal to expand is being discussed in Ohio.

Republicans in Ohio are pushing for the Interstate 73 and 74 extensions.

Interstate 73 is being built in North Carolina and South Carolina. The expansion into Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan has been scrapped.

But with the Trump Administration and its Make America Great Again policies, Ohio is planning on exploring it again.

This was discussed in President Donald J. Trump's first term. The Ohio Department of Transportation have said it would be difficult but possible.

The connection of Interstate 73 would focus on U.S. Highways 23, 30, 68 and Ohio State Route 15. There is no direct interstate connection from Toledo to Columbus.

If you take Interstate 75 to U.S. Highway 68 in Findlay, you have the most easiest way to Columbus. However, you will pass through a series of traffic lights, congestion through Delaware and the speed changes.

Now south of Columbus is slightly better. The proposal would have several sections of U.S. Highway 23 be upgraded to interstate standards. The connection would have it break from Interstate 71 and follow a path close to U.S. Highway 23 and Ohio State Route 104.

The upgrades through U.S. Highway 23 from Chillicothe to Portsmouth will also have the freeway align with the Veterans Memorial Highway. After that it will follow U.S. Highway 52 to Ironton and Huntington, West Virginia.

The Interstate 73-74-75 corridor would run nearly 1,000 miles from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On the way, it would pass through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

The Ohio section of the proposed highway would largely follow U.S. Route 23, running south from Toledo, through Columbus, and all the way to the Kentucky/West Virginia border near Chesapeake, Ohio.

The project aims to upgrade existing routes and connect bypasses into a seamless interstate system - pulling together scattered segments into a unified whole over years of coordinated effort.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is conducting a $1.5 million feasibility study on the project scheduled for completion by the end of 2026. Its findings will help decide the project’s future, its allocation of state funding, and guide potential routes, ODOT says.

Cincinnati area Republican lawmaker Rep. Dave Taylor of Ohio wants Interstate 73 and 74. Taylor will ask Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for authorization of corridor movement.

Rep. Dave Taylor (R-OH) whose district would be served by the highway, introduced a congressional resolution last month supporting construction of the Ohio’s portion.

A statement from Taylor said southern Ohio needs infrastructure to support businesses like a growing uranium enrichment site in Piketon, and a defense technology company building an advanced manufacturing facility to make military drones and autonomous air vehicles in Pickaway County.

The Clermont County Republican said the new interstate would help workers in the region commute to work, and its growing industries transport their wares.

“An interstate through southern Ohio would not just help connect rural communities to the modern economy but would enhance our national security because of multiple key facilities and defense-related companies along the route,” Taylor said.

Taylor sought support for the project from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at a recent House Transportation Committee hearing, where Duffy said he’d be happy to discuss USDOT’s role with Taylor.

“We have too many communities that don’t have adequate infrastructure, and most of them are oftentimes rural,” Duffy said at the hearing.

Interstate 74 in its original routing serves Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. It starts from Davenport, Iowa. It travel through Illinois cities, Rock Island, Moline, Peoria, Champaign and Danville. It enters Indiana and meets Interstate 465 in Indianapolis. In Indianapolis it shares a concurrency with Interstate 69 and 465. Once it breaks from Interstate 465 it heads to Ohio and terminates at Interstate 75 near downtown Cincinnati. The proposal has the route traveling from Cincinnati to West Virginia and Virginia. Interstate 74 begins again in North Carolina.