Ohio State Route 32

State Route 32 (SR 32), also known as the James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway,^[3] is a major east–west highway across the southern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the eighth longest state route in Ohio, spanning southern Ohio from Cincinnati to Belpre, across the Ohio River from Parkersburg, West Virginia. Except in Belpre, leading up to the bridge into West Virginia, the entire route outside Cincinnati's beltway (Interstate 275, I-275) is a high-speed four-lane divided highway, forming the Ohio portion of Corridor D of the Appalachian Development Highway System.

State Route 32
James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway
Route of SR 32 in southern Ohio highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length	182.71 mi^[1] (294.04 km)
Existed	1962^[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	US 50 in Cincinnati
Major intersections	I-275 in Union Township US 68 in Mt. Orab SR 124 near Piketon US 23 in Piketon US 35 in Jackson US 33 / US 50 in Athens US 50 / SR 32 / SR 7 in Coolville
East end	WV 618 on Parkersburg-Belpre Bridge in Belpre
Location
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Highway system
Ohio State Highway System Interstate US State Scenic
← SR 31 → US 33
← I-74 → I-75

SR 32 crossing US 35 as SR 93 (background) crosses US 35 in Jackson County

SR 32 running concurrently with US 50 in southwestern Athens County

US 33 during its brief concurrency with US 50 and SR 32 in Athens

Route description

SR 32 begins at a junction with Columbia Parkway (U.S. Route 50, US 50) in eastern Cincinnati, near the border between the neighborhoods of Linwood, Mount Lookout, and Columbia-Tusculum, in the area of Lunken Field. It follows Beechmont Avenue, running concurrently with SR 125, until it crosses the Little Miami River, where it turns north on Batavia Road and continues past Newtown.^[4]

At the Clermont County line, the road becomes the Appalachian Highway, a four-lane, limited-access divided highway that is part of Corridor D. Between I-275 and Mount Orab, the highway alternates between at-grade and grade-separated interchanges.^[5] In Pike County, it runs concurrently with SR 772, then with SR 124. Next, it intersects the ramps to US 23 in Piketon.

There is an unusual interchange configuration near Jackson at US 35, which is an expressway in both directions. Each highway has ramps that exit to the other highway, with right-turning traffic merging onto the second highway, but left-turning traffic coming to an at-grade intersection. Both highways end up having at-grade intersections, albeit with a grade separation of the main highway corridors. This interchange type is sometimes termed a "windmill" interchange, but it is not related to the interchange type of the same name. This junction is the only interchange of its type known to exist in the world.^{[citation needed]}

SR 124 departs at Roads. US 50 rejoins SR 32 in front of the Gordon K. Bush Airport in Albany. The two routes briefly run concurrently with US 33 in Athens.

Near Coolville, SR 7 joins from the south. Just before Belpre, US 50 and Corridor D turn south, crossing the Ohio River on the Blennerhassett Island Bridge toward Parkersburg, West Virginia. SR 32 and the Appalachian Highway continue eastward through Belpre. The Appalachian Highway ends just west of the Ohio River; SR 7 turns north, remaining a limited-access divided highway, while SR 32 continues as a surface street for a few blocks until meeting the Memorial Bridge, a toll bridge across the Ohio River into Parkersburg.

History

The Batavia Turnpike and Miami Bridge Company was incorporated and chartered by the state of Ohio. It built a road, which was "about finished" as of 1841, beginning at the Wooster Turnpike (Eastern Avenue), crossing the Little Miami River on the Union Bridge, and turning east to Batavia.^[6][7] The Ohio Turnpike to Bethel split after the Little Miami was crossed.

The passage of the McGuire Bill in 1911 led to the designation of a large number of Inter-County Highways to be maintained by the Ohio Department of Highways.^[8] This network included the Cincinnati-Batavia Road (Inter-County Highway 41, ICH 41) and Batavia-Winchester Road (ICH 125), connecting Cincinnati to Batavia, Williamsburg, Mt. Orab, Sardinia, Winchester, and beyond to an intersection with the West Union-Belfast Road (ICH 122) south of Seaman (where Graces Run Road now meets SR 247). This entire route from Cincinnati to south of Seaman was designated and signed as State Route 74 in 1923. The route left downtown Cincinnati on Eastern Avenue, shared with SR 7 (now US 52) and SR 25 (now SR 125). SR 7 left at Davis Lane (now Airport Road), while SR 25 and SR 74 turned onto Beechmont Avenue, splitting after crossing the Little Miami River. By 1925, the eastern end of SR 74 had been realigned and extended, heading east from Winchester through Seaman and continuing through Peebles to SR 73 northwest of Rarden; the old alignment (Graces Run Road) reverted to local control. Along with US 50, US 52, and SR 125, SR 74 was moved to Columbia Parkway in the early 1940s, and in the early 1950s it was removed from downtown Cincinnati to its present terminus. Due to the existence of I-74 west of Cincinnati, the number was changed to SR 32 in 1962; SR 74 signs were removed in June 1963 after a period of dual signage. The designation had originally been applied to a route running from the Indiana border west of Celina to Marysville; in 1938 it was replaced by US 33 east of St. Marys, and a rerouted SR 54, later SR 29, to the west.^[2]

The state relocated the road between Mount Carmel and Batavia as a four-lane divided highway in the early 1960s, several years after the parallel SR 125 was widened (but not realigned). Because this was done before or during the renumbering, the old road here is known as Old State Route 74, rather than Old State Route 32 to the east. Improvement of the rest of the road did not take place until after it was added to the Appalachian Development Highway System in 1965.^[9] This proposed Appalachian Highway—part of Corridor D—was to run across the southern part of the state from I-275 outside Cincinnati to Belpre.^[10] From the east end of SR 32 east of Peebles, the route was to continue northeast, joining SR 772 near Elmgrove, and following SR 124 beyond Jackson to Roads. After continuing northeast to Radcliff, it would parallel SR 346 and a portion of SR 143, merging with US 50 west of Albany and following it past Athens and Coolville to Belpre. A never-built branch, planned as part of Corridor B,^[11] would have followed SR 73 and SR 348 from east of Peebles to Lucasville on US 23 (Corridor C).^[2]

In 1998, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) inspected a section of SR 32 in Jackson County due to repeated pavement failure and pothole subsidence featured in the median. Abandoned underground mines were visible near the roadway, but there were no mine maps available for the area. An electrical resistivity tomography was conducted to see if there were mine voids underneath the roadway. Several pits at 9.8-foot-deep (3.0 m) were excavated revealing that mine voids were detected.^[12] In response to the tests, ODOT closed the highway 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Wellston and began excavating the roadway to remediate the mine subsidence in November 1998.^[13] Work to repair the roadway was completed in March 1999.^[14]

In 2002, two interchanges were constructed along SR 32. Olive Branch–Stonelick Road intersection in Clermont County was constructed into an interchange. The $7 million project (equivalent to $11.3 million in 2023^[15]) was jointly funded by Clermont County and ODOT's Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC).^[16][17] The interchange project was awarded the Donald C. Schramm Award by the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE) Triko Valley Section in 2002.^[18] Work also began on replacing two at-grade intersections of SR 124 and SR 327 into a single interchange near Wellston in Jackson County. The $9 million project (equivalent to $14.6 million in 2023^[15]) was funded jointly by the Federal Highway Safety Infrastructure program and ODOT's Highway Safety Program (HSP).^[19] The project was completed in July 2004 at cost of $12.5 million, an increase of $3.5 million than originally estimated (equivalent to $19.3 million and $5.41 million in 2023,^[15] respectively).^[20]

Future

The portion of SR 32 in Clermont, Brown, Highland, Adams, and Pike counties was under consideration as the eastward continuation of I-74 from Cincinnati to Piketon in 1991, where it would have connected with I-73 as part of the North-South I-73/I-74 Corridor created in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991. Heavy local opposition in the late 1990s to build I-74 through Cincinnati and I-73 around Columbus and north through Michigan forced ODOT to cancel any further plans to extend I-74 east of Cincinnati or I-73 from Portsmouth and Columbus to Toledo through Ohio.^{[citation needed]}

A construction project that is a part of the Eastern Corridor, is redesigning SR 32 from I-275 to Batavia. This segment of construction began in 2012.^[21] The plan is to remove all signalized intersections east of I-275 and eventually replace it with a limited-access highway to Batavia.^[22] Funding for the final segments, which call for the construction of interchanges at Glen Este-Withamsville and Bach-Buxton Roads, amounts to $83.1 million (equivalent to $97.7 million in 2023^[15]). The project funding was awarded in November 2019 with construction beginning in 2021.^[23] The Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law in December 2022 also provided funding.^[24]

Work began in Brown County in Spring 2023 for a diamond interchange project on S.R. 32 located between Bodman and Brooks-Malott Roads, approx. 1 mile east of Mount Orab. Both existing at-grade intersections will be removed, along with the current traffic signal at S.R. 32 and Brooks-Malott Road. This multi-year, multi-phase project, has an estimated completion of Summer 2025.^[25]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Hamilton	Cincinnati (Linwood)	0.00– 0.13	0.00– 0.21		US 50 (Columbia Parkway) / US 50 Truck (Eastern Avenue) / SR 561 north (Linwood Avenue) – Downtown Cincinnati	Western end of SR 125 concurrency; interchange; southern terminus of SR 561
		0.41	0.66		Wilmer Avenue / Wooster Road - Lunken Airport	Interchange
	Anderson Township	1.38– 1.79	2.22– 2.88		SR 125 east (Beechmont Avenue)	Eastern end of SR 125 concurrency; interchange
Clermont	Union Township	8.72– 9.20	14.03– 14.81		I-275 to I-71 / US 52 – Columbus, Kentucky	I-275 exit 63
		9.47– 9.71	15.24– 15.63		Eastgate Boulevard (CR 341)	Interchange
		10.20	16.42		Glen Este-Withamsville Road	Future interchange^[26]
		11.04	17.77		Bach-Buxton Road	Interchange
	Batavia Township	12.27– 12.73	19.75– 20.49		Olive Branch–Stonelick Road (CR 99)	Interchange
	Batavia	14.12– 14.32	22.72– 23.05		Main Street (CR 171) - Batavia	Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Batavia Township	14.97– 15.27	24.09– 24.57		SR 132 / SR 222 – Batavia, Owensville	Interchange
		18.07– 18.33	29.08– 29.50		Batavia Road (CR 368) / James Sauls Sr. Drive	Interchange
	Williamsburg Township	19.45– 19.82	31.30– 31.90		Half Acre Road (CR 59)	Interchange
		21.17– 21.41	34.07– 34.46		SR 133 – Williamsburg	Interchange
Brown	Mt. Orab	27.2	43.8		Bruce Lunsford's Way	Future interchange
		28.89– 29.37	46.49– 47.27		US 68 – Mt. Orab, Fayetteville	Interchange
Highland	No major junctions
Brown	Sardinia	35.65	57.37		SR 134 north / Purdy Road (CR 76) – Lynchburg, Sardinia	Southern terminus of SR 134
	Eagle Township	41.22	66.34		US 62 – Hillsboro, Russellville, Ripley, Southern State Community College
Adams	Winchester	45.85	73.79		SR 136 (Main Street) – Winchester, Cherry Fork, Manchester
	Seaman	50.42	81.14		SR 247 (Main Street) – Seaman, West Union, Adams County Salamon Airport
	Meigs Township	58.84	94.69		SR 41 – Peebles, West Union
	Franklin Township	64.13	103.21		SR 73 – Hillsboro, Rarden
Pike	Sunfish Township	76.95	123.84		SR 772 south – Rarden	Western end of SR 772 concurrency
	Newton Township	79.01	127.15		SR 124 west / SR 772 north / Tennyson Road – Latham, Pike Lake State Park	Eastern end of SR 772 concurrency; western end of SR 124 concurrency
	Jasper	82.71	133.11		SR 104 – Waverly, Portsmouth
	Seal Township	84.14– 84.27	135.41– 135.62		US 23 – Chillicothe, Portsmouth	Interchange
		87.56	140.91		SR 220 west / Schuster Road 81 – Waverly	Eastern terminus of SR 220
	Marion Township	94.86	152.66		SR 335 – Beaver, Stockdale
Jackson	Scioto Township	102.87	165.55		SR 776 – Jackson
	Franklin Township	105.83	170.32		SR 139 – Jackson, Minford
	Lick Township	108.10– 108.40	173.97– 174.45		SR 93 – Jackson, Oak Hill	Interchange
		108.94– 109.40	175.32– 176.06		US 35 – Gallipolis, Chillicothe	"Windmill" interchange
	Milton Township	114.35– 114.80	184.03– 184.75	17	SR 327 / SR 124 east – Wellston	Eastern end of SR 124 concurrency; interchange
Vinton	Vinton Township	125.07	201.28		SR 160 – Hamden, Wilkesville
Meigs	Columbia Township	130.99	210.81		SR 689 south / County Road 55 – Wilkesville	Northern terminus of SR 689
Athens	Lee Township	133.76	215.27		SR 143 – Middleport
		134.78	216.91		US 50 west – McArthur, Chillicothe	Western end of US 50 concurrency
	Albany	136.91– 137.24	220.34– 220.87		SR 681 – Albany	Interchange
	Athens	144.60– 145.31	232.71– 233.85	170	US 33 east / Richland Avenue – Pomeroy, Ravenswood	Western end of US 33 concurrency; interchange
		145.53– 145.93	234.21– 234.85	198	SR 682 north to SR 56 – Athens	Interchange; southern terminus of SR 682
	Athens Township	146.55	235.85	197C	County Road 25 / Stimson Avenue	Interchange
		146.65– 147.05	236.01– 236.65	173	US 33 west / State Street – Columbus	Eastern end of US 33 concurrency; interchange
	Canaan Township	149.54– 149.73	240.66– 240.97	176	East State Street (CR 40)	Interchange
		151.93	244.51		SR 690 north – Strouds Run State Park	Southern terminus of SR 690
	Rome Township	156.64	252.09		SR 329 north – Stewart, Guysville	Southern terminus of SR 329
	Troy Township	165.92– 166.42	267.02– 267.83		SR 7 south – Pomeroy, Gallipolis	Western end of SR 7 concurrency; interchange
		167.52	269.60		SR 144 – Stewart, Hockingport
		170.52	274.43		SR 124 west / CR 61 – Hockingport	Eastern terminus of SR 124
Washington	Belpre Township	174.37	280.62		SR 555 north – Bartlett	Southern terminus of SR 555
		175.16– 175.76	281.89– 282.86		SR 618 east – Belpre	Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance; western terminus of SR 618
		176.36– 176.90	283.82– 284.69		SR 339 – Beverly	Interchange
		176.14– 177.22	283.47– 285.21		US 50 east (Blennerhassett Island Bridge) to I-77 – Parkersburg	Eastern end of US 50 concurrency; interchange
	Belpre	181.49	292.08		SR 7 north – Marietta	eastern end of SR 7 concurrency; interchange
		181.81	292.59		SR 618 east (Main Street) to SR 7 north / Toll Bridge – Parkersburg	Western end of SR 618 concurrency
		182.58	293.83		SR 618 west (Washington Boulevard)	Eastern end of SR 618 concurrency
		182.65– 182.71	293.95– 294.04		WV 618 east to WV 68 / I-77 – Parkersburg	West Virginia state line (Parkersburg–Belpre Bridge over Ohio River)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. . Ohio Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
2. Ohio maps:
   • Map of Ohio Showing Inter-County Highways (MrSID) (Map). 1 im:10 mi. Cartography by OSHD. Ohio State Highway Department. 1912. (first one to show the Inter-County Highways)
   • Highway Map of Ohio Showing Progress of Improvements on the Inter-County Highway System (MrSID) (Map). 1 im:12 mi. Cartography by OSHD. Ohio State Highway Department. 1917. (lists the Inter-County Highways by name)
   • Map of Ohio Showing State Routes (MrSID) (Map). 1 in:6 mi. Cartography by ODHPW. Ohio Department of Highways and Public Works. August 1, 1926. Cincinnati and Vicinity inset. (shows the routing in Cincinnati; shows the original SR 32)
   • Official Ohio Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Ohio Department of Highways. 1938.
   • Official Ohio Highway Map (MrSID) (Map). 1 mi:10 mi. Cartography by Division of Operations, Bureau of Traffic. Ohio Department of Highways. 1962. (describes the renumbering)
   • (Map). 1 mi:10 mi. Cartography by Division of Operations, Bureau of Traffic. Ohio Department of Highways. 1969. Archived from the original (MrSID) on October 12, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013. (shows the proposed Appalachian Highway)
3. "Title 55, Chapter 5533, Section 26: James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway". Ohio Revised Code.
4. "SHAMSR00032**C" (PDF) (Straight-line diagram). Columbus: Ohio Department of Transportation. July 30, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
5. "SCLESR00032**C" (PDF) (Straight-line diagram). Columbus: Ohio Department of Transportation. July 29, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
6. Ford, Henry A.; Ford, A. M. & Ford, Kate B. (1881). History of Hamilton County Ohio. p. 347.
7. Cist, Charles (1841). Cincinnati in 1841: Its Early Annals and Future Prospects. the Author. p. 81.
8. Office of Real Estate (July 2013). "3101.1: History of Roadways in Ohio" (PDF). Right of Way Plan Manual. Columbus: Ohio Department of Transportation. p. 1. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
9. Dunlap, Brett (June 30, 2007). . Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
10. "175 Miles of Appalachian Road Okayed". Hillsboro Press Gazette. August 3, 1965.
11. "Ohio Appalachian Highway Progressing; 38.5 Miles Built". Hillsboro Press Gazette. August 8, 1969.
12. Sheets, Rodney A. (2002). "Use of Electrical Resistivity to Detect Underground Mine Voids in Ohio" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. p. 4. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
13. "Mine Subsidence in Ohio, Diary of an Abandoned Underground Mine Subsidence Remediation: Jackson County State Route 32". Ohio Department of Transportation. November 1998. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
14. "Mine Subsidence in Ohio, Diary of an Abandoned Underground Mine Subsidence Remediation: Jackson County State Route 32". Ohio Department of Transportation. March 1999. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
15. Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
16. "Major New Projects - October 8, 1998". Ohio Department of Transportation. October 8, 1998. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
17. "2001-2005 Major New Construction Program" (PDF). Ohio Department of Transportation. May 22, 2001. p. 2. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
18. "Donald C Schramm Award Recipients". ASHE Triko Valley. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
19. "Taft Marks Beginning of Wellston Interchange Project". Ohio Department of Transportation. April 3, 2002. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
20. "ODOT District 9 Major New Program" (PDF). ODOT District 9. August 5, 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
21. "Project Status". Eastern Corridor. December 18, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
22. "Eastgate Area to Batavia (Segments IV and IVa) Overview". Eastern Corridor. December 20, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
23. Alley, Megan (November 27, 2019). "Dollars coming to SR 32 for improvements". The Clermont Sun. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
24. Glynn, Erin (February 22, 2023). "Coming to Clermont County: An expressway from I-275 to Batavia". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
25. "SR 32/Brooks Malott Road interchange construction". Ohio Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
26. Vilvens, Sheila (February 8, 2018). "Why more construction on Ohio 32? Because by 2030 it will carry 79,000 vehicles per day, projections say". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved April 27, 2019.

External links

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