US Highway 127 (US 127) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. In Ohio, the highway runs 194.27 miles (312.65 km) from the Ohio River in Cincinnati to the Michigan state line north of West Unity. US 127 runs south to north in Ohio's westernmost counties along the border of Indiana. The highway is a main route connecting many small towns, including eight county seats. The highway was first designated in 1926. Its route ended in downtown Toledo before being realigned to its current route in 1930.
 U.S. Route 127 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Route of US 127 in Ohio highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route of US 27 | ||||
| Maintained by ODOT | ||||
| Length | 194.27 mi[1] (312.65 km) | |||
| Existed | 1926[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |    US 25 / US 42 / US 127 at the Kentucky state line | |||
| ||||
| North end | US 127 near Waldron, MI | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Ohio | |||
| Counties | Hamilton, Butler, Preble, Darke, Mercer, Van Wert, Paulding, Defiance, Williams, Fulton | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
editHamilton County
editUS 127 enters Ohio from the Kentucky via the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, which also carries US 42 and US 25 north across the Ohio River into Cincinnati. Upon entering Ohio, US 25 ends, and US 127/US 42 continues through Downtown east for one block on Third Street, and then north one block on Central Avenue. At this point, the route becomes a one-way pair, with the northbound route using Fifth Street and Elm Street, and the southbound route using Sixth Street and Plum Street. Both streets intersect Central Parkway, and US 127 follows the roadway north while US 42 instead heads east on the parkway.
As US 127 continues north, it passes one block west of Washington Park and Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine and marks the neighborhood's western boundary. Upon passing the eastern end of the Western Hills Viaduct, the roadway closely parallels Interstate 75 (I-75) for nearly two miles (3.2 km).
US 127 then turns onto the Ludlow Viaduct over Mill Creek near the junction of I-75 and I-74; it becomes Hamilton Avenue at its end. At this point, US 127 becomes a predominantly four-lane surface street. As Hamilton Avenue, US 127 is the major north–south artery and commercial corridor in Cincinnati's Northside and College Hill neighborhoods, and then the inner suburban cities of North College Hill and Mt. Healthy. There is an interchange with I-275 just before it crosses into Butler County.
Rest of Ohio
edit
US 127 passes through Fairfield then reaches downtown Hamilton. In Hamilton, US 127 widens to a four-lane road just south of downtown before returning to a two-lane road at the northern edge of New Miami. From this point, US 127 roughly parallels Sevenmile Creek until it reaches Eaton.[3]
Approximately seven miles (11 km) north of Eaton, US 127 intersects I-70 and US 40 (National Road) and proceeds to Greenville. Along this section of the route US 127 is a two-lane rural highway surrounded by farms. Approaching Greenville, the road widens to a four-lane limited access highway, serving as a bypass to the east of the city.
The road returns to a rural two-lane road and continues north to Celina, skirting the western edge of Grand Lake St. Marys and the associated state park. US 127 serves as Main Street in Celina, the county seat of Mercer County. Just north of Celina, the highway intersects US 33, which connects Ft. Wayne, Indiana, with Columbus, and then US 127 continues to Van Wert.
In Van Wert, US 127 is Washington Street and serves as the main road through the city's business district. The Lincoln Highway intersects US 127 one block west of the county courthouse. In the northern part of the city, US 127 has a partial cloverleaf interchange with US 30 and US 224. US 224 joins US 127 and continues north briefly before US 224 turns to the east and US 127 continues due north toward Paulding.
In Paulding, US 127 bends to the northwest to cross Flatrock Creek before reaching the courthouse and turning back to the north on Williams Street. North of the city, and just south of the Maumee River, the highway intersects US 24, a limited-access highway between Toledo, Ohio and Fort Wayne, at a diamond interchange before crossing the river.
US 127 intersects US 6, the Grand Army of the Republic Highway and with State Route 15 (SR 15) becomes Main Street in Bryan. At the northern city limit, SR 15 continues north to the Ohio Turnpike while US 127 begins a northeast route toward West Unity. After passing under the turnpike, US 127 has a brief concurrency with US 20 and then enters Michigan to the north in rural Lenawee County.[3]
History
editBy 1912, the current US 127 corridor in Ohio existed as a series of inter-county highways running from Cincinnati to Michigan. By 1917, significant sections of the route was paved, especially near the county seats and the section from Eaton to Hamilton. In 1923, state highways were numbered and signed for the first time in Ohio. The current US 127 route was designated SR 9 from Cincinnati to Bryan and SR 108 from Bryan to the Michigan state line.[4][5][6]
The United States Numbered Highway System was introduced in 1926. US 127 was designated to run from US 27 in Jackson, Michigan, to downtown Toledo via Monroe Street, and was later designated SR 51. Four years later, the route of US 127 was changed to reach Cincinnati. The original highway was re-numbered US 223. The new route for US 127 would move to its current alignment from along former SR 9 and former SR 108. At this time, SR 9 from Bryan to the Michigan state line became part of SR 15. The route remains mostly unchanged since 1930. US 127 still serves as a main surface street in the towns along its route, which includes eight county seats.[7][8]
Future
editFrom 2011 to 2015, there had been 45 vehicle accidents, and from 2011 to 2016, three fatalities at the intersection of US 127 and Kruckeberg Road in Greenville Township, Darke County, along Greenville's bypass. After public calls for intersection improvements, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) offered six options at a public meeting on January 24, 2017.[9][10] On June 15, 2017, ODOT announced that the intersection would be converted to a (standard) restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT, also known as a superstreet), but termed by ODOT as a "partial RCUT", at a cost of just over $748,000, with construction slated to begin in summer 2019.[11] A superstreet already exists along the SR 4 Bypass in nearby Butler County.
There is a $2.4 million project north of the city of Van Wert to replace the current intersection of US 127, US 224 and Marsh Road (County Road 13) with a roundabout.[12][13][14][15] The project began in January 2022 and is expected to be complete in October.[16][17]
Major intersections
edit| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | Cincinnati | 0.00 | 0.00 |  US 127 south / US 42 south / US 25 south (Clay Wade Bailey Bridge) | Continuation into Kentucky; northern terminus of US 25 |
| 0.47 | 0.76 |  US 27 / US 42 | Northern end of US 42 concurrency; southern end of US 27 concurrency | ||
| 0.64 | 1.03 |   US 22 / US 27 / SR 264 | Northern end of US 27 concurrency; southern end of US 22 concurrency | ||
| 0.81 | 1.30 | US 22 / US 27 | Northern end of US 22 concurrency; southern end of US 27 concurrency | ||
| 3.93 | 6.32 | US 27 | Northern end of US 27 concurrency | ||
| North College Hill | 10.23 | 16.46 |  SR 126 (Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway) | Interchange is also in Mt. Healthy | |
| Springfield Township | 14.54 | 23.40 |  I-275 | I-275 exit 36 | |
| Butler | Hamilton | 22.18 | 35.70 |  SR 128 / Pershing Avenue | Western terminus of SR 128 |
| 22.56 | 36.31 |  SR 129 / High Street | |||
| Seven Mile | 28.88 | 46.48 |  SR 503 / West Elkton Road | Southern terminus of SR 503 | |
| Wayne Township | 30.16 | 48.54 |  SR 73 / Trenton Oxford Road | Southern end of SR 73 concurrency | |
| Milford Township | 32.73 | 52.67 | SR 73 / Oxford Trenton Road | Northern end of SR 73 concurrency | |
| Preble | Somers Township | 37.59 | 60.50 |  SR 744 / Oxford Germantown Road | Western terminus of SR 744 |
| Camden | 47.23 | 76.01 |  SR 725 / Central Avenue | ||
| Eaton | 49.77 | 80.10 |  SR 732 / Hillcrest Drive | Northern terminus of SR 732 | |
| 50.15 | 80.71 |  US 35 / Main Street | |||
| Washington Township | 53.08 | 85.42 |  SR 726 | Southern terminus of SR 726 | |
| Monroe Township | 56.53 | 90.98 |  I-70 | I-70 exit 10 | |
| 57.42 | 92.41 |  US 40 (National Road) | |||
| Darke | Castine | 63.16 | 101.65 |  SR 722 | |
| Butler Township | 68.11 | 109.61 | SR 503 | ||
| Neave Township | 71.85 | 115.63 |  US 36 | Southern end of US 36 concurrency | |
| Greenville | 75.32 | 121.22 | US 36 | Northern end of US 36 concurrency | |
| 77.14 | 124.14 |  SR 121 | |||
| York Township | 84.32 | 135.70 |  SR 47 | ||
| 87.31 | 140.51 |  SR 185 | |||
| Wabash Township | 92.30 | 148.54 |  SR 705 | ||
| Mercer | Marion Township | 97.01 | 156.12 |  SR 119 | |
| 99.04 | 159.39 |  SR 274 | |||
| Butler Township | 102.28 | 164.60 |  SR 219 | ||
| 103.35 | 166.33 |  SR 703 | Southern end of SR 703 concurrency | ||
| Celina | 106.72 | 171.75 |  SR 29 | Southern end of SR 29 concurrency | |
| 106.94 | 172.10 | SR 29 / SR 703 | Northern end of SR 29/SR 703 concurrency | ||
| 107.21 | 172.54 |  SR 197 | |||
| Dublin Township | 114.14 | 183.69 |   US 33 / SR 707 | Southern end of SR 707 concurrency | |
| 115.41 | 185.73 | SR 707 | Northern end of SR 707 concurrency | ||
| 118.43 | 190.59 |  SR 117 | |||
| Van Wert | Liberty Township | 120.43 | 193.81 |  SR 81 | |
| 122.94 | 197.85 |  SR 709 | |||
| Van Wert | 127.97 | 205.95 |  SR 116 | ||
| 129.30 | 208.09 |  SR 118 | |||
| 130.29 | 209.68 |   US 30 / US 224 | Southern end of US 224 concurrency | ||
| Pleasant–Ridge township line | 131.65 | 211.87 | US 224 Marsh Road (CR 13) | Northern end of US 224 concurrency; intersection; scheduled for conversion to roundabout October 2022 | |
| Paulding | Blue Creek Township | 139.83 | 225.03 |  SR 114 | |
| Jackson Township | 144.84 | 233.10 |  SR 613 | ||
| Paulding | 148.29 | 238.65 |  SR 111 | Southern end of SR 111 concurrency | |
| Crane Township | 152.17 | 244.89 | SR 111 | Northern end of SR 111 concurrency | |
| 153.90 | 247.68 |  US 24 | |||
| Defiance | Sherwood | 159.88 | 257.30 |  SR 18 | |
| Washington Township | 165.90 | 266.99 |  SR 249 | ||
| Williams | Pulaski Township | 169.10 | 272.14 |  SR 15 | Southern end of SR 15 concurrency |
| 170.00 | 273.59 |   US 6 / SR 2 | Southern end of SR 2 concurrency | ||
| Bryan | 172.27 | 277.24 |  SR 2 / SR 34 | Northern end of SR 2 concurrency | |
| Pulaski Township | 173.04 | 278.48 | SR 15 | Southern end of SR 15 concurrency | |
| West Unity | 183.29 | 294.98 |  US 20A | Southern end of US 20A concurrency | |
| 183.49 | 295.30 | US 20A | Northern end of US 20A concurrency | ||
| Mill Creek Township | 189.20 | 304.49 |   US 20 west | Southern end of US 20 concurrency | |
| Fulton | Gorham Township | 191.92 | 308.87 |  US 20 east – Toledo | Northern end of US 20 concurrency |
| 194.27 | 312.65 |  US 127 north – Jackson | Continuation into Michigan | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
edit- ^ a b Office of Technical Services (October 26, 2017). "Roadway Description Inventory Report: DESTAPE". Ohio Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- Hamilton County (PDF). pp. 42-45
- Butler County (PDF). pp. 15-18
- Preble County (PDF). pp. 15-18
- Darke County (PDF). pp. 8-10
- Mercer County (PDF). pp. 11-14
- Van Wert County (PDF). pp. 10-12
- Paulding County (PDF). pp. 9-11
- Defiance County (PDF). pp. 12-13
- Williams County (PDF). pp. 17-19
- Fulton County (PDF). pp. 16-17
- ^ Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: United States Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved March 25, 2018 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ a b "Overview Map of US 127 in Ohio" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Ohio State Highway Department (1912). Map of Ohio Showing Inter-County Highways (PDF) (Map). c. 1:563,200. Columbus: Ohio State Highway Department. OCLC 13716556. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Ohio State Highway Department (1917). Highway Map of Ohio Showing Progress of Improvements on the Inter-County Highway System (PDF) (Map). c. 1:419,486. Columbus: Ohio State Highway Department. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Ohio Department of Highways and Public Works (July 1923). Map of Ohio Showing State Routes (PDF) (Map). 1:760,320. Columbus: Ohio Department of Highways and Public Works. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Ohio Department of Highways and Public Works (August 1, 1926). Map of Ohio Showing State Routes (PDF) (Map). 1:760,320. Columbus: Ohio Department of Highways and Public Works. OCLC 5673562. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Ohio Department of Highways (1930). Map of Ohio Showing State Highway System (PDF) (Map). 1:760,320. Columbus: Ohio Department of Highways. OCLC 5673562, 7237073. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Martin, Erik (January 25, 2017). "ODOT Hears Intersection Feedback: Discusses Plans to Improve 127/Kruckeberg Junction". The Daily Advocate. Greenville, OH. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ Hartley, Susan (January 25, 2017). "ODOT Hears Suggestions for Kruckeberg Road". The Early Bird. Greenville, OH. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ Martin, Erik (June 15, 2017). "State Agrees to Fund 127/Kruckeberg Intersection Reconstruction". The Daily Advocate. Greenville, OH. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- ^ Barnhart, Kirsten (December 1, 2019). "ODOT looking at roundabout at U.S. 127/U.S. 224/Marsh Road". Delphos Herald. Delphos, Ohio: DHI Media. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
- ^ "Roundabout to be built at intersection of U.S. 127/U.S. 224 at Marsh Road". The Times Bulletin. Van Wert, Ohio: DHI Media. January 15, 2020. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
- ^ Cummins, Todd; Sharpe, Joseph (January 15, 2020). "Roundabout to be built north of city of Van Wert". WLIO. Block Communications. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
- ^ "Roundabout to improve U.S. 127/224 intersection". The Lima News. AIM Media Midwest. January 15, 2020. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
- ^ Demczyk, Matt (April 6, 2022). "ODOT Kicks Off Construction Season In Northwest Ohio". WKXA-FM. Blanchard River Broadcasting Company. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
- ^ District 1 Public Information. "U.S. 127/U.S. 224 roundabout construction; and U.S. 127 bridge rehabilitation". Ohio Department of Transportation. Project 110430. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
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External links
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Media related to U.S. Route 127 in Ohio at Wikimedia Commons
