Interstate 475 (Ohio)

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Interstate 475 (I-475) is an Interstate Highway in Ohio that is a 20.37-mile (32.78 km) western bypass of Toledo. The southern terminus is I-75 exit 192 near Perrysburg. From the southern terminus to exit 14, I-475 is co-signed with US Route 23 (US 23), and is signed the north/south section of I-475. From exit 14 to the eastern (northernmost) terminus at I-75 exit 204 in central Toledo, (north of downtown), it is signed the east/west section of I-475.

Although I-475 crosses I-80/I-90 (the Ohio Turnpike), there is no interchange and one must drive a couple of miles through surface streets between I-475 exit 6 and I-80/I-90 exit 59.

I-475 is named the Rosa Parks Highway in honor of Rosa Parks, who had helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott.

Video Interstate 475 (Ohio)

Route description

Interstate 475 is a half-beltway bypassing downtown Toledo on its western side as mostly a north-south segment and a largely east-west segment on the north side of Toledo. It has almost a half-square shape on the map consisting of the top and left sides of the square. It is much less direct than its parent I-75 through Toledo; the entire route of I-475 uses 20 miles to connect exits 12 miles apart on Interstate 75.

I-475 parallels what was US 23 on its north-south segment (US 23 has been realigned to it); it has Ann Arbor, Michigan as a control city northbound (via US 23) and Columbus, Ohio and Dayton, Ohio as control cities southbound; it reaches neither of the three cities. On its northern segment it parallels Ohio State Route 120 and has Toledo as a control city to the east. Rural when built, it has much suburban-style development along its route.

It has no direct access to the Ohio Turnpike, access to which requires the use of either Ohio State Route 2 to and from the west, I-75 to or from the east, or surface streets to US 20.

Maps Interstate 475 (Ohio)

History

I-475 was opened in sections with the first opened in 1967 between US 20, at the current I-75 interchange near Perrysburg, and US 24, near Maumee. By 1969 the second portion opened between US 24 and US 23, near Sylvania. In this year the southern terminus was moved from US 20, near Perrysburg, to the southern interchange with I-75. The final section opened in 1971 and was between US 23 and I-75 near downtown Toledo.

Between 2010 and 2012, the easternmost sections of I-475 were reconstructed. This included the redevelopment of several overpasses, as well as the removal of an outdated interchange with Central Avenue in favor of an interchange with a newly constructed extension of ProMedica Parkway for easier access. Additional lanes were also added at the I-75/I-475 junction at I-475's eastern terminus.

A single-point urban interchange was constructed in Sylvania Township at the US 20/State Route 120 exit from July 2015 into November 2016. Beginning in October 2016, and ongoing as of November 2017, work began in Perrysburg on upgrading the interchange with State Route 25 into a diverging diamond interchange.