Editing Interstate 71 (section)

==History==
{{Multiple image
| width             = 80
| image1            = I-71 (KY 1957).svg
| alt1              = I-71 in Kentucky marker
| image2            = I-71 (OH 1957).svg
| alt2              = I-71 in Ohio marker
| footer            = 1957 versions of the Interstate Highway marker for Kentucky and Ohio
}}
===Kentucky===
The first section of I-71 in Louisville opened in December 1966 between its terminus at Spaghetti Junction and Zorn Avenue, its first exit. Its junction with [[Interstate 264 (Kentucky)|I-264]] opened in July 1968, and the complete Kentucky portion of the Interstate was opened to the public in July 1969. At that point, it replaced [[U.S. Route 42|US&nbsp;42]] as the primary link between Cincinnati and Louisville.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last = Kleber |editor-first = John E. |year = 2001 |chapter = Interstates and Expressways |title = Encyclopedia of Louisville |location = Lexington |publisher = [[University Press of Kentucky]] |pages = 417–418 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC&q=%22Interstate%2064%22&pg=PA418 |isbn = 0813128900 |access-date = October 18, 2020 |archive-date = January 28, 2024 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240128012704/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC&q=%22Interstate%2064%22&pg=PA418#v=snippet&q=%22Interstate%2064%22&f=false |url-status = live }}</ref>

===Ohio===
{{See also|Ohio State Route 1 (1961–1965)}}
Much of I-71 in Ohio was intended to be [[Ohio State Route 1|SR&nbsp;1]]. SR&nbsp;1 was originally planned in the 1950s as a second [[Ohio Turnpike]] extending southwest to northeast across the state. It was planned to run from Cincinnati to [[Conneaut, Ohio|Conneaut]] and connect with an extension built across the panhandle of [[Pennsylvania]] to the [[New York State Thruway]]. As the highway was being planned, the [[Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956]] was enacted, and the project was converted from a toll road to a freeway. It was designated as SR&nbsp;1, since the Interstate Highway numbering system had not yet been implemented. Portions of the freeway began to be completed and opened in 1959 with the new Interstate Highway funding, and they were marked as SR&nbsp;1 as well as with their new Interstate Highway number. Since large gaps existed along the corridor where no freeway had yet been completed, existing two-lane or four-lane highways were also designated as SR&nbsp;1 in order to complete the route. The SR&nbsp;1 signage was removed in 1966 as the Interstate Highway numbers adequately marked the route by then and the state highway numbering was superfluous.

[[File:Sohio columbus i71-1.JPG|thumb|upright=0.549|Columbus-area highway marker designating I-71 and SR&nbsp;1 (1965)]]
In Columbus, the portion of I-71 that bounds Worthington's eastern edge was originally called the North Freeway. Costing $13.8&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|13800000|1962}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}), it was constructed south from [[Ohio State Route 161|SR&nbsp;161]], arriving at 11th Avenue by August 1961. It took another year to construct the portion between 11th and 5th avenues, mainly due to the need to construct a massive underpass under the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s Grogan Yard. Today, only two tracks cross the viaduct, and the rest of the structure supports a large, weedy field. By August 1962, the freeway had reached Fifth Avenue, and it reached downtown in November 1962.

I-71 was originally planned to follow the Innerbelt Freeway northward from its current northern terminus to the [[Cleveland Memorial Shoreway]] at [[Dead Man's Curve]] when I-90 was planned to continue westward from there along the Shoreway.<ref>{{cite report |author = Ohio Department of Highways |author-link = Ohio Department of Highways |url = http://www.roadfan.com/clevmap.html |title = 1957–1958 Biennial Report |type = Excerpt |publisher = Ohio Department of Highways |access-date = February 27, 2013 |via = Roadfan.com |archive-date = September 24, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924091534/http://www.roadfan.com/clevmap.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

Upon its completion, I-71 replaced [[Ohio State Route 3|SR&nbsp;3]] as the primary highway link between Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland.

For more than 30 years {{as of|2025|lc=y}}, there has been discussion about building an interchange at Boston Road on the border of [[Brunswick, Ohio|Brunswick]] in [[Medina County, Ohio|Medina County]] and [[Strongsville, Ohio|Strongsville]] in [[Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Cuyahoga County]] between the [[Ohio State Route 303|SR&nbsp;303]] and [[Ohio State Route 82|SR&nbsp;82]] interchanges.<ref>{{cite news|first=Rich|last=Exner|title=New interchange or not? I-71 corridor study to seek 'holistic solution' to decades-old dilemma|url=https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/04/new-interchange-or-not-i-71-corridor-study-to-seek-holistic-solution-to-decades-old-dilemma.html|work=[[The Plain Dealer]]|location=Cleveland|date=April 9, 2025|access-date=April 10, 2025}}</ref>

Between 2004 and 2006, the interchange at milepost&nbsp;121 in the far northern reaches of Columbus was reconstructed to allow access to the eastern extension of Gemini Place.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=1447.0 |title = Ohio Fuses Two Interchanges in Columbus |author = urbanohio.com |access-date = June 14, 2015 |archive-date = June 15, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150615140736/http://urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=1447.0 |url-status = live }}{{sps|certain=yes|date=June 2022}}</ref> Before that, it was a simple [[diamond interchange]] with [[Ohio State Route 750|SR&nbsp;750]] (Polaris Parkway).

===Rebuilding and widening program===
In 1999, the state of Ohio began a 10-year, $500-million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|500000000|1999}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) project to improve I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland. The plans did not include widening the {{Convert|25|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch in [[Delaware County, Ohio|Delaware]] and [[Morrow County, Ohio|Morrow]] counties, calling for patching that section instead. At that time, state transportation officials said they did not plan to widen that section for two reasons: traffic studies did not support the widening and there was no money for the project.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ferenchik |first=Mark |date=February 26, 2013 |title=3rd lane coming to I-71 by 2015 |url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/02/25/ODOT-plans-to-widen-last-25-mile-stretchof-I-71-from-Columbus-to-Cleveland.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007122536/http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/02/25/ODOT-plans-to-widen-last-25-mile-stretchof-I-71-from-Columbus-to-Cleveland.html |archive-date=October 7, 2014 |access-date=October 4, 2014 |work=[[The Columbus Dispatch]]}}</ref> But [[Ohio Department of Transportation]] (ODOT) officials eventually gave in under pressure from elected officials and business owners to widen the remaining {{Convert|25|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch of I-71 from just north of the [[U.S. Route 36 in Ohio|US&nbsp;36]]/[[Ohio State Route 37|SR&nbsp;37]] interchange in Delaware County to the Morrow–[[Richland County, Ohio|Richland]] county line.<ref name="I-71widening">{{Cite news |last=Hill |first=Todd |date=October 13, 2014 |title=I-71 widening almost finished |url=https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2014/10/13/widening-almost-finished/17218447/ |access-date=June 19, 2015 |work=[[Mansfield News Journal]] |archive-date=June 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620065440/http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2014/10/13/widening-almost-finished/17218447/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The reconstruction and widening on the last {{Convert|25|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch of I-71 in Delaware and Morrow counties began in early 2012, and the work was completed in mid-2015 at a cost of $144&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US-GDP|144000000|2015}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}).<ref name=I-71widening/>