Interstate 470 (Ohio – West Virginia)

Interstate 470 (I-470) is a 10.63-mile (17.11 km) long loop of Interstate 70 bypassing the city of Wheeling, West Virginia. The western terminus of the freeway is at an interchange with I-70 near Blaine, Ohio. Traveling southeast through rural Belmont County, the highway approaches the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge carrying I-470 over the Ohio River. After crossing the river into Ohio County, West Virginia, the highway turns northeast, towards the Wheeling neighborhood of Elm Grove and its eastern terminus at I-70 near Wheeling Park.

Construction began in 1975 in the two states but due to a chronic lack of funding, construction in Ohio was stalled between 1976 and 1981. By 1983, both states had completed construction on the freeway. The three-level diamond interchange with concurrent highways U.S. Route 250 (US 250) and West Virginia Route 2 (WV 2) on the eastern banks of the Ohio River was thought to be the most complex interchange in West Virginia's Interstate Highway System at the time of construction. On average, between 26,000 and 38,000 vehicles use the highway daily. During the reconstruction work on the Wheeling Tunnel, I-470 was one of two suggested detour routes to avoid the closed tunnel.

Route description

The freeway begins at a trumpet interchange with I-70 near the unincorporated community of Blaine, in eastern Belmont County, Ohio. An exit for County Road 28 (CR 28), the penultimate exit for westbound travelers, provides travelers access to US 40 (also known as the National Road). The highway curves to the southeast through the woodlands forming part of the northeastern corner of Neffs, and briefly parallels High Ridge Road (CR 214) before meeting it at a diamond interchange. High Ridge Road to the north connects back to I-70, and to the south links Bellaire to the loop. I-470 continues east into a valley before a trumpet interchange with State Route 7 (SR 7) along the western shores of the Ohio River. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge carries I-470 over three rail lines and the Ohio River (the state line between Ohio and West Virginia).^[2] The rail lines on the western banks of the river belong to the Norfolk Southern Railway and the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway.^[3]

I-470 enters Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia; the Greater Wheeling Trail, a rail trail, passes underneath the freeway as I-470 approaches a three-level diamond interchange with US 250 and WV 2. The concurrent highways connect to downtown Wheeling in the north and Benwood to the south before the freeway enters another valley and more woodlands. An interchange with West Bethlehem Boulevard provides access to the town of the same name to the south, before the freeway terminates at an incomplete interchange with I-70 over Wheeling Creek near Wheeling Park. Traffic from I-470 can only access eastbound I-70, and only traffic traveling westbound on I-70 can access I-470. The eastern branch of the Greater Wheeling Trail passes underneath the freeway as it passes over the creek.^[2]

I-470 is the only auxiliary Interstate Highway in West Virginia.^[1] The Ohio and West Virginia Departments of Transportation (ODOT and WVDOT) conduct surveys on their highways to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of average annual daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of average traffic volume for any day of the year. In 2008, they calculated that as few as 26,350 vehicles traveled along the highway at the western terminus in Ohio, and as many as 38,000 vehicles used I-470 across the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge.^[4][5] As part of the Interstate Highway System,^[6] the entire route is listed on the National Highway System – a system of roads that are important to the nation's economy, defense and mobility.^[7][8]

History

Plans for a southern bypass of Wheeling were first published in 1955 in a document titled General Location of National System of Interstate Highways Including All Additional Routes at Urban Areas.^[9] Ohio had completed the stretch of highway between I-70 to just before the SR 7 interchange by 1976;^[10][11] however, due to budget deficiencies work did not resume in Ohio until 1981. Construction of the bridge linking the two portions of highway was scheduled to be completed by 1981, but construction did not begin until that year.^[12]

After a 3.3-cent-per-gallon (0.87 cents per liter) fuel tax increase, Ohio was able to begin to fund the project again. Bids for construction work on the remainder of the Ohio portion of the freeway were solicited in 1981, with an estimated construction time frame of 37 months to complete the stretch of Interstate between I-70 and the bridge.^[13] The West Virginia portion was under construction by 1976,^[14] and was completed by 1983 in both states.^[15][16] The three-level diamond interchange on the eastern banks of the Ohio River was thought to be the most complex interchange in West Virginia at the time of construction.^[17]

Between September and December 1996, about 1,699 ft (518 m) of roadway in Ohio was closed so the ODOT could stabilize and repave the roadway; the rocks forming the top of an abandoned mine underneath the freeway had become overstressed.^[18]

The Wheeling Tunnel was closed for reconstruction work in 2007,^[19] 2008^[20] and 2010.^[21] Travelers who wished to continue through Wheeling were directed to I-470, or through Wheeling along city streets.^[20]

Exit list

Because the exit number of I-470 resets to zero at the Ohio-West Virginia border, the numbering is in violation of MUTCD standards. In the MUTCD, Section 2E.31 "Interchange Exit Numbering" paragraph 15 states: "If a circumferential, loop, or spur route [e.g. an auxiliary Interstate] crosses State boundaries, the numbering sequence shall be coordinated by the States to provide continuous interchange numbering." [1]

References

External links

• Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Interstate_470_(Ohio-West_Virginia) Interstate 470 (Ohio-West Virginia)] at Wikimedia Commons
• Interstate 470 at AA Roads
• Interstate 470 (in Ohio) at State Ends