​Ohio State Route 161 is an east-west highway in central Ohio, passing through the north side of the Columbus metropolitan area.  The eastern portion of Ohio Route 161 is the best-known portion, as it's a freeway stemming east out of the metroplex.  In order from west to east, Ohio Route 161 starts at Ohio Route 29 east of Urbana.  The western portion of Ohio Route 161 gets started as a rural two-lane highway, bound for Columbus's northwest suburbs. It joins the US Route 33 freeway until Interstate 270.  The concurrency with US Route 33 continues, but the freeway ends.  The concurrency ends in Dublin, where US Route 33 splits off toward the south.  Ohio Route 161 continues as an important suburban arterial through Worthington and other suburbs.  At the eastern part of Interstate 270, Ohio Route 161 becomes a freeway, accepting a lot of traffic from Interstate 670.  Commuters going radially inward and outward, between Columbus and areas to the northeast, use the freeways of Interstate 670, Interstate 270, and Ohio Route 161 as a commonly-traveled route.  Thus, even though Ohio Route 161 never reaches central Columbus, the eastern freeway of Ohio Route 161 is a busy freeway used by travelers heading to and from Columbus.  The eastern end of the Ohio Route 161 occurs at Ohio Route 37 near Alexandria, but the freeway continues as an extension of Ohio Route 37, and later as Ohio Route 16.

My photo of Ohio State Route 161 comes from its junction with Ohio Route 38, west of Plain City.  This sign assembly is located in Ohio Route 161's rural western areas, and it faces north at the eastern junction of these two routes.  This photo was taken on the way home from Columbus, in June 2016.

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