^Looking northwest from the exit to Ohio Route 53's southern continuation at Port Clinton, October 2023.
Ohio State Route 2 is an important state highway across northernmost Ohio, hugging Lake Erie from Toledo to Metro Cleveland, and serving agricultural communities southwest of Toledo. From Metro Cleveland west to Port Clinton, Ohio Route 2 is a freeway. Some use it as a free alternative to the Ohio Turnpike (Interstates 80 and 90), which lies just to the south.
The western beginning of Ohio Route 2 occurs as Indiana State Route 37 crosses the state border from Indiana. It cuts northeasterly to Bryan through the farmland of northwestern Ohio. Next, it heads easterly, repeatedly jogging due northward until it joins US Route 20A in Wauseon. Outside the Toledo Express Airport, Ohio Route 2 splits from US Route 20A to pass through Toledo. After Toledo. Ohio Route 2 is the east-west route closest to Lake Erie. That is, until Port Clinton, where Ohio Route 163 heads easterly down the peninsula north of Sandusky Bay. Ohio Route 2 becomes a freeway in Port Clinton, and that freeway crosses Sandusky Bay toward Sandusky. After that, the freeway continues as a northern toll-free alternative to the Ohio Turnpike. Where Lorain meets Elyria, Interstate 90 defects from the Turnpike, and joins the Ohio Route 2 freeway east into downtown Cleveland. Ohio Route 2 and Interstate 90 continue concurrently through Cleveland, and they split apart in the northeastern suburbs. Ohio Route 2 once again takes the form of a freeway as it proceeds into the farther northeastern suburbs. That freeway ends as Ohio Route 2 ends, merging with US Route 20 east of Painesville.
My photo of Ohio State Route 2 comes from Painesville, at the southern end of Ohio State Route 535. This intersection only involves Ohio Routes 535 and 283, but an interchange to Ohio Route 2 lies a block to the south, as indicated by the sign in the photo. Painesville is in the far northeastern reaches of the Cleveland metropolitan area. This photo was taken on the grand tour of northeast Ohio in October 2022. Back to Ohio State Routes 1 through 99. Back to the Ohio main page. Back to the home page.