^Northbound Ohio 21 near Doylestown, October 2022.

​Ohio State Route 21 is a north-south highway parallel to the northernmost portion of Interstate 77, from Strasburg north to the Cleveland suburbs. The highway consists of two distinct portions, separated by a concurrency along Interstate 77.  The Interstate 77 corridor was once the US Route 21 corridor.  Long ago, US Route 21 was deleted north of Virginia's western panhandle, because Interstate 77 served the demand of this US Route and then some.  Ohio Route 21's number reflects how this state highway used to be labeled as a US highway with the same name, but this isn't the only Ohio state highway that used to be part of US Route 21 (see also: Ohio Route 821).

​The southern portion of Ohio Route 21 is a divided four-lane highway with some expressway portions.  This busier stretch of highway is the primary highway serving Massillon. North of Massillon, Ohio Route 21 joins Interstate 77 to Richfield, where it becomes somewhat of a business alternate to that Interstate highway.  Ohio Route 21 passes through Brecksville and Independence as a surface road; this is the northern portion of Ohio Route 21.  This northern portion reaches a northern terminus, merging with Interstate 77 near Interstate 480, Ohio Route 17, and Cuyahoga Heights.

My photo of Ohio State Route 21 signage comes from the southern end of Ohio Route 236, on the north side of Massillon, Ohio.  A southbound Ohio Route 236 bends to the right for one block to its terminus at a T-intersection with Ohio Route 21.  The signage here faces north telling drivers that the state highway ends with a block-long link to Ohio Route 21 just to the west.  This photo was taken as part of the grand tour of northeast Ohio in October, 2022.

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