Interstate 271

Outerbelt East Freeway

Route information

Auxiliary route of I-71

Maintained by Ohio DOT

Length:

46.06 mi (74.13 km)

Existed:

1964 – present

Major junctions

South end:

I-71 in Medina Township

I-77 / SR 21 in Richfield

I-480 / SR 14 in Oakwood

I-480 / US 422 in Bedford Heights

North end:

I-90 in Willoughby Hills

Highway system

Interstate Highway System

Ohio Highways

←

SR 270

SR 271

→

Interstate 271 (I-271) is an auxiliary interstate highway in the suburbs of Cleveland and Akron in the U.S. state of Ohio. The highway is officially designated the Outerbelt East Freeway, but rarely referred to by that name.

The highway runs from a junction with I-71 in Medina Township to I-90 in Willoughby Hills, intersecting I-480 (and running jointly with it for a short stretch). The width varies from point to point, but is mostly four to six lanes wide south of I-480 and eight to twelve lanes wide north of I-480; there it is divided into express and local lanes.

The local-express lanes begin at the southern interchange of US-422 and continue northward slightly beyond the end of I-271. The northbound express lanes allow access to all exits (excluding Chagrin Boulevard, Harvard Road, and SR 175, a southbound-only exit). The southbound express lanes bypass all exits except for one combined exit for Chagrin Boulevard (west US-422), Harvard Road, Richmond Road (SR 175) and US-422 (east) interchange. The lanes then become the mainline of I-480N which in turn becomes I-480 westbound.

Interstate 271 does not have a direct interchange with Interstate 80 – one of only a few examples of Interstate Highways that cross but do not intersect. Another example is in Toledo where Interstate 475 crosses Interstate 80/90 but does not intersect with it. The 271/480 section is the only instance of a concurrency of two three-digit Interstate Highways. This is because I-80 was concurrent with I-271 until 1971, when I-80 was routed back on to the turnpike and replaced by I-480.

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Wikipedia