Interstate 271
Interstate 271 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the suburbs of Cleveland and Akron in the US state of Ohio. The highway is officially designated the Outerbelt East Freeway but is rarely referred to by that name by locals, instead simply referring to it as "271".
Route description
I-271 begins at an interchange with I-71 in Medina Township to I-90 in Willoughby Hills, with an interchange with I-480. 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 local–express lanes.The local–express lanes begin at the southern interchange of U.S. Route 422 and continue northward slightly beyond the end of I-271. The northbound express lanes allow access to all exits. The southbound express lanes bypass all exits except for one combined exit for Chagrin Boulevard, Harvard Road, Richmond Road, and US 422 interchange. The lanes then become the mainline of I-480N which in turn becomes I-480 westbound.
I-271 does not have a direct interchange with I-80/Ohio Turnpike—one of only a few examples of Interstate Highways that cross but do not intersect. The I-271/I-480 section was the only instance of a concurrency of two three-digit Interstate Highways in the nation until 2022, when a concurrency between I-587 and I-795, and I-840 and I-785 in North Carolina was established with the designation of I-587, I-785, and I-840. 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.
History
was to have followed the northern end of I-271. I-271 itself was to have followed I-480 and I-480N westward to I-71.I-271's express lanes were added between 1993 and 1995, with related projects continuing through 1998.
The I-271/SR 8 interchange underwent reconstruction in 2008–2009 that turned it into a complete interchange allowing all movements, with free flow between I-271 to the north and SR 8 to the south.