CLEVELAND — An Ohio roadway is celebrating a milestone birthday.
The Ohio Turnpike is now 70 years old. The roadway opened its 241 miles to drivers on October 1, 1955. With its opening, the turnpike became one of the first superhighways in the country.
Crews got to work on the road back in 1952, and as many as 10,000 workers would join them in the next three years. All of those workers helped complete the project on time and under budget.
Completion of the turnpike cost the state $8 million to complete, which in today's dollars would be over $93 million. The turnpike has become one of the state's top employers with 800 employees working in various roles.
It's also created another safe, reliable roadway for travelers over the years. The turnpike tallies over 51 million trips per year, and an average of 140,000 cars travel on it daily.
"People have fond memories because they are often traveling with their families during summer vacation," said Brian Newbacher, an Ohio Turnpike spokesperson. "We see license plates from all over during the summer, like we did last summer."
Work is still happening along the turnpike. There's a pavement replacement project happening right now with crews replacing the pavement from the ground up. The project is one-third complete. The project should finish in 2040.
