Ohio State Route 309

State Route 309
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length:	103.20 mi[1] (166.08 km)
Existed:	1973 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 30 near Delphos
	I-75 near Lima US 68 in Kenton US 23 near Marion
East end:	US 30 in Mansfield
Location
Counties:	Allen, Hardin, Marion, Morrow, Crawford, Richland
Highway system
Ohio Highways Interstate U.S. State Former Scenic ← SR 308 SR 310 →

State Route 309 (SR 309) is an east–west highway in central Ohio. Its western terminus is at its interchange with U.S. 30 near Delphos, Ohio, and its eastern terminus is at its interchange with U.S. 30 in Mansfield, Ohio. Its current route takes it through the cities of Lima, Kenton, Marion, Galion, and Ontario; as well as the villages of Elida and Caledonia.

History

SR 309's current route was the route of U.S. Route 30S, a divided U.S. route of US 30 until November 1973 when what was US 30N became the mainline of US 30.^[2][3] US 30S was so numbered in the 1920s to avoid conflict from local business owners worried about the diversion of traffic from their shops along the southern route.^[4]

The only significant change of the route since this certification is its western terminus, which originally was with U.S. 30 in Delphos. When U.S. 30's bypass around Delphos was completed in 1981, Ohio 309's western terminus was made the easternmost interchange of the bypass.

Route 309 between Marion and Kenton

Before being used as its current route, the route number 309 was used as the route number of what is now State Route 541. It was replaced with the now defunct State Route 271 in 1935.^[5][6][7]

Harding Highway

Ohio 309 was U.S. 30S until 1973.

The Lincoln Highway left the present State Route 309, a better-quality road at the time, in favor of the direct Delphos-Mansfield route now generally followed by US 30. Only two weeks after the official route was announced in September 1913, it had already been redefined to a straighter path between Lima and Galion; the rest of the straightening came later. The towns along the route got together and formed the Harding Highway, named after President Warren G. Harding, who had grown up in the area.

This Harding Highway continued east via the Lincoln Highway to Canton, turning southeast from there to Steubenville via State Route 43. To the west, it was marked along the Lincoln Highway to Van Wert, heading west along the present U.S. Route 224, roughly State Road 114, State Road 10, State Road 8, and State Road 2 through Indiana to the Illinois state line.^[8]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Allen	Delphos			US 30 west – Van Wert, Fort Wayne	Western terminus of SR 309
	Lima			SR 81
				SR 117 west	Western end of SR 117 concurrency
				SR 65 north	Western end of SR 65 concurrency
				SR 65 south	Eastern end of SR 65 concurrency
				I-75 – Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo
				SR 117 east	Eastern end of SR 117 concurrency
Hardin	Alger			SR 235 south	Eastern end of SR 235 concurrency
	Ada			SR 235 north	Western end of SR 235 concurrency
	​			SR 701 east	Western terminus SR 701
	​			SR 195
	Kenton			US 68 / SR 67 – Bellefontaine, Findlay
Marion	​			SR 37
	​			SR 203 south	Northern terminus of SR 203
	Marion			SR 95 west	Western end of SR 95 concurrency
				SR 4 / SR 423
				SR 95 east	Eastern end of SR 95 concurrency
	​			US 23
	​			SR 98
Marion–Morrow county line	​			SR 100 north	Southern terminus of SR 100
Morrow	​			SR 288 east	Western terminus of SR 288
	​			SR 61 south	Southern end of SR 61 concurrency
Crawford	Galion			SR 19 west / SR 598 north	Western end of SR 19 concurrency; southern terminus of SR 598
				SR 19 east	Eastern end of SR 19 concurrency
				SR 61 north	Northern end of SR 61 concurrency
Richland	​			SR 181 west	Eastern terminus of SR 181
	Ontario			SR 314
				SR 430 east	Western terminus of SR 430
	Mansfield			US 30 east – Mansfield, Wooster	Eastern terminus of SR 309
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Ohio Department of Transportation. "Technical Services Straight Line Diagrams".
2. "Renaming Of Rt. 30s Draws No Opposition". The Lima News. October 12, 1973. p. 13. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
3. Butko, Brian (2013) [2005]. Greetings from the Lincoln Highway. Stackpole Books. p. 84. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
4. Associated Press (September 20, 1973). "Eye U.S. 30 Location". The Times Bulletin. p. 1. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
5. Map of Ohio Showing State Highway System (MrSID) (Map). Cartography by O.W. Merrell, Director. Ohio Department of Highways. 1932. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
6. Map of Ohio Showing State Highway System (MrSID) (Map). Cartography by O.W. Merrell, Director. ODOH. 1934. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
7. Official 1935 Ohio Highway Map (MrSID) (Map). Cartography by John Jaster, Jr., Director. ODOH. 1935. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
8. Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas, 1926, accessed via the Broer Map Library

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• IN SEARCH OF... THE SEPTEMBER 1913 LINCOLN HIGHWAY IN OHIO Galion to Lima