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Ohio State Highway 8 stretches from downtown Cleveland, Ohio to Interstate 77 in downtown Akron, Ohio . From downtown Cleveland to Shaker Heights, Ohio , it is cosigned with US 422 , becoming Northfield Road from there southward to Interstate 80 /the Ohio Turnpike . Just north of Route 303 it becomes a freeway and remains so down to its southern terminus at I-77 exit 125B/I-76 exit 23. The freeway section of the highway has 13 interchanges, and is cosigned with Route 59 for a short distance from Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls to Perkins Avenue in Akron. HISTORY Route 8 was one of the original state highways in Ohio. It went from Marietta all the way to Cleveland . Over time, though, parts of the route were renumbered or reassigned, especially in the part south of Akron. In 1926 the portion from Marietta to Newcomerstown was change to Route 21 . The same year the section from Newcomerstown to Uhrichsville became Route 16 and highway was rerouted from the Ohio River town of Fly to Uhrichsville . In 1970 the section from Fly to Canton was renumbered to Route 800 , the portion from Canton to Akron was decertified, and the southern end of the highway was truncated at Akron . (Simpson, 1998). By 1962 the Route 8B freeway was built in Akron . It became the regular Route 8 in 1969 (Simpson, 1998). The Freeway stopped at Cuyahoga Falls Avenue in Akron for a number of years because the city of Cuyahoga Falls did not want the Freeway to go through the city. There were two reasons. One was that the Freeway was originally laid out to go through the Gorge Metropolitan park, the site of the falls that gave the city its name. The other reason is that the city worried that if traffic was diverted from downtown to the Freeway that the downtown business district would die. Eventually the path was changed to go up the east side of the Cuyahoga River rather than the west, and Cuyahoga Falls agreed to have the Freeway built. It was finished by 1977 . It then ended at Hudson Drive until the next section was completed by 1989 , reaching Route 303 . Route 8 from Interstate 77 to Perkins Street was rebuilt from 2003 to 2005 . The freeway in that stretch had too many ramps, creating the danger that someone getting on the freeway on one ramp would run into someone getting off the freeway on the next. Several ramps were removed and service roads were built on both sides of the freeway (Roadwise, 2005). There are now plans to upgrade Route 8 from Route 303 north to Interstate 271 to a full freeway without the current crossings and lights. (Boston Heights, 2004). There are also plans to build an interchange at Seasons Road to serve the area near the borders of Cuyahoga Falls , Stow , and Hudson . (LaTourette, 2004) The land is currently underdeveloped but the cities hope that a Freeway exit will bring new business to their communities. INTERESTING FACTS
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