The Mill Creek Expressway or Millcreek Expressway is a freeway in Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 and Hamilton County, Ohio

Hamilton County, Ohio

As of 2000, there were 845,303 people, 346,790 households, and 212,582 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,075 people per square mile . There were 373,393 housing units at an average density of 917 per square mile...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It carries Interstate 75 through the Mill Creek

Mill Creek (Ohio)

The Mill Creek is a stream in southwest Ohio. It flows southwest and south from its headwaters in Liberty Township of Butler County through central Hamilton County and the heart of Cincinnati into the Ohio River just west of downtown...

 valley, from the Brent Spence Bridge

Brent Spence Bridge

The Brent Spence Bridge is a double decker cantilever truss bridge that carries Interstates 71 and 75 across the Ohio River between Covington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. The top deck carries southbound traffic while the bottom deck carries northbound traffic. It is arguably the most important...

 north to the Butler County line just north of Interstate 275

Interstate 275 (Ohio)

Interstate 275 is an loop in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky that forms a complete beltway around the Cincinnati, Ohio area. It is the only auxiliary interstate that enters three states, including one state that the parent route does not enter . It is the longest loop interstate highway in the United...

.

Description

The Mill Creek Expressway in general starts from the Interstate 71/75 Interchange near the Brent Spence Bridge and ends at the Interstate 275 Interchange, it currently carries 3 lanes of traffic in each direction with 1 additional auxiliary lane at each exit. The section of freeway often experiences many traffic problems and crashes during the weekdays from 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM when people from downtown use the northbound side to usually get to the Northern Suburbs (Westchester, Mason, Liberty Township) from Downtown. The southbound side is usually used by truck drivers heading south or people just getting out of school (i.e. St Xavier High School, Elder High School, Ursula Academy, etc.) . Plans have been made to widen this section of interstate to 4 lanes on each side and 6 lanes on each side in some major exits such as the Norwood Lateral Expressway and Paddock Road. Information on this project can be found on the Ohio Department of Transportation's main webpage. This project is expected to start in 2010 and end in 2020, and has already been started with the replacement of the Moumonth Street Overpass to accommodate widening, and a new at grade intersection with Central Parkway is in development and is expected to be complete by August 2011. This is Phase II of the project.

History

The Mill Creek Expressway generally follows the old Miami and Erie Canal

Miami and Erie Canal

The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio with Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845. It consisted of 19 aqueducts, three guard locks, and 103 canal locks. Each lock measured by and they...

, which extended from Cincinnati to Toledo via Dayton, itself built in the Mill Creek

Mill Creek (Ohio)

The Mill Creek is a stream in southwest Ohio. It flows southwest and south from its headwaters in Liberty Township of Butler County through central Hamilton County and the heart of Cincinnati into the Ohio River just west of downtown...

 valley near Cincinnati. The canal extended from the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

 along the present locations of Eggleston Avenue and Central Parkway to Mt. Storm Park, and continued north, remaining close to the Mill Creek Expressway to Butler County. The never-opened Cincinnati Subway

Cincinnati Subway

The Cincinnati Subway is a set of unused tunnels and stations for a rapid transit system beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is recognized as the largest abandoned subway tunnel in the United States...

 was built in the 1920s, mostly using the abandoned canal right-of-way from downtown to the State Route 562 interchange at St. Bernard.

The first portion of the expressway was built in 1941 - during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 - to serve the Wright Aeronautical

Wright Aeronautical

Wright Aeronautical was an aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer located in New Jersey.-History:This American company evolved from the 1909-1916 Wright Company, which merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1916 to form the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation. Glenn Martin resigned from...

 plant in Lockland. It was initially planned to run from Paddock Road (State Route 4) in Carthage north to Cincinnati-Dayton Road (then U.S. Route 25) near Maud, but was only built — almost completely along the old canal — between Galbraith Road and Glendale-Milford Road (then State Route 126. A short extension was built south to Towne Street in Elmwood Place in the late 1940s.