It passes through
Bryan,
Wauseon (where it briefly becomes a
couplet), and enters greater
Toledo west of its interchange with the
Ohio Turnpike. It continues east from greater Toledo and soon parallels
Lake Erie, becoming a
freeway near
Port Clinton. From Oregon to Sandusky SR 2 is part of of the highway designated the "Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail". and on September 22, 2005, was designated a
National Scenic Byway. From Toledo to Sandusky the highway is also part of and designated the
Lake Erie Circle Tour that is also part of the "Great Lakes Circle Tour". It then passes
Sandusky, where it meets
U.S. Route 250 (US 250) and
US 6, and separates from the lakeshore as a freeway, and traverses rural
Erie County before entering
Lorain County. Near
Elyria, it joins
Interstate 90 (I-90), whose route it shares to
Rocky River, where it follows
SR 254 along Detroit Road into
Lakewood. Here it again joins US 6, as well as
US 20 on Clifton Boulevard. It then becomes part of the
Cleveland Memorial Shoreway in
Cleveland, joining I-90 again near
Burke Lakefront Airport. These two highways split near
Euclid, and SR 2 continues along the
Lakeland Freeway to Painesville, feeding into US 20 eastbound. SR 2 serves as an access route to lakeshore attractions on Lake Erie from Toledo and Cleveland and as an alternative to the Ohio Turnpike. The stretch of SR 2 from Toledo to Sandusky passes several attractions. The
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is just east of SR 19 in Carroll Township. It sits on along with the
Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station. While Ohio state-numbered routes within cities are usually maintained by those cities (see
Numbered highways in Ohio), SR 2 within the cities in the section in
Lake County is maintained by the county. SR 2 is the lowest numbered state route in Ohio. The
SR 1 designation was removed in 1965.
Cleveland Memorial Shoreway The Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, often shortened to "the Shoreway", is a
limited-access freeway in Cleveland and
Bratenahl. It closely follows the shore of
Lake Erie and connects the east and west sides of Cleveland via the
Main Avenue Bridge over the
Cuyahoga River. The entire length of the Shoreway is part of SR 2 and the Lake Erie Circle Tour; the Shoreway also carries parts of I-90 and
SR 283 on its eastern side and parts of US 6 and US 20 on its western side. The Cleveland neighborhood of
Detroit-Shoreway is named after the two roads that form the northern border, the Shoreway and Detroit Avenue. The Shoreway was originally constructed in 1936 under the
Works Progress Administration (WPA) and was extended in both directions during the 1930s and 1940s, finally completed and widened in 1953. Later in the 1950s, it was connected with additional freeways. It was named in honor of the city's war veterans during
World War II. and 2018, the West Shoreway, the portion of the Shoreway from the Cuyahoga River westward, was reconstructed in order to increase ease of access to Lake Erie; the project included a speed limit reduction and various other feature modifications, though not as many as originally planned. and was also given the honorary designation "Governor
Richard F. Celeste Shoreway" in 2016.
Lakeland Freeway The Lakeland Freeway links Cleveland and Cuyahoga County to the suburban areas of
Lake County. It begins at the east end of the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and passes through the municipalities of
Euclid, where I-90 diverges from SR 2;
Wickliffe;
Willowick;
Willoughby;
Eastlake;
Mentor;
Painesville; and
Painesville Township. The freeway was extensively rebuilt in Lake County west of
SR 44 between 2006 and 2012, which included the extension of one lane in each direction between
SR 640 and SR 44. The Lake County section of freeway was authorized by Lake County Commissioners in 1957, because of that, the "Shoreway" name is often applied to the Lakeland Freeway from its west end to the I-90/SR 2 interchange.
Other names The section of SR 2 that runs through
Erie County is called the "Jackie Mayer Miss America Highway" and is named for
Jackie Mayer, a former
Miss America who was born and raised in
Sandusky. The section of SR 2 that runs through
Willoughby is named "Brian Montgomery Memorial Highway" in honor of a
Marine Lance Corporal who was killed in the
Iraq War in August 2005. ==History==