Cleveland Major Streets and Roadways
The geography of Cleveland on the banks of river Cuyahoga River and the shoreline of Lake Erie has provided the city many natural waterways and canals that are used even today. The arrival of various settlements in Cleveland saw a geometric development of suburbs and thereby streets in the downtown area of Cleveland.
As early as 1837, Cleveland proudly recorded of about 88 streets, lanes and alleys. The growth in industries and population saw the city grow wider and with a proper town planning. The boom in automobile manufacturing demanded many of the streets to be widened and by the 1920s there were over 2000 streets and about 7000 cars on the road.
There is a fan-shaped grid of streets laid out in Cleveland. The streets are enumerated East and West following the line of demarcation through downtown and outward from the Public Square. A street is named with the direction first and then the street number next e.g. E 30-th (Sterling) and W 3-rd (Seneca). The streets that have undergone a change in name have the old street names in parentheses below the new numbered name. However, there are some roads that maintain the old historical names.
The development of industries and the need to transport raw materials like coal from the interior saw the development of roads and railway. The city of Cleveland is connected to the other cities with a number of freeways and interstate highways.
Major Freeways, Highways, and Streets
- I-80 - Cuts through city W to E
- I-90 - Cuts through the city W to NE
- I-271 - Cuts from SW to NE connecting I-71 and I-90
- I-490 - Small section near center of city
- I-480 - Runs W to E on S end of city
- I-77 - Branches from center of city to S