Ohio State Route 7

Historical map of the Chesapeake Bypass

The Chesapeake bypass was first proposed in 1953.[9]

In 1961, the US 52 expressway opened from Chesapeake westward towards Sheridan. The original eastern terminus of the four-lane divided highway was at the current Chesapeake northbound-only exit ramp east of Tallow Ridge Road.[10] US 52 originally crossed at the present-day Robert C. Byrd Bridge that connects Chesapeake to Huntington, West Virginia. In 1979, the US 52 designation moved to the Nick Joe Rahall II Bridge as tolls on that span were removed that year; the segment east of the Rahall Bridge to the Chesapeake interchange was renumbered to SR 7.

Ten years later, the four-lane expressway was extended eastward to an incomplete trumpet interchange just east of Big Branch Road.[11] A four-lane connector route from the partially complete interchange to the foot of the Robert C. Byrd Bridge at SR  527 was completed. At the same time, the two-lane Chesapeake interchange ramp just east of Tallow Ridge Road was converted to a northbound-only exit ramp. The abrupt terminus at Chesapeake was envisioned to connect to Proctorville. Though the portion of SR 527 is signed as part of SR 7, it is not officially part of the route and many signs show this portion of SR 527 as "To SR 7."[1][12][13]

State Route 7 runs through downtown Gallipolis

On May 31, 2002,[14] ground was broken for Phase 1-A of the Proctorville bypass.[15] Phase 1-A entailed a two-lane connector road from the East Huntington Bridge to Irene Road, with the original loop ramp from the bridge to State Route 7 being modified into an access road. Phase 1-B was designated from Irene Road to State Route 7 near Fairland East Elementary in Rome Township. Phase 2 was envisioned from Irene Road west to Chesapeake. The total cost was originally estimated to be at $165 million.[14]

On April 27, 2003, Phase 1-A of the Proctorville bypass opened to traffic.[16] The $6.5 million,[14] one-mile (1.6 km) section of three-lane roadway was opened from the foot of the East Huntington Bridge to Irene Road and signed as SR 607.

On June 3, 2003, bids were opened for Phase 1-B from Irene Road to SR 7 near Fairland East Elementary.[17] The projected cost of the 4.5-mile (7.2 km) segment was originally $27 million, however, when the bids were let, the cost had decreased to $24.3 million. The lowest bid, which was also accepted, came in at $22.1 million.[18] The road was designed as a two-lane limited-access facility on a four-lane right-of-way. Construction began on August 4,[19] with an original estimated completion date of June 30, 2005.

State Route 7 south of Dilles Bottom, Ohio

An unusual amount of rain, blamed on two hurricanes, caused major delays.[20] More than one-dozen major slips along Phase 1-B required an additional $30 million in repairs and the purchase of additional land for highwall excavations. Another change was the design of the roadway; originally projected to be widened in the future when higher traffic counts warrant the expansion, it was designed on wide right-of-way with no grade separation between the opposing lanes. During the repair of the slips, a terraced roadway was constructed to separate the future southbound lanes from the northbound by a highwall when the roadway is expanded to four lanes.

Other cost overruns had pushed the cost of construction to $62 million total, which included Phases 1-A and 1-B, up from the original estimates of $32 million. The primary cause was rapidly increasing land values and "unchecked zoning" along the project's projected right-of-way along with geo-technical problems with rocky soil.[17] Property values along the projected route, for instance, increased 91.5% from 1992 to 2001 alone.

In October 2006, a small 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) segment of the Phase 1-B bypass opened to traffic between SR 607 and Irene Road intersection to SR 775.[21] The remainder, east to SR 7 near Fairland East Elementary, opened on December 8, 2006. It includes intersections with SR 775, Kinley Avenue, and SR 7. Upon completion, phases 1-A and 1-B were signed as SR 7; the bypass from the SR 775 junction to the loop at the East Huntington Bridge was co-numbered with SR 775.

Phase 2 of the bypass, from the Chesapeake bypass to Irene Road at Proctorville, has not been funded. Funding which had been previously promised by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) was later denied.[9] Phase 2 is estimated to cost $76 million to complete.[17] Also due to the construction delays (slips) on the bypass from SR 775 to Fairland East Elementary School (Phase 1-B), the design of Phase 2 may be realigned to prevent slips during construction.

The Pomeroy bypass from Middleport east to US 33 was completed in 1968. At the time of completion, the bypass was two lanes but was widened to four lanes, divided, in 1976 from SR 143 to US 33 near Rock Springs. The bypass was extended east in 2000 from Rock Springs to a partial diamond interchange with SR 7 as a four-lane divided expressway. It was initially signed just SR 7. The diamond interchange was later completed with all connections, and the highway was extended eastward to Ravenswood, West Virginia as US 33.

Route of SR 7A in Bridgeport highlighted in red

State Route 7 Alternate (SR 7A) is a short 0.72-mile-long (1.16 km)[27] connecting loop signed as SR 7[28][29] that serves as a link from SR 7, US 40, and US 250 to I-70 in Bridgeport. Its western (southern) terminus is at SR 767, and its eastern (northern) terminus is along US 40 at its intersection with US 250 and the northern terminus of SR 767. SR 7A begins at the intersections of Howard Street and SR 767 (South Lincoln Avenue). SR 7A continues west as Howard Street until it intersects Marion Street. It then runs north as Marion Street, intersects I-70, and then intersects US 40, Main Street. SR 7A continues east on US 40 until it ends at US 250 and SR 767, just 370 feet (110 m) west of the West Virginia state line.

The entire route is in Bridgeport, Belmont County.

mi[27]	km	Destinations	Notes
0.00	0.00	SR 767 (South Lincoln Avenue) to SR 7 south	Interchange with SR 7
0.37– 0.42	0.60– 0.68	I-70 – Wheeling, WV, Columbus	Exit 225 (I-70)
0.46	0.74	US 40 west (Main Street)	Western end of US 40 concurrency
0.72	1.16	US 40 east / US 250 (Main Street) to SR 7 north / SR 767 south (South Lincoln Avenue)	Eastern end of US 40 concurrency; northern terminus of SR 767
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

State Route 767 (SR 767) is an unsigned north–south state highway in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Currently, it is signed as an alternate route of SR 7.[30][31][32] Its southern terminus is at an exit ramp on SR 7 in Bridgeport. The route serves as a connector from northbound SR 7 to SR 7 Alternate, US 40, and US 250. The route's northern terminus is where these U.S. routes overlap eastbound to cross the Ohio River into West Virginia. SR 7A serves as a connector for all of these routes to I-70.

Business State Route 7 stretched from 1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) west of Middleport to about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Pomeroy. The route followed the former alignment of State Route 7 that was replaced by the Pomeroy Bypass, and ran through the downtown areas of Middleport and Pomeroy. It joined with State Route 833 (the former alignment of U.S. Route 33) from one mile (1.6 km) west of Pomeroy to 1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) east of Pomeroy, including a brief concurrency with State Route 124, and then headed northeast to the eastern U.S. Route 33/State Route 7 interchange. The route was deleted between 2013 and 2015.[33][34]

State Route 7T (SR 7T) was a 0.36-mile-long (0.58 km)[35] future route beginning at US 62 in Youngstown. The entire route was concurrent with US 62T. SR 7T and US 62T were removed on May 2, 2007.[36]