National Highway System

The National Highway System (NHS) in the United States is an approximately 160,000-mile system of roads identified to be of national significance. The NHS includes a mix of roadway facilities, from Interstate highways to some locally-controlled roads and streets. More specifically, the NHS includes all Interstates and most other freeway facilities and major highways. It also includes other routes serving military facilities and major transportation terminals.

NHS is a designation on top of other designations. The Interstate System, for example, is part of the NHS. Many of the NHS components are state or local routes, and they remain such while also being designated as part of the NHS.

In the central Ohio area, besides the Interstate System, other major components of the NHS include parts of US Routes 23 and 33, and parts of OH Routes 13, 16, 36, 79, 104, 161, 315, 317 and 739. Other parts of the system include mostly smaller, local routes serving the following terminals: Buckeye Yard, Marysville Intermodal Terminal, Norfolk Southern's Discovery Park Terminal, the Columbus Greyhound Station, Port Columbus International Airport, and Rickenbacker International Airport. One defense-related route in the area serves the Defense Supply Center Columbus.

The National Highway System page (from the Federal Highway Administration) provides maps of the system in each state. See also this map of the NHS in central Ohio (7-county area).

Contact

Ethan Ortman, AICP - Principal Planner - 614.233.4153