The Ohio Department of Transportation built an interchange to Ohio State Route 615/Center Street from I-90 on the south side of Mentor (partially in Kirtland Hills) in 2002 and 2003 (contractor: Great Lakes Construction Company). A ribbon cutting ceremony was held November 24, 2003 at 2 pm, and the interchange opened fully by about 4 pm that day. An interchange had been planned in the area since 1969 - many more details may be obtained from Environmental assessment and Section 4(f) evaluation : IR-90/SR-615 Interchange, park-and-ride lot and SR-615 widening/reconstruction between US-20 and Kingwood Drive North and related improvements in the city of Mentor and the village of Kirtland Hills, Lake County, state of Ohio by ODOT/Federal Highway Administration/City of Mentor.
Reports about the opening (all articles by the Willoughby/Lake County News-Herald unless noted):
November 29: Article Photo | November 25 (ribbon cutting ceremony report): Article Photo 1 Photo 2 | November 24 (WKYC-TV): Story / Video | November 24: Article Photo | November 23 (Cleveland Plain Dealer) | Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency Fall 2003 newsletter and 2004 State of the Region Report, State of the Transportation System section (.pdf, large)
Prior/later news (all articles by the Willoughby/Lake County News-Herald unless noted):
March 2, 2005 (accident) | December 11, 2004: Article Photo | Photo, June 25, 2004 | June 24, 2004 (mention in Cleveland Plain Dealer) | June 20, 2004 (accompanying illustration - no relevant content) | Photo, May 7, 2004 (accompanying story May 11 not online) | March 27, 2004/March 26, 2004 | Photo, February 27, 2004 | Various Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency newsletters | ODOT District 12 newsletter Transportation Times: Volume 5, Issue 1 (Winter [2003-]2004) (Newsletter index page) | November 5/18, 2003 press release (ODOT) | November 10, 2003 | September 24, 2003 | August 22, 2003 Article Photo | April 15, 2003 press release (ODOT) | October 15, 2002 (contains aerial photo) | June 19, 2002 | Open House Public Hearing Information Sheet c. January 1999 (ODOT via Archive.org) | Official plans (ODOT)
I-90 in the area is also being widened to three lanes. Plain Dealer February 2004 column | ODOT April 8, 2003 press release
(Link to TerraServer topo for context)
A map of the interchange is also now shown on ODOT's Straight-Line Diagram files (choose Lake County then either IR0090R or SR0615R)
Go here for photgraphs of construction and of the opening ceremony
Page created on Monday, April 21, 2003/Last updated March 3, 2005
Questions and comments can be sent to Marc Fannin (alternate) or Sandor Gulyas
Return to Picture Mentor or I-90 exit list