page_title: Interstate 470 (Ohio–West Virginia)
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 470 (Ohio–West Virginia) / Route description
caption_attribution_description: English: Westbound on Interstate 470 at the US 250 and WV 2 interchange.
context_page_description: Interstate 470 is a 10.63-mile-long auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-70 that bypasses the city of Wheeling, West Virginia, in the United States. I-470 is one of 13 auxiliary Interstate Highways in Ohio and the only auxiliary Interstate Highway in West Virginia. The western terminus of I-470 is an interchange with I-70 in Richland Township, Ohio. Traveling southeast through rural Belmont County, I-470 approaches the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge, which spans the Ohio River. After crossing the river into Ohio County, West Virginia, the highway turns east towards the Wheeling communities of Bethlehem and Elm Grove and its eastern terminus at I-70 near Elm Grove. The portion of the highway in West Virginia is named the USS West Virginia Memorial Highway, by proclamation of then Governor Cecil Underwood on the 59th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.
  Construction of the freeway began in 1975 in the two states. Due to a chronic lack of funding, construction in Ohio was stalled between 1976 and 1981. After a 3.3-cent-per-gallon fuel tax increase, Ohio was able to restart construction, and by 1983, both states had completed construction on the freeway.
context_section_description: The freeway begins at a partial interchange with I-70 in Richland Township, Belmont County, Ohio. An exit for County Road 28 (CR 28), the second-last exit for westbound traffic, provides motorists access to US 40. The highway curves to the southeast, passing near the Belmont Memorial Park and through woodlands. I-70 forms part of the  northeastern border of Neffs, Pease Township, and briefly parallels High Ridge Road (CR 214) then meets it at a diamond interchange in Pultney Township. High Ridge Road to the north connects back to I-70, and to the south links Bellaire to the bypass. I-470 continues easterly into a valley before intersecting a trumpet interchange leading to another interchange with State Route 7 (SR 7) along the western banks of the Ohio River. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge carries I-470 over three rail lines and the Ohio River (the state line between Ohio and West Virginia). The rail lines on the western banks of the river belong to the Norfolk Southern Railway and the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway's River Subdivision. The American Automobile Association considers the stretch of I-470 though Ohio to be a scenic highway due to its natural beauty.
  I-470 enters the city limits of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia; the Greater Wheeling Trail, a rail trail, passes under the freeway as I-470 approaches a three-level diamond interchange with US 250 and WV 2. The concurrent highways connect to downtown Wheeling in the north and Benwood to the south. I-70 climbs from the banks of the river into more woodlands before an interchange with West Bethlehem Boulevard, which provides access to the village of Bethlehem to the south. Continuing easterly, I-470 comes to its end at an incomplete interchange with its parent, I-70, over Wheeling Creek near Elm Grove and to the north of the J.B. Chambers Youth Sports Complex and Wheeling Skate Park. Traffic from I-470 can only access eastbound I-70, and only traffic traveling westbound on I-70 can access I-470. The eastern branch of the Greater Wheeling Trail, which parallels the creek, passes underneath I-470 as it merges into I-70.
  I-470 is one of 13 auxiliary Interstate Highways in Ohio and the only auxiliary Interstate Highway in West Virginia. The Ohio Department of Transportation and West Virginia Division of Highways (ODOT and WVDOH) conduct surveys on their highways to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of average annual daily traffic (AADT), a measure of average traffic volume for any day of the year. In 2012, they calculated that 26,500 vehicles traveled along the highway at the eastern terminus in West Virginia, and 37,840 vehicles used I-470 across the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge. As part of the Interstate Highway System, the entire route is listed on the National Highway System—a system of roads that are important to the nation's economy, defense and mobility.
caption: I-470 westbound at the US 250/WV 2 three-level diamond interchange
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