Current Ohio Travel Restrictions (Cleveland, Toledo: hotels, houses, to buy)

[MI-Roger]

My wife and I will become first time Grandparents between now and May 8th. We live in Michigan and the baby will be born in Pittsburgh, meaning we need to comply with three State's travel restrictions; MI, OH, and PA.

What are the current OH Travel Restrictions? What is their current expiration date? We will be using the Toll Road.

Thanks,

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by MI-Roger

My wife and I will become first time Grandparents between now and May 8th. We live in Michigan and the baby will be born in Pittsburgh, meaning we need to comply with three State's travel restrictions; MI, OH, and PA.

What are the current OH Travel Restrictions? What is their current expiration date? We will be using the Toll Road.

Thanks,

The stay-at-home orders impact businesses. Ohio, to my knowledge, isn't actually restricting travel, checking travelers, or issuing fines.

I don't know when you'll be traveling, but Ohio just authorized food trucks to operate at rest stops. I don't know if they will operate at the Ohio Turnpike service plazas, but I doubt it; likely there are restaurants open at the service plazas for take-out.

If it were me, especially given the light traffic, I would take Route 2 from Toledo eastward. It's a beautiful drive and actually pretty fast even when traffic is normal. Perhaps stop at the famed Magee Marsh Wildlife Area for a break. It has a beautiful wild Lake Erie beach and the famed boardwalk for birders. The beach and parking lot are huge (it used to be a swimming beach park), so you should be able to avoid people. The boardwalk may or may not be relatively empty, but clearly you can't easily avoid persons (hopefully everyone is wearing masks and look away from each other when passing). Wear gloves on the boardwalk in case you have to touch the rails. The boardwalk especially is great when the trees are full of warblers.

For the next several weeks, Magee Marsh will be one of the best locations in North America to see migrating birds.

https://www.mageemarsh.org/

Normally the Magee Marsh is the epicenter for the "Biggest Week in American Birding" festival, but it has been cancelled for 2020.

https://www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/

https://www.bsbo.org/timing-of-spring-migration.html

Jolly Roger Seafood House in Port Clinton is a fast food restaurant reportedly still open for take-out. It has some of the best fried perch in Ohio.

On your trip to Pittsburgh, you likely want a fast trip (to avoid an overnight stay and avoid exposure to the COVID-19 virus), so switch from Route 2 (which becomes a freeway at Port Clinton) to the Ohio Turnpike using Route 250 just east of Sandusky, Ohio.

If you want to save tolls, avoid using the Ohio Turnpike to enter Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Turnpike's first toll for travelers going east is a "super toll" of like $18 (yes, it's a rip-off). An obvious alternative is exiting the Ohio Turnpike and continuing east on I-80, than taking Route 422 southeast to I-79.

If you have time before your trip, order a MA EZ Pass transponder. It's essentially free and works in OH and PA.

https://www.mass.gov/service-details...bout-ezdrivema

Perhaps on your return trip, you could visit downtown Cleveland and have it all to yourself. There are surface parking lots just west of Public Square. They likely are charging $10, if they are charging fees at all given the likely paucity of business. Public Square is interesting just to see the outside of the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. Also, check out the statue of Tom Johnson at the north end of the square.

https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the...'-monument

https://www.city-data.com/forum/clev...m-johnson.html

https://www.oldstonechurch.org/

Cleveland's famed West Side Market is open and easily visited from Route 2 if you want to stock up on supplies and goodies. It has plentiful free parking, most easily accessed from Lorain/Carnegie Blvd., just east of West 25th Street. Steve's Gyros in the West Side Market is extremely popular and has been featured on food cable shows (perhaps order extra sides of sauce and extra pita bread, or bring pita bread with you). The West Side Market Café and the very nearby Flying Fig would be good restaurants for takeout during the COVID-19 closures.

West Side Market in Cleveland

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g...de.Market.html

Steve's Gyros - Cleveland's Westside Market

https://www.yelp.com/biz/steves-gyros-cleveland

Tower City should be open with its main entrance just off Public Square, even though all stores will be closed. It houses the Cleveland rail transit hub on its lowest floor and likely has open bathrooms. It's an immense and beautiful building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_City_Center

I would carry toilet paper just in case open bathrooms are hard to find during all of the closures (e.g., McDonald's bathrooms are closed). A portable potty might even be a good idea.

You don't want to buy gasoline on the Turnpike. Perhaps check out Speedway locations and GasBuddy.com. If you're Costco members, Costco often offers the cheapest gasoline; ditto, Sam's Club.

https://www.gasbuddy.com/home

Downtown Cleveland hotels likely are very cheap now, but with everything closed, there's little reason to stay downtown. Check out TripAdvisor.com ratings. I you do visit downtown Cleveland, check out the downtown Heinen's.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...land_Ohio.html

Congrats, good luck and please post here about your experience traveling during the COVID-19 epidemic with any tips for other travelers.

[MI-Roger]

Thanks.

Yes, our goal is to minimize road time to maximize visitation time with the new baby and parents. Hence our intent to use I-80.

Are the Rest Areas along the Toll Road open for re-fueling and restroom use at least? I assumed the OTA would have simply collected/barricaded all seating areas near the food counters thus making it 100% Take-out.

We have had a MA EZPass device for years. Just replaced it in late 2019 as our original unit failed due to old age weakening its batteries.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by MI-Roger

Thanks.

Yes, our goal is to minimize road time to maximize visitation time with the new baby and parents. Hence our intent to use I-80.

Are the Rest Areas along the Toll Road open for re-fueling and restroom use at least? I assumed the OTA would have simply collected/barricaded all seating areas near the food counters thus making it 100% Take-out.

We have had a MA EZPass device for years. Just replaced it in late 2019 as our original unit failed due to old age weakening its batteries.

I would expect that the Ohio Turnpike service plazas still are selling gas since the restaurants continue to offer take-out service. The Ohio Turnpike commission surely would have made an announcement if the gas stations were closed.

https://www.ohioturnpike.org/

https://www.record-courier.com/news/...virus-measures

[Cleveland_Collector]

I was just in a service plaza yesterday. The only thing you cant do is dine in. I didn't inspect everything closely, but all else appeared to be the same. The fueling stations are business as usual. Obviously, you're expected to maintain the social distancing aspect but that's about it.


The road itself is completely open and usable without any restrictions that I'm aware of. As an "essential employee," I drive on it every day to get to work.