The Ohio State Fair offers a sea of delights for its attendees. There are corn dogs, cotton candy, carnival rides, questionable deviled egg flavors, a big cow made of butter and all the Ohio pride you can cram into your heart.
But these delights come with a cost, and its name is traffic. Interstate 71 around the Ohio Expo Center exit had several traffic jams throughout the day on July 30, a Thursday. The weekend will surely see even more traffic swarming to the fair to get a glimpse of the buttery bovine.
On OHGO, ODOT's traffic monitoring website, there was a solid red line showing heavy traffic south of the 11th Avenue exit from I-71 during rush hour July 30. Under normal conditions, around 141,000 cars pass I-71 near the fairgrounds every day.
Add in the around 1,000,000 visitors the Ohio State Fair expects to see throughout its 12-day run, and that's a lot of cars on one highway.
Luckily, I-71 isn't the only way to get to the fair. Local drivers can take Fourth Street from the south or Third Street from the north.
Here are some other potential traffic jams to look out for this week.
New Franklin County ODOT projects for the week of July 31, 2026
- U.S. 33 between Fishinger Road and State Route 161 will close starting Aug. 3 for 45 days.
- ODOT Detour: U.S. 33 to State Route 161 to Interstate 270 to Cemetery Road/Fishinger Road, or reverse.
- The eastbound I-270 ramp to northbound Interstate 71 on the north side will close from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. Aug. 3.
- ODOT Detour: I-270 east to I-71 south to State Route 161 to I-71 north
- The I-71 south ramp to Main Street will close overnight from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Aug. 3 through Aug. 7.
- ODOT Detour: I-71 south to Spring Street to Broad Street to Parsons Avenue to Main Street
- The I-270 south ramp to Easton Way will close overnight from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. August 9.
New downtown Columbus ODOT projects for the week of July 31, 2026
- The I-71 north ramp to I-70 eastwill close overnight from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. July 27 through August 1.
- ODOT Detour: I-71 north to State Route 315 north to Interstate 670 east to I-71 north.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State Fair to slow down traffic on I-71 this week
