Several ramps were removed and service roads were built on both sides of the freeway. Route 8 from SR 303 north to Interstate 271 was converted to a full freeway without at-grade intersections between 2008 and 2011. The ramp between State Route 8 northbound and I-271 northbound opened July 24, 2009, and the opposite ramp opened on September 4. The new Turnpike interchange opened in December 2010, well ahead of the projected date of fall 2011. An interchange was opened at Seasons Road in 2010 to serve the area near the borders of Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, and Hudson. Although the interchange was completed on January 25, 2010, it was not initially scheduled to open until one month later, on February 26, when an official ribbon-cutting could take place. Two weeks before the scheduled opening, an editorial in the Akron Beacon Journal lambasted the ribbon-cutting, calling the ceremony a mere "photo op", and questioning why a finished project should sit unused for 31 days. On February 21, the government of Stow, which had been responsible for holding the ceremony, announced the interchange would open in the morning of the next day without a ribbon-cutting. In 2015 SR 8 was rerouted slightly in Shaker Heights due to a six-leg intersection being converted to a four-leg one. Long-term plans for the road include a complete replacement of the North Expressway Viaduct between the Perkins Street and Glenwood Avenue exits, which is currently forecast to begin in 2023. Interstate proposal In January 2014, the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) metropolitan planning organization proposed to designate the section between the central interchange in Akron (at I-76/77) to Macedonia (at I-271) as Interstate 380. ODOT declined the proposal for financial reasons. The letter was resubmitted in April 2014 with support from additional local officials, including Akron mayor Don Plusquellic, but no further discussion has taken place on the proposal. Major intersections References External links State Route 8 Endpoint Photos District4Sight: Akron-area project overview 008 Transportation in Akron, Ohio Transportation in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Transportation in Summit County, Ohio Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Transportation in Cleveland