Ohio had completed the stretch of highway between I-70 to just before the SR 7 interchange by 1976, but due to budget deficiencies work did not resume in Ohio until 1981. Construction of the bridge linking the two portions of highway was scheduled to be completed by 1981, but construction did not begin until that year. After a 3.3-cent-per-gallon (0.87-cent-per-liter) fuel tax increase, Ohio was able to fund the project again. Bids for construction work on the remainder of the Ohio portion of the freeway were solicited in 1981, with an estimated construction time of 37 months for the stretch between I-70 and the bridge.