SR 296 begins at an unsignalized T-intersection with SR 29 in southern Salem Township in central Champaign County. The route initially travels northeast but curves south-southeast soon after it begins. The route crosses a railroad at-grade and then reaches US 68 at a four-way intersection. After the US 68 junction, the road continues further east before reaching a skewed T-intersection at Ludlow Road. Here, SR 296 turns left onto Ludlow Road while the short SR 814 begins to the right. SR 296 remains on Ludlow Road for a short time; it almost immediately turns right onto Urbana Woodstock Pike; soon after this intersection, it makes one last turn left to the north. Before this point, the road stayed on level ground but here, the road begins to ascend small hills. Traveling in a northeasterly direction through Wayne Township, SR 296 reaches its eastern terminus at SR 245 in the community of Middletown.[3]
Throughout its entire length, the route travels through a mixture of single-family residential homes, forest areas, and farmland.[3] No part of SR 296 is included within the National Highway System.[4]
History
The first section of modern-day SR 296 included as a part of the state highway system was designated SR 275 between 1931 and 1932.[5][6] This route only ran from US 68 to Middletown at what was then the eastern terminus of SR 290; SR 275 continued east to Marysville.[6] By 1933, SR 275 and SR 290 swapped routes west of Middletown.[7] SR 290 was extended west to SR 29 by 1937.[8] Between 1962 and June 1963, because of the Interstate Highway System, many routes in Ohio were renumbered.[9] Due to the proposed Interstate 290 in Cleveland, SR 290 was renumbered SR 296.[9] SR 275 at the eastern terminus was renumbered to SR 245 for a similar reason. No major changes have occurred to the route since then.
