California The modern US 6 in
California is a short, two-lane, north–south surface highway from
Bishop to the
Nevada state line. Prior to the
1964 state highway renumbering, US 6 extended to
Long Beach along what is now
US 395,
State Route 14 (SR 14),
Interstate 5 (I-5),
I-110/SR 110, and
SR 1. Despite the fact that the renumbering removed all freeway portions, it is still part of the
California Freeway and Expressway System. US 6's former routing included a short segment of the famous
Arroyo Seco Parkway. Currently, US 6 begins at US 395 in Bishop and heads north between farms and ranches in
Chalfant at the base of the western
escarpment of the
White Mountains. After about ,
Benton is reached, which has a cafe and gas station.
SR 120 begins here, heading west past
Mono Lake through
Lee Vining, over
Tioga Pass, and through
Yosemite National Park to the
San Joaquin Valley. US 6 continues north to the Nevada state line.
Nevada From the California state line, US 6 heads northeast through the semidesert Queen Valley with
Boundary Peak, Nevada's highest summit, and
Montgomery Peak in California on the right. These twin peaks are the northernmost high summits of the
White Mountains, both over . The highway then climbs into
pinyon–juniper woodland and crosses Montgomery Pass (). From the pass, US 6 descends into barren
shadscale desert, passing
Columbus Marsh on the left, then merging with
US 95 from Coaldale Junction to
Tonopah. The
Nevada Test and Training Range begins about southeast of Tonopah. Just east of Tonopah, US 6 continues east across a series of
desert mountain ranges and valleys, including the
Monitor Range. At
Warm Springs,
SR 375, also known as the "Extraterrestrial Highway", departs to the southeast and US 6 assumes a northeasterly alignment across the
Reveille,
Pancake,
Grant and
White Pine ranges. Rainfall increases eastward, so valleys become less barren and peaks over add scenic interest.
Ely is the largest city on US 6 in Nevada.
US 50 joins US 6 at Ely. East of Ely, US 6/US 50 cross the
Schell Creek Range, known for verdant forests and meadows and for a large
mule deer and
elk population. The highway descends to
Spring Valley, then crosses the
Snake Range at Sacramento Pass, north of Nevada's second-highest mountain,
Wheeler Peak, where a branch road accesses
Great Basin National Park. Beyond the pass, US 6 passes just north of
Baker, a
Mormon farming community, and reaches the
Utah state line.
Utah US 6 enters Utah
concurrently with US 50 in a remote portion of the
Great Basin Desert; the routes separate at
Delta. US 6 then proceeds on a northeast course toward the
Wasatch Front serving the
Tintic and
Eureka historic and mining districts along the way. Upon entering the Wasatch Front, at
Santaquin, the route joins
I-15 to
Spanish Fork, which is where US 6 reverses course on a southeastern path away from the Wasatch front, also joining with
US 89 for the journey through
Spanish Fork canyon. After cresting the
Wasatch Range via
Soldier Summit, the route descends into Utah's coal country, which is where it joins
US 191. At
Green River, those two routes join
I-70 and rejoin US 50. From Green River east the routes travel concurrently using the route of I-70 following the southern rim of the
Book Cliffs. US 191 leaves the concurrency at Crescent Junction but the other three routes remain concurrent as they continue to follow the Book Cliffs toward the
Grand Valley into Colorado.
Colorado US 6 is basically parallel to, or runs concurrently with,
I-70 for a significant portion of its length as it generally heads east from the Utah state line through about half of
Denver. It is unsigned while it is overlapped. It separates to become
I-70 Business (I-70 Bus.) through the south side of
Grand Junction, rejoining I-70 just east of Palisade. It again separates west of
Rifle and runs through
Antlers,
Silt,
New Castle, and
Chacra until it again joins I-70. It separates from and runs parallel to, I-70 at
Dotsero, where the
Eagle River joins the
Colorado River. It again joins I-70 just east of
Avon, the location of the
Beaver Creek Resort, just a bit west of
Vail. A significant departure from I-70 occurs at
Silverthorne where it veers a bit south then north, avoiding the nearly tunnel on I-70 as it goes under the
Continental Divide. It passes
Keystone Resort and
Arapahoe Basin before a steep climb to the highest altitude along US 6, , at
Loveland Pass, where it crosses the Continental Divide. It continues down the
Clear Creek valley as it again reaches I-70 at the
Loveland Ski Area straddling the eastern mouth of the
Eisenhower Tunnel. Slightly east of
Idaho Springs, it separates to go through the scenic
Clear Creek Canyon. At
Golden, it combines with 6th Avenue to head south until it again crosses paths with I-70. Then, continuing east, it passes through
Lakewood and west Denver as the 6th Avenue freeway. From near the eastern terminus of the 6th Avenue freeway, US 6 takes a convoluted route through Denver. First, it turns north on
I-25, then heads east on I-70 to Vasquez Boulevard through
Elyria-Swansea. The route emerges from the freeway alongside US 85 through
Commerce City, where the pair briefly join
State Highway 2 (SH 2) before separating at Colorado Boulevard. SH 2 represents the historic alignment of US 6 northeast to
Brighton, while US 6 combines with I-76, heading northeast, until east of
Brush. It then separates to join
I-76 Bus. until it crosses I-76 east of
Sterling, where it changes direction from the Interstate. It continues east until it reaches
Nebraska. The last town in Colorado that it passes is
Holyoke.
Nebraska From the Colorado state line, US 6 starts going southeast. The first town it goes into is
Imperial. US 6 runs concurrently with
US 34 near
Culbertson, passing through
McCook. US 6 then moves to the northeast, through
Hastings. At Hastings, US 34 diverges and moves north. US 6 parallels
I-80 north of
Milford until it reaches
Lincoln. At Lincoln, US 6 becomes West "O" Street, Sun Valley Boulevard, and eventually
Cornhusker Highway as it moves north of I-80 outside of the city, paralleling I-80 to
Gretna. There US 6 moves due north and becomes the West Dodge Expressway and
Dodge Street in
Omaha. It passes through
Downtown Omaha on
parallel one-way streets and runs concurrently with
I-480 in Omaha on its last Nebraska segment. East of Omaha, it crosses the
Missouri River to enter
Iowa at
Council Bluffs, Iowa, on a girder bridge completed in 1966 that replaced the
Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge, which was the first road bridge to connect the two cities.
Iowa From the Nebraska state line, US 6 enters
Iowa at
Council Bluffs, across the Missouri River from Omaha where it intersects
I‑29 within the first mile. Through Council Bluffs, it travels south concurrent with I‑29, then turns east to run concurrent with I‑29 and
I‑80. Where I-29 and I-80 split, US 6 continues northeast concurrent with I-80. The concurrency with I-80 ends at the interchange with East Kanesville Boulevard, on the northeast side of Council Bluffs, at which point US 6 turns east to run through rural
Pottawattamie County. Further east, the highway briefly overlaps
US 59 near
Oakland and continues east until
Lewis. There, it turns sharply north-northeast to
Atlantic where joins
US 71 until I‑80. It overlaps I‑80 between US 71 and
US 169 at
De Soto. US 6 travels north with US 169 to
Adel, then turns east to go toward
Des Moines. It enters the Des Moines metro area along Hickman Road in
Waukee and then forms the border between
Urbandale to the north and
Clive and
Windsor Heights to the south. In Des Moines,
Iowa Highway 28 (Iowa 28) joins US 6 at 63rd Street, and the two highways head east and north on Merle Hay Road. US 6 splits away at Douglas Avenue and it continues east. Near the
Des Moines River, Douglas Avenue becomes Euclid Avenue. In the northeastern part of the city, it intersects
US 69 and
I‑235. The highway turns onto Hubbell Avenue and heads into
Altoona where it meets
US 65 and rejoins I‑80. East of the
Des Moines metropolitan area, US 6 again overlaps I‑80 until they reach
Newton. There, it splits away to the north and runs parallel to the Interstate. It passes through
Grinnell,
Marengo, and the
Amana Colonies before arriving in
Coralville. In
Iowa City, it passes through the
University of Iowa campus on the banks of the
Iowa River. The highway heads southeast from Iowa City toward
West Liberty and then more easterly to
Wilton. At Wilton, the highway heads north to rejoin I‑80 until they reach
Davenport. After a short overlapping of
I‑280, US 6 enters the city along Kimberly Road, on which it remains until
I‑74. The two routes then run south to cross the
Mississippi River into Illinois on the
I-74 Bridge.
Illinois In
Illinois, US 6 parallels
I-74 and I-80, mostly along its original routing, overlapping with I-74 for its first and I-80 for the final of its routing in Illinois. US 6 directly serves the downtowns of many cities for its length, including
Oak Forest,
Tinley Park,
Moline,
Geneseo,
Atkinson,
Annawan,
Princeton,
Peru,
La Salle,
Ottawa,
Channahon, and
Joliet—unlike
US 20, which, in Illinois, mainly consists of freeway sections that bypass the cities US 6 serves. Like nearby
US 30 and
US 52, US 6 skirts the
Chicago city limits.
Indiana US 6 crosses the state line and shares the same
Borman Expressway with
I-80 and
I-94 through
Hammond and
Gary, until
State Road 51 (SR 51, exit 15); it then runs south for about and turns east until it meets
US 421 in
Westville, then runs south for , then east until it meets
US 31 and
US 35, and it shares the same road with
US 33 for about until
Ligonier, where US 33 breaks south toward
Fort Wayne. From there, it is mostly two lanes through Indiana until it meets the Ohio state line just east of
Butler. Before the Borman Expressway was completed, US 6 was on Ridge Road, portions of which were signed
US 6 Bus. Ohio US 6 enters
Ohio from Indiana in
Williams County. It travels through
Edgerton, then just south of
Bryan before it passes through
Napoleon,
Bowling Green, and
Fremont, before turning northeast toward
Sandusky Bay and
Lake Erie. After passing through
Sandusky, the highway follows the southern shore of Lake Erie, passing through
Huron and
Vermilion. After crossing the
Charles Berry Bridge in
Lorain, it passes through the western suburbs of
Greater Cleveland as Lake Road in
Sheffield Lake,
Avon Lake,
Bay Village, and
Rocky River, and Clifton Boulevard in
Lakewood and the
West Boulevard–
Edgewater neighborhood of
Cleveland proper. US 6 follows the
Cleveland Memorial Shoreway into
Downtown Cleveland, entering downtown by crossing the
Detroit–Superior Bridge. US 6 follows Superior Avenue through
Public Square and the east side of Cleveland before turning east onto
Euclid Avenue in
East Cleveland and Chardon Road in the city of
Euclid. US 6 continues eastward through
Lake County,
Geauga County, and finally into
Ashtabula County before entering the state of
Pennsylvania along the
Pymatuning Reservoir causeway. Ohio also has an
alternate route of US 6 in
Greater Cleveland.
Pennsylvania , near
Tioga State Forest US 6 runs for in
Pennsylvania between its entrance point west of
Meadville and its exit at
Matamoras. From the Ohio border to
US 322 in
Conneaut Lake, the route runs in a southeasterly direction. US 6 then joins US 322 and heads east to Meadville, picking up
US 19 west of the city. South of downtown, US 322 splits from the concurrency while US 6 and US 19 remain concurrent through Meadville. The two routes continue northward to
Mill Village, where US 6 and US 19 split at a junction with
US 6N. For the remainder of its routing in Pennsylvania, US 6 runs roughly parallel to the
New York–Pennsylvania border. Along the way, US 6 is concurrent with
US 62 for a short distance near
Warren.
US 11 joins US 6 from the north in
Factoryville. They run concurrently to
Scranton, where US 11 continues south and US 6 east. At
Milford, US 6 meets
US 209. The two routes embark to the northeast, crossing the
Delaware River from
Matamoras to
Port Jervis, New York.
New York in
Harriman State Park on the west bank of the
Hudson River in southern New York The portion of US 6 in
New York travels through
Orange,
Putnam, and
Westchester counties, going across the southern part of the state through the northern suburbs of
New York City. The route enters the state along with US 209 in
Port Jervis. The two routes split just north of town, with US 209 taking a more northerly route to access
Kingston. US 6, in contrast, runs primarily east–west through southern New York. A section of US 6 runs concurrent with
New York State Route 17 (NY 17; The Quickway) between
Goshen and
Harriman. The route is currently being upgraded to become part of
I-86. At Harriman, US 6 passes through one of the largest interchanges in the state of New York, where US 6/NY 17 meet
I-87 (
New York State Thruway) and
NY 32. NY 17 becomes an at-grade road and heads south, while US 6 remains a limited-access freeway as it heads east into
Harriman State Park. Near the east side of the park, US 6 intersects the
Palisades Interstate Parkway and runs concurrently with it to the historic
Bear Mountain Bridge, where US 6 is joined by
US 202 and is narrowed to a rural two-lane road as it crosses the
Hudson River with scenic views of the
Hudson Highlands. On the other side of the river and exiting Orange County for Westchester, US 6 and US 202 run along the Hudson River to
Peekskill and has a short concurrency with
US 9 before the three routes split, allowing US 6 to continue to the northeast through northern Westchester County and into Putnam County. At Shrub Oak, US 6 has an interchange with the historic
Taconic State Parkway, one of the first and most scenic long-distance freeways in the U.S. In
Brewster, US 6 joins US 202 once again, with the routes running concurrently into
Connecticut. US 6 and US 202 also have a large interchange with
I-84,
I-684, and
NY 22 in Brewster.
Connecticut US 6 runs for in Connecticut. It enters from the town of
Southeast, New York, concurrent with
US 202, shortly passes through begins the city of
Danbury, and ends at the Rhode Island state line in the town of
Killingly. In western Connecticut, US 6 either closely parallels or is concurrent with
I-84, serving as the local route in the suburbs of Danbury,
Waterbury,
Bristol, and
Hartford. It crosses the
Connecticut River (overlapped with I-84 and
US 44) on the
Bulkeley Bridge. In eastern Connecticut, US 6 is one of the principal routes connecting Hartford and
Providence, passing through the small urban areas of
Willimantic and
Danielson. The unsigned portion of the
Connecticut Turnpike then meets with US 6 shortly before crossing the
Rhode Island state line.
Rhode Island US 6 covers approximately in Rhode Island from
Foster (western border with
Killingly, Connecticut) to
East Providence (eastern border with
Seekonk, Massachusetts). In and around
Providence, US 6 overlaps with
Route 10, as well as
US 1A,
US 44,
I-95,
I-195, and
I-295.
Massachusetts US 6 runs approximately in
Massachusetts, paralleling I-195 between Providence and
Wareham, and serves as the local business route. US 6 continues onto
Cape Cod across the
Sagamore Bridge as a
freeway from
Bourne to
Orleans. North of Orleans, it becomes a surface road again to its terminus in
Provincetown. Although the westbound sign in Provincetown has been updated to reflect the shorter terminus in
Bishop, California, the eastbound sign in Provincetown still reflects the original coast-to-coast terminus of
Long Beach, California (see photo). ==History==