U.S. Route 6

U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts, the route has been modified several times. The highway's longest-lasting routing, from 1936 to 1964, had its western terminus at Long Beach, California. During this time, US 6 was the longest highway in the country.

In 1964, the state of California renumbered its highways, and most of the route within California was transferred to other highways. This dropped the highway's length below that of US 20.

US 6 is a diagonal route, whose number is out of sequence with the rest of the U.S. Highway grid in the western US. When it was designated in 1926, US 6 only ran east of Erie, Pennsylvania. Subsequent extensions, largely replacing the former U.S. Route 32 (US 32) and U.S. Route 38 (US 38), have taken it south of US 30 near Chicago, Illinois, US 40 near Denver, Colorado (past the end of US 38), US 50 at Ely, Nevada, and even US 70 near Los Angeles, California, due to its north–south alignment in that state.

U.S. Route 6 in Nebraska

In the U.S. State of Nebraska, U.S. Highway 6 is a highway which goes from the Colorado border west of Imperial in the west to the Iowa border in the east at Omaha. Significant portions of the highway are concurrent with other highways, most significantly, U.S. Highway 34 between Culbertson and Hastings. Also, from Milford east to the Iowa border, the highway is closely paralleled by Interstate 80.

Route description

U.S. Highway 6 enters Nebraska from Colorado west of Imperial on a short southeasterly segment. It turns east and stays due east until shortly before Imperial. It then goes into Imperial and meets Nebraska Highway 61. The two routes are paired together until they separate at the Enders Reservoir State Recreation Area. It goes in a generally southeasterly direction until it meets U.S. Highway 34 west of Culbertson.

US 6 and US 34 continue east together through Culbertson and at McCook, is briefly concurrent with U.S. Highway 83. US 6/34 continue together in a northeasterly direction through Cambridge, then turns due east and meets U.S. Highway 283 in Arapahoe. Near Edison, it meets U.S. Highway 136, which begins at its intersection with US 6/34. Further east, the two highways meet Nebraska Highway 4 and turns northeast towards Holdrege, Nebraska. In Holdrege, US 6/34 meet U.S. Highway 183. The highways continue on a northeasterly trajectory through Minden until Heartwell. At Heartwell, US 6/34 turns due east until Hastings. In Hastings, US 6/34 meet U.S. Highway 281 and US 34 separates to go with US 281 while US 6 continues eastward.

U.S. Route 6 in Colorado

In the U.S. state of Colorado, U.S. Route 6 (US 6) is an east–west highway stretching from Utah to Nebraska. Much of the route overlaps other highways in Colorado, and as a result, much of US 6 is unsigned.

Route description

US 6 is concurrent with Interstate 70 for a significant portion of its length from the Utah state line to Denver. Within the city limits, US 6 follows Denver's 6th Avenue (known as "6th Avenue Freeway"). The highway then travels north briefly, and follows Interstate 76 for most of its length east of Denver. It is unsigned while it is overlapped. The highest altitude along US 6 is 11,990 feet (3,650 m) at Loveland Pass, where it crosses the Continental Divide. It continues down Clear Creek Valley until it reaches I-70, where it is briefly overlapped until I-70 leaves Clear Creek Valley. US 6 continues down Clear Creek and into Denver, where it turns into a freeway with 6 lanes. East of Denver, it continues east while joined with I-76 until it reaches Sterling, where it diverges from the interstate. The last town in Colorado it passes is Holyoke.