US Highway 6

U.S. Highway 6

• Commissioned: 1926
• Decommissioned: Not anytime soon
• Total Miles: 3205 (3517)*
• Nicknames:
  • Grand Army of the Republic Highway
  • Suicide Six (For the dangerous portion near Andover, Connecticut)
• Mentioned In:
  • On the Road: By Jack Kerouac
• States Passed: 14
  Massachusetts
  Major Cities Passed:
  • Provincetown
  • New Bedford
  • Fall River
  Rhode Island
  • Providence
  Connecticut
  • Hartford
  • Danbury
  New York
  • NONE
  Pennsylvania
  • Erie (Original Western Terminus of US 6, now bypassed)
  Ohio
  • Cleveland
  Indiana
  • Gary
  Illinois
  • Chicago
  • Quad Cities
  Iowa
  • Des Moines
  Nebraska
  • Omaha
  • Lincoln
  Colorado
  • Denver
  
  Utah
  • Provo
  • Salt Lake City
  Nevada
  • NONE
  California
  • Bishop (Not really a major city, but the current western end.)
  The following city were removed following the California Route Renumbering in 1964.
  • Los Angeles
  • Long Beach (US 6 ended at the Long Beach Traffic Circle, or the corner of Ocean Blvd. and Long Beach Ave. records differ.)

History/Info:

The Grand Army of the Republic Highway (US 6 was given this name in 1948); Formerly: Theodore Roosevelt Highway). It was one of the original US highways commissioned in 1926 orignally going from Erie, Pennsylvania to Cape Cod. Supporters of the Theodore Roosevelt Highway wanted their highway to go across the nation, similarly to the Lincoln Highway. By 1937, they had acomplished that and US 6 become the longest US route ever known. Starting/Ending at Cape Cod, Mass. and Long Beach, Calif. On July 1, 1964, however, California shortened, or eliminated almost all of its US routes in order to recieve federal funds to build freeways (See: California Route Renumbering). In this manuver it removed Route 6 from the record books as being the longest US route (It's still the longest US Route, that doesn't split anywhere, meaning there's no the East or West sides of US 6 don't part from each other). Today, it still ends in the east at Cape Cod, but now starts near the Nevada state line in Bishop, Calif. Although one interesting thing is that the Grand Army of the Republic had a offical encampment at the end of US 6 in 1953 and there was plaque erected at the southern end of Long Beach Blvd. It's still there, although moved slightly due to the demolition of the structure it was originally on and is now near the Long Beach Preforming Arts Center. So to some extent, US 6 still ends in Long Beach, plus there are random old "Grand Army of the Republic" signs found throught Los Angeles, and the desert area. Also, can someone explain what would be bad for the government and/or state of California to repost US 6 to Long Beach? It doesn't seem too costly other than putting up the US 6 signs and routine work.

* Mileage/Cities Before truncation.