U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania

"Pennsylvania Route 6" redirects here. For the short-lived Pennsylvania Traffic Route, now U.S. Route 219, see Pennsylvania Route 6 (1920s). For the auxiliary route, see U.S. Route 6N.
This article is about the section of U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 6.

U.S. Route 6 marker
U.S. Route 6
Grand Army of the Republic Highway
Map
US 6 highlighted in red and alternate routes in blue
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT and JIBC
Length403 mi[1] (649 km)
Existed1926–present
Historydesignated as PA 7 in 1924
Tourist
routes		Crawford Lakelands Scenic Byway
Gateway to the Endless Mountains Scenic Byway
Governor Casey Scenic Byway
Major junctions
West end US 6 at Ohio state line
Major intersections
East end US 6 / US 209 at New York state line
Location
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountiesCrawford, Erie, Warren, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Bradford, Wyoming, Lackawanna, Wayne, Pike
Highway system
← PA 5→ PA 6
← US 6N→ PA 8

U.S. Route 6 (US 6) travels east–west near the north edge of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from the Ohio state line near Pymatuning Reservoir east to the Mid-Delaware Bridge over the Delaware River into Port Jervis, New York. It is the longest highway segment in the commonwealth. Most of it is a two-lane rural highway, with some freeway bypasses around larger towns. Except east of Dunmore, where it is paralleled by Interstate 84 (I-84), it is the main route in its corridor. What is now I-80—the Keystone Shortway—was once planned along the US 6 corridor as a western extension of I-84.[2] The corridor was originally the Roosevelt Highway from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Port Jervis, New York, designated Pennsylvania Route 7 (PA 7) in 1924.[3] The PA 7 designation soon disappeared, but, as US 6 was extended and relocated, the Roosevelt Highway followed it. The Pennsylvania section of US 6 was renamed the Grand Army of the Republic Highway in 1946; this name was applied to its full transcontinental length by 1953.[4]

US 6 meets with US 19 near Meadville, where it turns north with US 19 to a point east of Edinboro. There it turns east (while US 6N heads west to US 20 at West Springfield) and passes through the Northern Tier. At Towanda, it turns more southeasterly to reach Dunmore, then turning back northeast out of Dunmore to Carbondale and generally east and southeast to New York. US 6 fully encompasses two Pennsylvania Scenic Byways: the Gateway to the Endless Mountains Scenic Byway along the bypass of Tunkhannock and the Governor Casey Scenic Byway along the freeway portion in Lackawanna County between I-81 in Dunmore and PA 247 in Jessup.[5][6]

At 403 miles (649 km) in length, US 6 is the longest numbered highway in Pennsylvania.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference map was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, August 14, 1957
    Note: the corridor had already been shifted south by September 1955, but the numbering was done on a map from August 2, 1947.
  3. ^ "U.S. 22 - The William Penn Highway". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  4. ^ Richard F. Weingroff. "U.S. 6 - The Grand Army of the Republic Highway". Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "Gateway to the Endless Mountains". VisitPA.com. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  6. ^ "Governor Casey". VisitPA.com. Retrieved March 27, 2012.