U.S. Route 6 in Indiana
Grand Army of the Republic Highway | |||||||
Route information | |||||||
Maintained by INDOT | |||||||
Length | 149.00 mi[1] (239.79 km) | ||||||
Existed | June 8, 1931[2]–present | ||||||
Major junctions | |||||||
West end | US 6 / I-80 / I-94 at Illinois state line | ||||||
I-94 / I-80 / SR 51 at Lake Station, Indiana US 421 near Westville, Indiana | |||||||
East end | US 6 at Ohio state line | ||||||
Location | |||||||
Country | United States | ||||||
State | Indiana | ||||||
Highway system | |||||||
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U.S. Route 6 (US 6) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway that runs from California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. In Indiana, it is part of the Indiana State Road system that enters the state concurrent with the Borman Expressway between Lansing, Illinois, and Munster, Indiana. The 149.0 miles (239.8 km) of US 6 that lie within Indiana serve as a major conduit. Some sections of the highway is listed on the National Highway System. Various sections are rural two-lane highway and urbanized four-lane divided highways. The easternmost community along the highway is Butler at the Ohio state line.
US 6 passes through farm fields and forest lands, and along the northern part of Indiana. The highway is included in the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. US 6 was first designated as a US Highway in 1932. A section of the highway originally served as part of Sauk Indian Trail. US 6 replaced the original State Road 17 designation of the highway which dated back to the formation of the Indiana state road system. SR 17 ran from Ligonier through Kendallville to Waterloo and ended in Butler. US 6 also replaced the second designation of the highway, State Road 6, through most of the state.
Route description
US 6 enters Indiana concurrent with I-80/I-94 on the Borman Expressway. US 6 is concurrent with I-80/I-94 until Lake Station where US 6 leaves the expressway. US 6 heads due south towards Hobart. In Hobart US 6 turns east towards Westville. On the way to Westville the road passes through an interchange with State Road 49 and an intersection with State Road 2. In Westville the route has a concurrency with U.S. Route 421. South of Westville US 421 heads south and US 6 heads east. The route heads towards Walkerton, passing through an intersection with State Road 39, a concurrency with U.S. Route 35, and an intersection with State Road 104. In Walkerton the road has a concurrency with State Road 23. From Walkerton the route heads east towards Bremen, passing through a traffic light with U.S. Route 31.[3][4]
US 6 bypasses Bremen on the north side of town. At the western terminus of the Bremen bypass US 6 has an intersection with State Road 106. Then while on the bypass, the route has an intersection with a service road at connects with State Road 331, US 6 passes over SR 331. Then at the eastern terminus of the bypass US 6 has an intersection with the eastern terminus of SR 106. From Bremen the road heads east towards Nappanee. In Nappanee the route has a traffic light at State Road 19. From Nappanee the road heads east towards Ligonier, passing through an intersection with State Road 15, a concurrency with State Road 13, and a concurrency with US 33. The concurrency with US 33 end at a traffic light with State Road 5 in Ligonier. US 33 heads south and US 6 heads east towards Kendallville. On the way to Kendallville the route has a concurrency with State Road 9. In Kendallville the road has a concurrency with State Road 3. The route heads east from Kendallville towards Waterloo. On the way to Waterloo the road has a concurrency with StateRoad 327 and an interchange with Interstate 69. The route enters Waterloo and has an intersection with State Road 427. From Waterloo the road heads east towards Butler. The road enters Butler and has an intersection with State Road 1. From Butler US 6 heads east toward Ohio state line.[3][4]
Only the segment of US 6 that are concurrent with Interstate 80/Interstate 94 and the segment that is concurrent with U.S. Route 33 are included as a part of the National Highway System (NHS).[5] The NHS is a network of highways that are identified as being most important for the economy, mobility and defense of the nation.[6] The highway is maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) like all other U.S. Highways in the state. The department tracks the traffic volumes along all state highways as a part of its maintenance responsibilities using a metric called average annual daily traffic (AADT). This measurement is a calculation of the traffic level along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. In 2010, INDOT figured that lowest traffic levels were the 2,620 vehicles and 930 commercial vehicles used the highway daily between US 35 and Walkerton. The peak traffic volumes were 166,160 vehicles and 42,090 commercial vehicles AADT along the section of US 6 that is concurrent with the I–80 and I–94.[7]
History
US 6 was established in the late 1700s as the old Sauk Indian Trail also known as the Great East-West Trail. In 1843 the road between Ligonier and Kendallville became a gravel road surface.[8] The first number was State Road 17 in 1918, from Ligonier to the Ohio state line. The rest of what is now US 6 was unsigned.[9][10] The name of the road was changed to the Chicago Road in the 1920, SR 17 was still in use on this road.[8] In 1926 signs for State Road 6 were installed from the Illinois state line to Westville and from Ligonier to Ohio state line.[11][12] US 6 signs were installed and the road was paved during the summer of 1932. The rest of the road from Westville to Ligonier was under construction during this year.[13][14]
Northwest Indiana
Before the route of US 6 was changed to the Borman Expressway, US 6 entered Indiana from Illinois on Ridge Road. US 6 headed east passing through Munster, Highland, and New Chicago. This route became Bus US 6 and now this route is unnumbered from Illinois to Indiana State Road 912 and is still BUS US 6 from SR 912 to US 6 in Hobart.
Bremen
SR 106 was the first route of US 6 through Bremen. Then a bypass was built around the north side of Bremen. The route through Bremen was cosigned BUS US 6 and SR 106, now it is only SR 106.
Major intersections
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit[1][15] | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lake | Hammond | 0.00 | 0.00 | I-80 west / I-94 west / US 6 west – Chicago, Des Moines | US 6 crosses the Illinois state line from the Kingery Expressway concurrent with I-80/I-94 on the Borman Expressway | |
0.87 | 1.40 | 1 | US 41 north (Calumet Avenue) – Hammond, Munster | Western end of US 41 concurrency | ||
2.39 | 3.85 | 2 | US 41 south / SR 152 north (Indianapolis Boulevard) – Hammond, Highland | Eastern end of US 41 concurrency; serves Purdue University Calumet | ||
Gary | 4.92 | 7.92 | 5 | SR 912 (Cline Avenue) – East Chicago, Griffith | Serves Gary/Chicago International Airport | |
9.92 | 15.96 | 10 | SR 53 (Broadway) – Merrillville, Gary | Serves Indiana University Northwest | ||
11.01– 11.80 | 17.72– 18.99 | 11 12 | I-65 to I-90 / Indiana Toll Road – Indianapolis | Signed as exits 11 (south) and 12 (north) eastbound and exits 12A (south) and 12B (north) westbound; freeway narrows from 4 to 3 lanes | ||
Lake Station | 15.00 | 24.14 | 15 | I-80 east / I-94 east to I-90 / SR 51 north – Detroit, Toledo | Eastern end of I-80/I-94 concurrency and northern end of SR 51 concurrency | |
Hobart | 17.27 | 27.79 | US 6 Bus. west / SR 51 south – New Chicago, Hobart | Southern end of SR 51 concurrency | ||
Porter | South Haven | 23.32 | 37.53 | SR 149 – Burns Harbor | ||
Liberty Township | 27.30– 27.46 | 43.94– 44.19 | 27 | SR 49 – Valparaiso, Porter | ||
La Porte | Westville | 34.30 | 55.20 | SR 2 – Valparaiso, Westville, La Porte | ||
35.42 | 57.00 | US 421 north – Westville, Michigan City | Northern end of US 421 concurrency | |||
36.51 | 58.76 | US 421 south – Monticello, Indianapolis | Southern end of US 421 concurrency | |||
Scipio Township | 44.59 | 71.76 | SR 39 – Monticello, La Porte | |||
Kingsbury | 46.81 | 75.33 | US 35 north – La Porte, Michigan City | Northern end of US 35 concurrency | ||
South Center | 51.76 | 83.30 | US 35 south – Knox | Southern end of US 35 concurrency | ||
St. Joseph | Walkerton | 59.37 | 95.55 | SR 104 north – La Porte | ||
60.05 | 96.64 | SR 23 north – South Bend | Northwestern end of SR 23 concurrency | |||
60.18 | 96.85 | SR 23 south – Koontz Lake | Southeastern end of SR 23 concurrency | |||
Marshall | Lapaz | 69.58 | 111.98 | US 31 – Plymouth, South Bend | ||
Bremen | 74.99 | 120.68 | SR 106 east – Bremen | Western terminus of SR 106 | ||
77.60 | 124.89 | 78 | SR 331 – Bremen, Mishawaka | |||
79.13 | 127.35 | SR 106 west – Bremen | Eastern terminus of SR 106 | |||
Elkhart | Nappanee | 86.20 | 138.73 | SR 19 – Peru, Elkhart | ||
Jackson Township | 92.34 | 148.61 | CR 17 – Goshen, Dunlap, Elkhart | Future junction with CR 17[16] | ||
94.42 | 151.95 | SR 15 – Warsaw, Goshen | ||||
Benton Township | 99.28 | 159.78 | SR 13 south / CR 33 north – Syracuse, Wabash, Goshen | Western end of SR 13 concurrency | ||
102.05 | 164.23 | US 33 north / SR 13 north – Goshen, Elkhart, Millersburg, Middlebury | Eastern end of SR 13 concurrency; western end of US 33 concurrency | |||
Noble | Ligonier | 107.83 | 173.54 | US 33 south / SR 5 / Lincoln Highway – Fort Wayne, Shipshewana | Eastern end of US 33 concurrency | |
Orange Township | 116.59 | 187.63 | SR 9 south – Albion, Columbia City | Western end of SR 9 concurrency | ||
119.45 | 192.24 | SR 9 north – Rome City, Lagrange | Eastern end of SR 9 concurrency | |||
Kendallville | 124.07 | 199.67 | SR 3 south – Fort Wayne | Western end of SR 3 concurrency | ||
124.70 | 200.69 | SR 3 north – Mongo | Eastern end of SR 3 concurrency | |||
Dekalb | Corunna | 130.94 | 210.73 | SR 327 north – Orland | Western end of SR 327 concurrency | |
131.41 | 211.48 | SR 327 south – Garrett | Eastern end of SR 327 concurrency | |||
Waterloo | 136.27– 136.39 | 219.31– 219.50 | I-69 – Fort Wayne, Lansing | Exit 334 on I-69 | ||
138.14 | 222.31 | SR 427 north / CR 427 south – Hamilton, Auburn | ||||
Butler | 144.35 | 232.31 | CR 61 – St. Joe | |||
145.83 | 234.69 | SR 1 – Fort Wayne, Hamilton | ||||
Stafford Township | 149.00 | 239.79 | US 6 east – Edgerton, Bryan, Napoleon | Ohio state line | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
References
- ^ a b c "INDOT Roadway Referencing System" (PDF). staff. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Weingroff, Richard F. (April 7, 2011). "U.S. 6 and The Grand Army of the Republic Highway". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
- ^ a b "overview map of U.S. Route 6 in Indiana" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
- ^ a b Indiana Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Indiana Department of Transportation. 2011–2012. § B3-B11. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
- ^ National Highway System: Indiana (PDF) (Map). Federal Highway Administration. December 2003. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
- ^ "National Highway System". Federal Highway Administration. August 26, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
- ^ "INDOT Traffic Zones". Indiana Department of Transportation. 2010. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
- ^ a b Nartker, Dennis. "U.S. 6, Ind. 3: Kendallville's routes to growth". The News-Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ State Highway System of Indiana: 1917 (Map). Indiana State Highway Commission. September 30, 1917. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ State Highway System of Indiana: 1918 (Map). Indiana State Highway Commission. September 30, 1918.
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(help) - ^ "Road Numbers to Be Changed". The Hancock-Democrat. The Indianapolis News. September 30, 1926. Retrieved June 9, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ State Highway System of Indiana: 1927 (PDF) (Map). Indiana State Highway Commission. September 30, 1927. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ State Highway System of Indiana: 1931 (PDF) (Map). Indiana State Highway Commission. September 30, 1931. § C3–C5 & C8–C10. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ State Highway System of Indiana: 1932 (PDF) (Map). Indiana State Highway Commission. September 30, 1932. § B2–B9. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ "INDOT: All Indiana U.S. Route Interchanges". staff. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
- ^ "CR 17". Elkhart County Highway Department. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
External links
- U.S. Route 6
- U.S. Highways in Indiana
- Transportation in Gary, Indiana
- Transportation in Lake County, Indiana
- Transportation in Porter County, Indiana
- Transportation in LaPorte County, Indiana
- Transportation in St. Joseph County, Indiana
- Transportation in Marshall County, Indiana
- Transportation in Elkhart County, Indiana
- Transportation in Noble County, Indiana
- Transportation in DeKalb County, Indiana