U.S. Route 6 in Ohio
U.S. Route 6 is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. US 6 is the second longest federal highway in the United States, second only to U.S. Route 20. In Ohio, the road runs west-east from the Indiana state line near Edgerton to the Pennsylvania state line near Andover. The that lie in Ohio are maintained by the Ohio Department of Transportation. US 6 serves the major cities of Sandusky, Lorain, and Cleveland. The highway is also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway to honor the Union forces of the American Civil War. The alternate name was designated in 1953.
US 6 originally ran from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania. It was extended through Ohio to Colorado in June 1931. The route of US 6 has remained largely unchanged since 1931.
Route description
US 6 traverses the far northern portion of Ohio, passing through 10 counties. The highway travels through largely farm and field country until it reaches Sandusky. After Sandusky, US 6 travels along the coast of Lake Erie until Cleveland. From Cleveland to the Pennsylvania state line, Route 6 passes through mostly wooded land.Western Ohio
US 6 crosses into Williams County, Ohio, at the Indiana state line between Butler, Indiana, and Edgerton, Ohio. The highway goes east from the border, passing through the small town of Edgerton, where it has a brief concurrency with Ohio State Route 49. Continuing east through farm country, US 6 passes through Ridgeville Corners, until reaching Napoleon in Henry County, where it intersects US 24, starting a 4.6-mile long concurrency. East of Napoleon, US 6 passes through McClure. 15 miles east of McClure, Route 6 passes south of the college town of Bowling Green, intersecting with Interstate 75. Along this 15-mile stretch, the road crosses into Wood County. Just east of Bowling Green, US 6 has a 1-mile long overlap with Ohio State Route 199.US 6 continues through rural country until it passes just north of Bradner. Here, the highway intersects U.S. Route 23 at the Wood-Sandusky county line. In Sandusky County, US 6 passes through the small towns of Rollersville and Helena before reaching the city of Fremont. In Fremont, US 6 overlaps with Ohio State Route 53 for 4.1 miles, US 20 for 3.9 miles, and Ohio State Route 19 for 2.6 miles. Route 6 skirts the northern city limits of Fremont before turning northeast just east of Fremont. 3 miles from Fremont, US 6 crosses under I-80/I-90, but there is not an interchange between the highways. 11 miles northeast of the interstate, US 6 crosses into Erie County.
Just into Erie County, US 6 overlaps Ohio State Route 269 for 0.6 miles, then intersects Ohio State Route 2 1.8 miles east of the SR 269 concurrency. Just east of this intersection, US 6 enters the city of Sandusky. US 6 passes through a largely residential part of Sandusky. Locally, the highway is also known as Tiffin Avenue, West Washington Street, Warren Street, and Cleveland Road West. Cedar Point is accessed from US 6. Southeast of Sandusky, US 6 passes the Griffing Sandusky Airport near Fairview Lanes. As US 6 continues east through Erie County, it passes through the city of Huron, the communities of Mitiwanga and Beulah Beach, and the city of Vermilion before crossing into Lorain County. East of Vermilion, in Lorain County, US 6 enters the city of Lorain, the last major city before the highway reaches Cleveland. In Lorain, Route 6 stays close to the Lake Erie shoreline and crosses the Black River on the Charles Berry Bridge, the second-largest bascule bridge in the world. East of Lorain, US 6 passes through Sheffield Lake and Avon Lake before crossing into Cuyahoga County.
Cleveland
After passing through Bay Village, US 6 enters the suburbs of Cleveland. In Rocky River, US 6 starts concurrencies with Ohio State Route 2 and U.S. Route 20. Also, an alternate route of US 6 starts in Rocky River and winds along Detroit Avenue for 7.3 miles to its eastern terminus just west of the Cuyahoga River in the Ohio City neighborhood.US 6 enters the city of Cleveland during its overlap with SR 2 and US 20. US 6, along with US 20, splits from SR 2 just before it crosses the Cuyahoga River on the Main Avenue Bridge. Route 6 meets up with Ohio State Route 3 and U.S. Route 42 at West 25th Street, and the four highways cross the Cuyahoga River on the Veterans Memorial Bridge. At the east end of the bridge, US 6 passes through Public Square. Here, the concurrencies with US 20, US 42, and SR 3 end. U.S. Route 322 also starts a concurrency with US 6 in Public Square that ends 0.5 mi east of the plaza
East of Public Square, US 6 has an interchange with Interstate 90. 4.5 miles east of this intersection, US 6 starts another concurrency with US 20 in East Cleveland that lasts for 4.2 miles. After splitting from US 20, US 6 runs concurrent with Ohio State Route 84 for 2.1 miles before entering Lake County.
Eastern Ohio
The 10.23 miles that lie within Lake County pass through many small residential developments in Willoughby Hills and Kirtland before crossing into Geauga County. In Geauga County, US 6 passes through the city of Chardon, where it has a brief overlap with Ohio State Route 44. In Chardon, US 6 turns northeast to serve Hambden Township and Montville Township before crossing into Ashtabula County.In Ashtabula County, US 6 travels straight east through the townships of Hartsgrove, Rome, New Lyme, and Cherry Valley, as well as the village of Andover before turning north with Ohio State Route 7. 7.5 miles north of Andover, US 6 breaks its concurrency with SR 7, turns east, and enters Pennsylvania in Crawford County, just north of the Pymatuning Reservoir.
History
US 6 was one of the original routes created when the United States Numbered Highway System was formed. Originally, US 6 was only routed from Provincetown, Massachusetts to Brewster, New York. Soon after, it was routed to Pennsylvania and was alternatively named the Roosevelt Highway. The route was not extended into Ohio until 1931, when the highway was expanded to Greeley, Colorado. The Ohio routing established in 1931 has not been changed since then.By the 1930s, the Roosevelt Highway name had started to fade. Major William Anderson, Jr. took notice of this and proposed the idea of redesignating the highway to honor Union forces during the Civil War. Veteran associations started promoting the idea in 1934. Because each state along the highway owned its portion of US 6, each state had to act on the proposal. Each state had approved the renaming by 1953, and it was in that year that US 6 was designated as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway along its entire length. The name is signed in all 14 states that US 6 passes through.