U.S. Route 6 in Nebraska

U.S. Highway 6 (US 6) in the U.S. state of Nebraska 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. Large portions of the route parallel the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

U.S. Highway 6
US 6 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NDOT
Length	373.00 mi[1] (600.29 km)
Existed	1931–present
Major junctions
West end	US 6 at Colorado state line
	US 34 near Culbertson US 83 in McCook US 283 in Arapahoe US 183 in Holdrege US 34 / US 281 in Hastings US 81 in Fairmont US 77 in Lincoln I-80 near Waverly I-680 in Omaha I-480 / US 75 in Omaha
East end	I-480 / US 6 at the Iowa state line
Location
Counties	Chase, Hayes, Hitchcock, Red Willow, Furnas, Harlan, Phelps, Kearney, Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Saline, Seward, Lancaster, Cass, Saunders, Sarpy, Douglas
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Nebraska State Highway System Interstate U.S. State Link Spur State Spurs Recreation ← N-5 → N-7

Route description

US 6 runs east as Dodge Street in Omaha

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.[1][2]

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.[1][2]

US 6 continues on a due east highway from Hastings. Near Sutton, the highway turns northeast to go through Sutton. It continues east and at Fairmont, US 6 encounters U.S. Highway 81. After passing through Friend, US 6 meets Nebraska Highway 15 and the two highways overlap until shortly before Milford. US 6 goes east, then north out of Milford, then US 6 turns east to go towards Lincoln.[1][2]

In Lincoln, US 6 comes into the city on West "O" Street, portions of which are divided highway. At Sun Valley Boulevard, it turns to go northeasterly. At North 10th Street, US 6 turns north-northwest and becomes North 11th Street, a divided highway. At Cornhusker Highway, US 6 turns east with a short urban connection to Interstate 180 on the west along Cornhusker. US 6 then follows Cornhusker Highway, which is a divided highway, northeast out of the city. At the eastern end of Cornhusker Highway (near Waverly), US 6 meets Interstate 80.[1][2]

From Interstate 80, US 6 goes northeast through Waverly, Greenwood and Ashland. East of Ashland, US 6 crosses the Platte River. After that, US 6 meets Nebraska Highway 31 in Gretna, where US 6 turns north with NE 31 on a divided highway. US 6/NE 31 meet U.S. Highway 275 and Nebraska Highway 92 near the Elkhorn neighborhood of Omaha and they separate in Elkhorn itself at a freeway interchange which also has Nebraska Link 28B, a connector to US 275.[1][2]

At this point, US 6 goes onto the freeway, the West Dodge Expressway, and turns due east to go towards downtown Omaha. At 137th Street is the exit for Boys Town. Between 120th and 108th Streets, US 6 is an elevated freeway with separate viaducts for eastbound and westbound traffic. Shortly after this ends, US 6 meets Interstate 680. East of I-680, US 6 continues east as West Dodge Road and at Cass Street, turns briefly southeast where West Dodge Road ends and US 6 follows Dodge Street eastward. Before 30th Street, US 6 splits into two one-way streets, with Dodge Street serving westbound traffic, and Douglas Street serving the eastbound. US 6 goes through downtown and then goes up onto Interstate 480, which is an elevated freeway around downtown Omaha, and shortly thereafter, crosses into Iowa via the Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge.[1][2]

History

When the U.S. Highway System was created in 1926, much of the current US 6 in Nebraska was U.S. Highway 38. The route was slightly different in the Omaha area, as it turned east from 204th Street onto Q Street to go through what was the city of Millard. It went through Millard on what is now Millard Avenue (Nebraska Highway 50), then north on 132nd Street, then east on Center Street, and then north on 36th Street to end at Farnam Street. In 1932, US 38 was deleted and replaced by US 6.

The cities of Hastings and Lincoln also had City U.S. Highway 6. These are former routes for US 6 in those cities. City US 6 in Hastings was deleted in 1970 and in Lincoln, it was deleted in 1983.

Future

The Nebraska Department of Roads is planning a total rebuild and partial realignment/rerouting of U.S. 6 from its current path along Sun Valley Boulevard in Lincoln, Nebraska. The project is years away from being built.[3]

Commemorative and other highway names

• Grand Army of the Republic Highway (statewide)
• Carl T. Curtis Drive in Kearney County
• "O" Street, Sun Valley Boulevard, 11th Street, Cornhusker Highway in Lincoln
• 204th Street, West Dodge Expressway, West Dodge Road, Dodge Street, Douglas Street, Gerald R. Ford Expressway in Omaha

Major intersections

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Chase	​	0.000	0.000	US 6 west – Holyoke, Sterling	Continuation into Colorado
	Imperial	24.11	38.80	S-15A south (Broadway Street)
		24.95	40.15	N-61 north	Western end of N-61 overlap
	Enders	34.53	55.57	N-61 south	Eastern end of N-61 overlap
Hayes	Hamlet	49.70	79.98	S-43A north
Hitchcock	Palisade	57.21	92.07	N-25A north (Main Street)
	​	63.36	101.97	N-25
	​	70.54	113.52	L-44C east
	​	71.11	114.44	US 34 west	Western end of US 34 overlap
	​	71.52	115.10	L-44C west
	Culbertson	74.03	119.14	N-17 south
Red Willow	McCook	84.78	136.44	US 83 north	Western end of US 83 overlap
		86.21	138.74	US 83 south (6th Street)	Eastern end of US 83 overlap
Furnas	Cambridge	111.38	179.25	N-47 south (Patterson Street)
	Arapahoe	125.86	202.55	US 283 (Nebraska Avenue)
	​	132.06	212.53	US 136 east
	​	139.99	225.29	N-46 south
Harlan	​	144.46	232.49	N-4 east
Phelps	Holdrege	157.16	252.92	N-23 west (4th Avenue)
		157.76	253.89	US 183 (Burlington Street)
Kearney	Axtell	169.60	272.94	N-44 south (21 Road)	Western end of N-44 overlap
		173.68	279.51	N-44 north (25 Road)	Eastern end of N-44 overlap
	Minden	180.78	290.94	N-10 (Brown Avenue)
Adams	Kenesaw	197.40	317.68	S-1A north (Smith Way)
	Juniata	205.38	330.53	S-1B north (Juniata Avenue)
	Hastings	208.88	336.16	S-1C north
		210.87	339.36	US 281 south (Baltimore Avenue)	Western end of US 281 overlap
		211.37	340.17	US 34 east / US 281 north (Burlington Avenue)	Eastern end of US 34/US 281 overlap
Clay	Harvard	227.15	365.56	S-18A north (Road K)
	​	230.17	370.42	N-14 south (Road N)	Western end of N-14 overlap
	​	233.14	375.20	N-14 north (Road Q)	Eastern end of N-14 overlap
	Saronville	236.14	380.03	S-18G north (Road T)
Fillmore	Fairmont	255.63– 255.65	411.40– 411.43	US 81	Interchange
Saline	Cordova	268.79	432.58	S-76A north
	Friend	271.79	437.40	L-80E
	​	277.78	447.04	N-15 south	Western end of N-15 overlap
	Dorchester	278.39	448.03	N-33 east
		280.98	452.19	L-76E south
Seward	​	289.50	465.91	N-15 north	Eastern end of N-15 overlap
	​	295.48	475.53	L-80H north
	​	301.51	485.23	N-103
Lancaster	Emerald	306.49	493.25	S-55A south (SW 84th Street)
	Lincoln	308.96	497.22	L-55K north (NW 48th Street) to I-80 – Lincoln Air Park
		309.85– 310.47	498.66– 499.65	I-80 west	Closed; former exit 396 on I-80
		310.68– 310.69	499.99– 500.01	US 77 (Homestead Expressway) / I-80 east	Interchange
		314.32	505.85	To I-180 / US 34 / Cornhusker Highway / 11th Street
		314.50	506.14	14th Street / Antelope Valley Parkway	Interchange; no westbound exit (westbound access via Adams St or Yolande Ave)
		318.09	511.92	L-55X north (56th Street)	Former US 77 north
		319.80	514.67	70th Street south	Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance via Cotner Boulevard
	Waverly	322.69– 323.27	519.32– 520.25	I-80 – Omaha	I-80 exit 409
Cass	​	335.61	540.11	N-63 south to I-80
Saunders	Ashland	337.44	543.06	N-66
Platte River		340.22	547.53	Bridge
Sarpy	Gretna	344.88	555.03	N-31 south (216th Street)	Western end of N-31 overlap
		348.46	560.79	N-370 east (West Gruenther Road)
Douglas	​	354.53	570.56	US 275 / N-92 (West Center Road)	Interchange
	Omaha	356.53	573.78	N-31 north (204th Street) / L-28B west (West Dodge Expressway west) – Fremont, Wahoo	Eastern end of N-31 overlap; western end of freeway section; L-28B is former US 30A west
		357.52	575.37	192nd Street
		358.52	576.98	180th Street
		359.41	578.41	168th Street
		360.51	580.18	156th Street
		361.00	580.97	150th Street
		361.50	581.78	144th Street
		361.97	582.53	137th Street – Boys Town
		362.50	583.39	132nd Street
		363.20– 363.23	584.51– 584.56	120th Street / 114th Street – Old Mill
		364.23– 365.12	586.17– 587.60	I-680 to I-80	I-680 exit 3
		365.29– 365.33	587.88– 587.94	102nd Street / 98th Street / Regency Parkway – Westroads Mall	98th St. not signed eastbound
		365.57	588.33	96th Street	At-grade intersection; eastern end of freeway section
		366.02	589.05	90th Street (N-133 north)	Southern terminus of N-133
		369.84	595.20	Saddle Creek Road	Interchange; bridge over Saddle Creek Underpass; former N-38
		371.27	597.50	I-480 east (Gerald R. Ford Expressway) / US 75 north (North Freeway)	Interchange; I-480/US 75 exits 2A-B
		372.80	599.96	To 9th Street	Interchange; eastbound left exit only
				The Riverfront	Interchange; eastbound exit only
		372.88	600.09	I-480 west (Gerald R. Ford Expressway) to I-80	Western end of I-480 overlap; westbound left exit and eastbound left entrance; I-480 exit 4
Missouri River		373.00	600.29	Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge; Nebraska–Iowa line
				I-480 / US 6 east – Council Bluffs	Continuation into Iowa
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition

See also

• U.S. Route 6
• Dodge Street
• Lincoln Highway (Omaha)
• Saddle Creek Underpass

References

1. "Nebraska Highway Reference Log Book" (PDF). Nebraska Department of Roads. 2015. pp. 16–30. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
2. Google (November 16, 2010). "overview of U.S. Route 6 in Nebraska" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
3. "US Hwy 6 in Lincoln - Sun Valley Blvd., West "O" Street to Cornhusker Highway". Nebraska Department of Roads. Retrieved February 19, 2014.

External links

• The Nebraska Highways Page: Highways 1 to 30
• Nebraska Roads: US 6-38