Everything about U S Route 60 totally explained
» For the U.S. Route 60 in the 1925 plan, see U.S. Route 66.
U.S. Route 60 is an east-west
United States highway, running 2,670
miles (4,300
km) from
Virginia to
Arizona. Despite the "0" in its number, indicating a transcontinental designation, the
1926 route ended in
Springfield, Missouri at the intersection with
Route 66. In fact, Route 66 was almost given the US 60 designation.
As of
2005, the highway's eastern terminus is in
Virginia Beach, Virginia at Pacific Avenue in the city's oceanfront resort district at the Rudee Inlet Bridge. Its western terminus was from 1932 to 1966 in
Los Angeles, California but was moved to east of
Quartzsite, Arizona at an intersection with
Interstate 10 after the highway was
decommissioned through California starting in 1964. US 60 signage can be seen at this intersection which is about 5 miles (8 km) west of Brenda, Arizona. I-10 replaced US 60 from Arizona to Beaumont, California and
California State Highway 60 replaced US 60 from there to Los Angeles.
Route description
California
U.S. Route 60 has been decommissioned in California. In the
Los Angeles and
Inland Empire, it exists as a branch of
Interstate 10, designated as
State Route 60. In addition, many parts of it remain intact as 2-lane highway in the desert areas. One such section of US 60 is located in the Chuckwalla Valley and is referred to as Chuckwalla Valley Road.
Arizona
The westernmost stretch of US 60 to the California border has been superseded by
Interstate 10. The western terminus of US 60 is near Brenda, where it travels northeast to
Wickenburg. From there it bears southeast to briefly rejoin I-10 in
Phoenix before diverging as the
Superstition Freeway. While in Phoenix, Route 60 turns into
Grand Avenue, and then becomes the 60 once again. East of the Phoenix area, US 60 bears roughly east-northeast through mountainous areas, passing through
Globe,
Show Low, and
Springerville before exiting the state at the New Mexico border.
New Mexico
It takes about to cross
New Mexico on U.S. 60, traveling West from the
Texas state line at
Texico, NM to the
Arizona state line between
Quemado, New Mexico, and
Springerville, AZ. The highway goes through
Clovis, NM, passing by
Cannon Air Force Base, and then on to
Fort Sumner, where
Billy the Kid is buried. There are some beautiful seasonal lakes near
Willard, New Mexico. Continuing West, the highway goes through
Mountainair, NM, where several Pop Shaffer folk-art buildings have been preserved. Several nearby
pueblo ruins are preserved as part of the
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, with headquarters in Mountanair. The highway passes between Chupadera Mesa to the South and the Southern end of the
Manzano Mountains to the North, before crossing the
Rio Grande, after which the highway joins
Interstate 25 and follows this freeway for about to
Socorro, NM. In Socorro, the highway continues West through
Magdalena, New Mexico, across the
Plains of San Agustin, past the
Very Large Array, and across the
Continental Divide near
Pie Town, New Mexico.
Texas
US 60 runs in a northwesterly direction across the
Texas Panhandle. It enters the state as a four-lane divided highway at
Farwell on the Texas-New Mexico border, and heads northeast, intersecting
U.S. Route 385 at
Hereford. At
Canyon, the route begins a concurrency with both
U.S. Route 87 and
Interstate 27; the three routes are united to
Amarillo.
At Amarillo, the road crosses
Interstate 40 and has a short concurrency with Historic US 66 on Amarillo Boulevard. The road continues as a divided highway, heading northeast to
Pampa, where the road goes to two lanes. At
Canadian, the route briefly returns to four-lane status and forms a concurrency with
U.S. Route 83. US 60 leaves Texas for Oklahoma two miles (3 km) east of
Higgins.
Oklahoma
Except for a couple of short sections near
Enid and
Vinita, US 60 is a two-lane highway its entire length across Oklahoma. It enters the state fourteen miles (21 km) west of
Arnett and travels east to
Orienta where it begins a concurrency with
U.S. Route 412. At Enid, it leaves the concurrency with US 412 and begins another with
U.S. Route 64 with which it's united for . Near
Tonkawa, US 60 has an interchange with
Interstate 35.
At
Ponca City, US 60 enters the
Osage Indian Reservation, leaving it at
Bartlesville. From Vinita to
Afton, the highway has a concurrency with Historic
U.S. Route 66 and
U.S. Route 69. The road will cross
Interstate 44 at each Vinita and Afton. It passes through
Twin Bridges State Park about west of the Missouri state line.
Missouri
U.S. 60 crosses the southern part of Missouri, south of
Interstate 44. Prior to the creation of the U.S. Highway System, U.S. Route 60 was
Route 16.
Between the Oklahoma state line (south of
Seneca) and
Republic, US 60 is a two-lane highway. At Republic, the road becomes a four-lane divided highway, turning southeast onto the
James River Freeway at the Springfield city limits.
Portions of the route east of
Springfield are four-lane divided. Several stretches are freeway-grade. The
Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is in the process of upgrading U.S. 60 to four lanes along a segment between
Willow Springs and
Van Buren. The project, which is expected to be complete in
2010, will complete U.S. 60 as a four-lane facility from Springfield to
Charleston, a distance of approximately .
U.S. 60 intersects
Interstate 55 and
Interstate 57 just southeast of
Sikeston, and runs concurrently with I-57 from this junction to the east side of Charleston.
From Charleston to
Bird's Point, where the route leaves Missouri on a bridge crossing of the
Mississippi River, U.S. 60 is concurrent with
U.S. Highway 62 and, for a short distance,
Missouri Route 77.
William Jefferson Blythe, Jr., father of former president
Bill Clinton, died on Route 60 (now
Missouri Route 114) outside of
Sikeston, Missouri after being thrown from his car and drowning in a drainage ditch.
Illinois
U.S. 60 continues its concurrency with
U.S. Highway 62 for its entire length,, in Illinois. The routes enter Illinois at its very southern tip between the
Mississippi and
Ohio rivers.
The concurrent routes pass
Fort Defiance State Park, which lies at the lowest and southernmost point of
Illinois, then intersect with
U.S. 51 south of
Cairo, turning eastward along with southbound U.S. 51 to cross the
Ohio River into Kentucky.
Kentucky
Upon entering Kentucky, U.S. 60 is concurrent with U.S. 51 and U.S. 62 from the Ohio River bridge to the town of
Wickliffe. At Wickliffe, U.S. 60 separates from the other routes and heads generally northeast toward the city of
Paducah. Between Wickliffe and Paducah, the towns of
Barlow,
La Center and
Kevil are situated along the route.
Upon reaching Paducah, U.S. 60 intersects with
Interstate 24, and I-24's business loop enters the city concurrent with U.S. 60. In the downtown area, the route once again meets U.S. 62, and also meets
U.S. 45. Once out of the city of Paducah, U.S. 60 again veers to the northeast, generally following the
Ohio River until reaching
Smithland, where the route again turns to the east, passing through the small town of
Burna.
The next city along the route is
Marion. At Marion, U.S. 60 turns once more to the north, where it heads toward
Sturgis. From Sturgis, the route continues generally northward to
Morganfield. In recent years, a by-pass of U.S. 60 around the south and east sides of Morganfield has taken a great deal of traffic out of Morganfield proper.
U.S. 60 passes through
Waverly and
Corydon before reaching
Henderson. At Henderson, the route intersects
Kentucky Highway 136,
Kentucky Highway 425 and
U.S. Highway 41 Alternate. U.S. 41-A is concurrent with U.S. 60 along Green Street in the city of Henderson as it intersects with
Kentucky Highway 812 and
Kentucky Highway 351. At the
U.S. Highway 41/
Pennyrile Parkway interchange, U.S. 41-A ends and U.S. 60 continues alone.
Especially in the eastern and central part of the state, U.S. 60 has been largely replaced by
Interstate 64 for long distance travel, since both routes follow each other through much of this area. However, several cites in this area rely on U.S. 60 to connect them to the interstate. By contrast, in the western part of the state, U.S. 60 isn't paired with an
interstate highway and serves a much more independent purpose, connecting communities located along and near the
Ohio River.
West Virginia
Prior to the U.S. Highway System, was the original railroad line to Huntington, WV. Then paved over in the early 1960's and renamed West Virginia Route 3. Portions of U.S. 60 are the
Midland Trail, a
National Scenic Byway.
Virginia
History
US 60 had its beginnings in the
Midland Trail, an
auto trail organized in 1912 by residents of
Grand Junction, Colorado. The next year, this route was considered but rejected for the
Lincoln Highway, after which the Midland Trail Association laid out and marked its own transcontinental highway, eventually connecting
Newport News, Virginia with
Los Angeles, California. When the
Joint Board on Interstate Highways published its preliminary plan for a system of interstate routes in 1925, the Midland Trail was split among many numbers, including
52, 62,
150,
50, and
40. East of
Louisville, where it would become US 60, it was assigned parts of 52 and 62. Route 52 began at Newport News and followed the Midland Trail to
Richmond, but took a more southerly route to
Lexington, Virginia. The trail was used again through
West Virginia to
Huntington, where Route 52 split to the northwest. Route 62 began at
Ashland, Kentucky (near Huntington) and followed the Midland Trail across northeastern
Kentucky to Louisville, where the trail crossed the
Ohio River and became Route 150. Route 62 continued southwest along the south bank of the Ohio River to
Wickliffe in western Kentucky, and then crossed the
Mississippi River at the Ohio's mouth. The final portion of Route 62 crossed southern
Missouri to
Springfield on an existing main highway that had been numbered 16 by the state.
Kentucky Governor
William J. Fields objected to the Joint Board's plan, which took most major east-west routes (multiples of ten) to the
East Coast, but sent Route 60 from
Los Angeles northeast to end in
Chicago, leaving none to cross Kentucky, the only
Mississippi Valley state without such a route. Proposals were considered for splitting US 60 into 60N and 60E at Springfield or using 62 for the Chicago route; Missouri had already prepared maps that showed the original plans for 60 and 62. The final plan, agreed to by the affected states, assigned
US 66 to the Los Angeles-Chicago highway and US 60 to the route from Springfield to
Virginia Beach (extended from Newport News), absorbing all of 62 and part of 52 from the 1925 plan.
Although US 60 initially stretched less than halfway across the country, due to its late creation, it was soon extended west to
Los Angeles. One auto trail - the
Atlantic and Pacific Highway - and three other U.S. Highways played a part in this extension. The Atlantic and Pacific Highway had been organized in 1921, and connected
New York City with Los Angeles. The
American Association of State Highway Officials approved the first part of the extension in May 1930, following the rest of Missouri's Route 16 to the Oklahoma state line, and several state highways to Enid, before absorbing US 164 to a terminus at Amarillo. The remainder to Los Angeles was approved at AASHO's June 1931 meeting, and involved a number of other changes. US 60 replaced US 366 from Amarillo to Clovis, where it continued west along US 70 to
Springerville, Arizona. The remainder of US 70 to
Holbrook, Arizona became a new
U.S. Route 260, while US 60 followed the Atlantic and Pacific Highway, which it had picked up at
Vaughn, New Mexico, southwest and west through
Phoenix to Los Angeles. US 70 wasn't truncated to Clovis, but was instead redirected southwest along US 366 to El Paso, and later reached Los Angeles itself, though most of the route west of
Globe, Arizona overlapped US 60.
After the
Interstate Highway System was signed into law in 1956, the Midland Trail portion of US 60, from
Louisville east to the
Hampton Roads area, was bypassed by
Interstate 64. From
Phoenix west to
Los Angeles,
Interstate 10 paralleled and replaced US 60. I-10 and I-64 were mostly completed by the late 1970s, though part of
Interstate 64 in West Virginia, built on a new alignment east from
Beckley, didn't bypass the old winding US 60 until 1988. California decommissioned its portion of US 60 in 1964; most was replaced by I-10, while the independent piece in the Los Angeles area became
State Route 60. In the 1970s, the portion
overlapping I-10 in western Arizona was removed. US 60 between Phoenix and Louisville remains a major regional corridor in most places, and isn't paralleled by an Interstate for any significant length.
Originally built as a "bypass route" around downtown
Louisville, Kentucky, Alt US 60 used several existing roads running through Louisville to get between the east and south sides of town without having to travel through the heavily congested downtown or west ends of town. 'Alt 60' runs northeast to southwest from
St. Matthews, Kentucky to
Shively, Kentucky; including a stretch on one of
Frederick Law Olmsted's last remaining parkways, Eastern Parkway.
Further Information
Get more info on 'U S Route 60'.
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