US 6 may actually be LONGER than US 20

[usends]

The 3365-mile figure cited on signs at both endpoints of US 20 seems to be significantly overstated.  That number was sourced from AASHTO's 1989 route log, which a.) may not have been correct even back then, and b.) US 20 has had several realignments over the past 30+ years, each one of which affects its total mileage.  I suspect both factors are in play; at any rate I calculate US 20's cross-country distance to be less than 3300 miles.  And then when you subtract implied mileage though Yellowstone (which isn't officially part of US 20), the total distance comes out to be just under US 6's 3205 miles.  Full article here

[sturmde]

Well, if MassDOT would oblige... just extend US 20 eastward along MA 28, along MA 1A (then I-90 ends at US 20, much better)... up past Salem and then along MA 127 until you get to the tip of Cape Ann.  Then about 39 miles more there and US 20 ends at one cape, and US 6 on the other.  20 wins without Yellowstone!
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https://www.google.com/maps/dir/42.3491133,-71.0888252/Rockport,+MA/@42.5004959,-70.8571475,11z/data=!4m39!4m38!1m30!3m4!1m2!1d-71.0755618!2d42.3524015!3s0x89e37a0b21be24ff:0x78497248cab5ef75!3m4!1m2!1d-71.0369503!2d42.3737214!3s0x89e37044b7037813:0x3edbdd3e505bb7b3!3m4!1m2!1d-70.9614956!2d42.4536533!3s0x89e36d06b88e9781:0x953cfa5838a6bb37!3m4!1m2!1d-70.8898863!2d42.5335598!3s0x89e3146cc40980cd:0x9569fd22a27fd50e!3m4!1m2!1d-70.8239034!2d42.5600398!3s0x89e3163d36694a05:0x8ba35c7e9863cc05!3m4!1m2!1d-70.7539106!2d42.5794996!3s0x89e33ce681b21e89:0xc0e33ee7e098f181!1m5!1m1!1s0x89e3238c9fb119b7:0x6c19b1bc493f43c4!2m2!1d-70.620363!2d42.6556505!3e0

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Well, it turns out US 6 is again the longest US Route as officially defined since Iowa realigned it around Council Bluffs instead of through it, and thanks to that loophole of US 20 having a gap in its official definition through Yellowstone (In fact US 6 has been the longest contiguous route ever since it reached Long Beach). However I consider US 20 to be the longest US Route anyway, since I count the section through Yellowstone (and on Norris Canyon Road to be exact instead of the Southern section of Grand Loop Road, but that is a moot point given there is only a 3 km difference between the official definitions of US 6 and US 20).

[nexus73]

If we cosigned US 6 and US 395 from Bishop heading south to where the two routes would once again diverge, with US 6 taking back SR 14, then US 6 should be the winner.

Rick

[Bickendan]

The real question is, how many people have actually driven the full length of US 6 and US 20? Most I can claim for 6 is the 95 overlap in Nevada and from I-15 to US 191 in Utah.
US 20, however, I have from Newport Oregon to Cody Wyoming.

[Max Rockatansky]

The real question is, how many people have actually driven the full length of US 6 and US 20? Most I can claim for 6 is the 95 overlap in Nevada and from I-15 to US 191 in Utah.
US 20, however, I have from Newport Oregon to Cody Wyoming.

I've done US 6 from Bishop East over Loveland Pass.  To that point US 6 is a reasonably speedy route but I couldn't fathom how much of a slog it would be through Denver and much of the Midwest. 

[Bickendan]

The real question is, how many people have actually driven the full length of US 6 and US 20? Most I can claim for 6 is the 95 overlap in Nevada and from I-15 to US 191 in Utah.
US 20, however, I have from Newport Oregon to Cody Wyoming.

I've done US 6 from Bishop East over Loveland Pass.  To that point US 6 is a reasonably speedy route but I couldn't fathom how much of a slog it would be through Denver and much of the Midwest. 

Even taking each jaunt off of I-70 through Colorado wouldn't be that much of a time sink -- it's akin to doing OR 99 off I-5 or US 30 from I-84.
But yeah, looking east of Denver, or east of Iowa on US 20... daunting.

[Ketchup99]

US-6 through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York is a good "I'd rather not" situation if you're trying to get anywhere.

[ClassicHasClass]

The real question is, how many people have actually driven the full length of US 6 and US 20?

(for US 6)

http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/6/

Interesting to hear about Council Bluffs, since I'm working on the Iowa portion.

[cl94]

Adding up referenced DOT mileages for each state, I'm getting roughly 3220 miles (can't find an official mileage for Wyoming). That makes it longer than US 6.

[Duke87]

using a method that I believe to be quite accurate (and in some cases, more accurate than the "official" distances posted by state departments of transportation)

And what method would that be?

[Max Rockatansky]

The real question is, how many people have actually driven the full length of US 6 and US 20? Most I can claim for 6 is the 95 overlap in Nevada and from I-15 to US 191 in Utah.
US 20, however, I have from Newport Oregon to Cody Wyoming.

I've done US 6 from Bishop East over Loveland Pass.  To that point US 6 is a reasonably speedy route but I couldn't fathom how much of a slog it would be through Denver and much of the Midwest. 

Even taking each jaunt off of I-70 through Colorado wouldn't be that much of a time sink -- it's akin to doing OR 99 off I-5 or US 30 from I-84.
But yeah, looking east of Denver, or east of Iowa on US 20... daunting.

It's a different ball game out East with the US Routes.  It took me the better part of three years to finish US 27, 41, and 1 in Florida alone.  US 6 largely stays rural but the route only becomes more densely populated you go.  Driving through little towns can be great if there something quaint to see or hellish if all it entails is urban sprawl. 

[usends]

Adding up referenced DOT mileages for each state, I'm getting roughly 3220 miles (can't find an official mileage for Wyoming). That makes it longer than US 6.

What was the mileage for US 20 in Illinois, according to their DOT?

[Flint1979]

US-20 is supposedly 167 miles longer so I don't think making minor adjustments here and there are going to make US-6 longer than US-20. Even though US-6 runs on an angle US-20 goes further north and then comes around the bottom of Lake Erie that part is going to make it longer as well as the north-south section in central Wyoming. US-20 takes a more round about way of getting coast to coast than US-6 which doesn't even go coast to coast.

[usends]

US-20 is supposedly 167 miles longer...

"Supposedly" is the whole point of this thread: I am questioning the so-called "official" mileages.  My results are right there in the link for anyone to see, to compare to official DOT mileages, and/or to dispute if their own research indicates otherwise.

[silverback1065]

doesn't US 6 have a weird gap in western Colorado?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

doesn't US 6 have a weird gap in western Colorado?

It has several ambiguous gaps in CO now. CDOT considers US 6 to not exist when duplexed with I-70, though AASHTO does.

[zzcarp]

doesn't US 6 have a weird gap in western Colorado?

Everything about US 6 in Colorado is "weird". Colorado seldom co-signs multiplexes between US routes and Interstates (short overlaps excepted) and it's not shown in the route logs.

US 6 enters Colorado unsigned at I-70 at Utah and exits at the unsigned Mack spur (I-70 Exit 11). Once it rejoins its original alignment, it's signed east through Fruita, Grand Junction, and Clifton and then back onto I-70 at exit 44.

US 6 leaves I-70 at I-70 exit 62 (unsigned from I-70), travels through De Beque and Rifle and rejoins at I-70 exit 109 (also unsigned from I-70 mainline).

There's another signed stretched from Gypsum to Minturn where it again rejoins I-70, though the CDOT route logs say it begins at the Eagle spur from I-70. US 6 is actually even signed on an I-70 exit sign westbound where it leaves I-70 at Minturn.

The next stretch is from Dillon/Silverthorne over Loveland Pass. US 6 is well signed on the exits as it is the main hazmat route over the continental divide (hazmat is banned in the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnels).

East of Idaho Springs, US 6 leaves I-70 for the penultimate time, following Clear Creek canyon to Golden, then 6th Avenue which is a freeway to I-25 in Denver. There's no BGS mentions to follow the unsigned route on I-25 north, nor to exit onto I-70 east. However, it is well co-signed with reassurance markers on the I-70 mainline with US 85.

US 6 and US 85 follow Vasquez Boulevard northeast to I-76. US 6 is signed with reassurance markers on I-76 until US 85 leaves for Greeley at exit 12. US 6 disappears until it leaves I-76 at Brush (exit 92).  After that US 6 has an entirely independent and signed routing to Nebraska.

By my back of the envelope calculations, of the 467 miles of US 6 (per mile markers) in Colorado, about 169 miles of the first 372 are signed.

[TravelingBethelite]

doesn't US 6 have a weird gap in western Colorado?

It has several ambiguous gaps in CO now. CDOT considers US 6 to not exist when duplexed with I-70, though AASHTO does.

I had heard at some point a few years ago it was decommissioned in/through Rifle.

[Scott5114]

I am suspicious of any methodology that doesn't use official DOT/AASHTO resources. Having dealt with this type of question dozens of times on Wikipedia with state routes, if you start straying from official sources, you risk misidentifying what the "real" route is.

So questions that I feel like need to be answered for this claim to hold up:
1) Where did the US 20 mileage in Yellowstone come from, anyway? Who published it? AASHTO? The Park Service?
2) What route does this US 20 mileage use? What agency asserts that the road in question is the route of US 20?
3) What agency maintains that road?

[zzcarp]

doesn't US 6 have a weird gap in western Colorado?

It has several ambiguous gaps in CO now. CDOT considers US 6 to not exist when duplexed with I-70, though AASHTO does.

I had heard at some point a few years ago it was decommissioned in/through Rifle.

You're correct. The CDOT route log shows a gap from CO 13 to just past the I-70 exit.

[Max Rockatansky]

doesn't US 6 have a weird gap in western Colorado?

It has several ambiguous gaps in CO now. CDOT considers US 6 to not exist when duplexed with I-70, though AASHTO does.

I had heard at some point a few years ago it was decommissioned in/through Rifle.

You're correct. The CDOT route log shows a gap from CO 13 to just past the I-70 exit.

But presumptively it is still field signed?

[Mapmikey]

I though I had a copy of the '89 AASHTO log but can't seem to find it.

Doesn't it give distances to the next US route intersection?  Should be that hard to figure out where it might be off.

My other vague recollection is that the bannered routes are buried within the listings, so are those included in the total?

[usends]

I had heard at some point a few years ago it was decommissioned in/through Rifle.

You're correct. The CDOT route log shows a gap from CO 13 to just past the I-70 exit.

In 2015 CDOT transferred jurisdiction over to the City of about one mile of US 6.  But it's still US 6.

[Super Mateo]

The real question is, how many people have actually driven the full length of US 6 and US 20?

I have not done either route in full, but have done the entire length of both routes in Illinois and US 6 in Indiana.

US 6 isn't too bad in the western half of IL.  It's low traffic and a nice alternate to I-80.  LaSalle/Peru can be a bit annoying, but otherwise, it's a nice drive.  Starting in Morris, though, going east, the pain comes.  There are two turns in Morris, then another relatively quiet area before hitting Minooka and Channahon, where traffic skyrockets.  Then there's downtown Joliet, with lots of turns and a draw bridge.  If you've still got the patience, you will go right through the heart of the south suburbs of Chicago.  And then the real "fun" begins when the route puts you right on the Kingery and Borman.  That's plenty of pain, but at least movement is faster.  US 6 exits in Lake Station and it fools you for 2 miles into thinking "this isn't too bad," where it turns east in Hobart.  There are a LOT of badly timed stoplights that feel like they're every block or two.  Don't expect to get anywhere fast.  You get to deal with Indiana drivers on top of that.  Somewhere between Hobart and Westfield, it calms down, and everything east of US 421 in IN is smooth unless a tractor shows up.

US 20 is smooth and easy west of Galena, but picks up some traffic in Galena proper.  Galena to Freeport is kind of rough; it's a two lane road with a fair amount of truck traffic.  Freeport to Cherry Valley is no problem; it's an expressway with low traffic.  It's still doable east into Elgin; east of Elgin...DON'T DO IT!  Talk yourself out of it.  It's not worth the headache.  Highlights include:  heavy traffic, merging onto a freeway just to get off of it right away, red light cameras, a 20 zone followed by a lengthy 25 zone, a railroad crossing that often has long freights, Chicago street parking, and a draw bridge.  It's horrible, even at 11 pm.