State Highway 6, abbreviated SH-6 or OK-6, is a state highway in Oklahoma. It runs in a 121.8 miles (196.0 km) crescent through the southwestern part of the state, running from the Texas state line north of Quanah, Texas, to SH-152 in the unincorporated town of Sweetwater. There are no letter-suffixed spur branching from SH-6.
 State Highway 6 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 OK 6 mainline in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by ODOT | ||||
| Length | 121.8 mi[1] (196.0 km) | |||
| Existed | August 21, 1954–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  SH 6 at the Texas state line | |||
| North end |  SH-152 near Sweetwater | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Oklahoma | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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SH-6 was added to the state highway system in 1954. The highway was later extended from its original extent; westward from Elk City in 1957 and southward to Texas in 1975.
Route description
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After crossing the Red River, State Highway 6 leaves Texas, becomes SH-6 and continues headed northeast, passing through the small Jackson County towns of Eldorado and Olustee. Highway 6 meets US-62 five miles (8 km) west of Altus.[2] SH-6 makes a right turn at this point to overlap US-62 into Altus.
In Altus, SH-6 takes a turn to the north to overlap US-283. North of Blair, US-283 heads due north while SH-6 turns toward the northwest. SH-6 crosses US-283 once more before the state highway continues to the north toward Granite, where it meets SH-9.
North of Granite, SH-6 runs along the Beckham–Washita county line until sharing a 4-mile (6.4 km) concurrency with SH-55, moving into Beckham County.[2] After splitting away from SH-55, it meets SH-152 for the first time (it will meet SH-152 at its northern end.)
SH-6 continues north to have an interchange with Interstate 40 in Elk City. It overlaps Business Loop I-40 for four miles (6.4 km) on the north side of the city.[2] At this point the north–south highway curves to the west. It crosses US-283 (again), and then ends at SH-152 in Sweetwater.
History
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The original State Highway 6 extended from the Texas state line near Colbert to the Kansas state line north of Vinita.[3] When the United States Numbered Highways system was established in 1926, the vast majority of the highway was overlapped by US-75 and US-73.[4] (Later, this corridor would form the majority of US-69 in Oklahoma). As a result, the original SH-6 designation was decommissioned soon after the establishment of the U.S. highway system.[citation needed]
The SH-6 designation remained unused until August 21, 1954, when it was assigned to a highway beginning at US-283 east of Mangum, extending north through Granite and Retrop, and ending at US-66 in Elk City.[5][6] The highway was extended west along SH-73 to its current northern terminus on January 21, 1957.[5]
SH-6 was extended to the south on July 7, 1975, bringing it to Altus by way of a concurrency with US-283, where it joined US-62 in another concurrency, headed west. West of Altus, the route split off and headed southwest to the Texas state line. In addition to the U.S. routes, SH-6 was concurrent with SH-44 between that route's current southern terminus and Eldorado, where it ended; thereafter, SH-6 followed SH-34 to the Red River. To remove the redundant designations, both SH-34 and SH-44 were truncated to their current southern terminus on January 5, 1987.[5][7][8]
SH-6 was realigned twice in 2004 to allow SH-6 a straighter route in situations where it was concurrent with another highway. The first such section removed a portion of the US-283 concurrency between Blair and Granite; the second realignment took place on the SH-55 concurrency north of Retrop. Both of these changes were applied to the highway on February 2, 2004.[5] No further changes to the highway's route have taken place since then.
Junction list
edit| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | Red River | 0.00 | 0.00 |  SH 6 south (Texas Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway) | Continuation into Texas | |||
| Eldorado | 6.2 | 10.0 |  SH-5 | Southern terminus of SH-5 | ||||
| | 12.5 | 20.1 |  SH-34 | Southern terminus of SH-34 | ||||
| | 27.4 | 44.1 |   US 62 west | Southern end of US-62 concurrency | ||||
| Altus | 32.3 | 52.0 |   US 62 east (Broadway Street east) / US 283 south (Main Street south) | Northern end of US-62 concurrency; southern end of US-283 concurrency | ||||
| Blair | 42.4 | 68.2 |  SH-19 | Western terminus of SH-19 | ||||
| Greer | | 44.5 | 71.6 |    To SH-44 north / Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma – Hobart | ||||
| | 48.5 | 78.1 | US 283 north (Great Plains Trail of Oklahoma) to SH-44 | Northern end of US-283 concurrency | ||||
| Granite | 63.4 | 102.0 |  SH-9 | |||||
| Kiowa |
No major junctions | |||||||
| Washita–Beckham county line | Retrop | 78.3 | 126.0 |  SH-55 east | Southern end of SH-55 concurrency | |||
| Beckham | | 83.3 | 134.1 | SH-55 west | Northern end of SH-55 concurrency | |||
| | 88.3 | 142.1 | SH-152 | |||||
| Elk City | 95.1 | 153.0 |  I-40 / SH-34 – Amarillo, Oklahoma City | I-40 exit 38 | ||||
| 96.7 | 155.6 |   I-40 BL east (3rd Street east) | Eastern end of I-40 Bus. concurrency; former US 66 east | |||||
| 100.5 | 161.7 |  I-40 BL west (State Highway 66) | Western end of I-40 Bus. concurrency; former US 66 west | |||||
| | 110.9 | 178.5 | US 283 | |||||
| Beckham–Roger Mills county line | | 121.8 | 196.0 | SH-152 – Wheeler, Sayre | Northern terminus; road continues west as SH-152 (1100 Road) | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
edit- ^ a b "Oklahoma State Highway 6" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
- ^ a b c Official State Map (PDF) (Map) (2009–10 ed.). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ Oklahoma State Highway System (PDF) (Map) (1925 ed.). Oklahoma State Highway Department. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ Oklahoma State Highway System (PDF) (Map) (1927 ed.). Oklahoma State Highway Department. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ a b c d Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "Memorial Dedication and Revision History, SH 6". Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ Highways of Oklahoma (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Highways. 1955. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "Memorial Dedication and Revision History, SH 34". Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "Memorial Dedication and Revision History, SH 44". Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-06-20.