Because of all the trouble I had getting situated, although I did manage to
locate a wireless link, I got started on this entry late and so it will be
somewhat abbreviated. Sorry, please blame the management.
235 pictures, odometer start 97220.
Cleveland was still pretty gloomy and rainy when I arrived back from
my aunt and uncle's in Columbus to resume photography on Superior Avenue.
Eventually US 6 will join US 20 again and they will exit the city into
West Cleveland and Euclid. Here in Euclid, US 6 branches off and US 20 will
continue alone along the shores of Lake Erie into Pennsylvania.
After a period of suburban tracts and country retreats, US 6 then lapses
back into the hilly farmland we left behind a few hundred miles ago dotted
only with occasional little cities and towns.
A costly error occurred here in the otherwise pleasant country town of Chardon:
one might think that US 6 travels straight on, but it does not. You must turn
left at the light in back, or you'll wind up along a county road happily
traveling southeast and quite off the highway. Credit to the GPS here
for correctly noting that "GAR Hwy" was several miles away from my current
position, which I ignored as a glitch until I noticed it had been a long time
since I had seen a US 6 sign. This wrong turn cost me nearly an hour.
After close scrutiny of the picture after the fact, there *is* a US 6 shield
stuck off to the left pointing out the true route, but there's no advance
warning.
Several of these eastern Ohio towns also have quasi-traffic circles. They're
not roundabouts in the truest sense, but they do evoke the same idea
although they're more like traffic squares with stricter access control.
US 6 through eastern Ohio.
The Pennsylvania state line arrives virtually unmarked and without fanfare
except for a sudden change in the style of county/city markings. There is
no brag sign for either Pennsylvania or Ohio along US 6, which is a
bit disappointing.
Not far from the Pennsylvania border is
Conneaut Lake, named for a corruption of the Seneca Indian kon-ne-ot
"snow waters" referring to its frequently frozen state. US 6 runs along its
southern tip.
US 6 in Pennsylvania has been pretty tweaked. Much like Ohio, it has been
given expressway and even freeway alignments (sometimes in places bearing
little connection to its former path), which has the same double-edged sword
of restoring its might as a significant arterial at the cost of its local
flavours. A lot of realignment has occurred over the years and regrettably
we'll only travel a few selected portions for reasons of budget and time.
Also like Ohio, it attracts a lot of company, including (here) US 19 and US
322 into Meadville. Based on the postmiles, however, they are all still
legislatively US 6 when co-signed.
On the southern edge of Meadville is this fascinating mosaic, but alarmingly
made by cutting up old signs, outside of a PennDOT depot. I would have gladly
taken a few of those signs off their hands, though ...
One of the oldest sections of freeway/expressway realignment is outside of
Meadville, a fairly typical industrial town of this region of Pennsylvania
with a population of 13,685 [2000] and the seat of Crawford county, the first
county we enter in the state (named for Col. Wm. Crawford, a Revolutionary
War officer who was captured and scalped by local Indians in retaliation for
the Gnadenhuetten massacre of 96 Indian non-combatants by American
militia in 1782, with a population of 90,366 [2000]). Meadville is a fairly
old town, first founded in 1788 by settler David Mead. An important transport
center during the canal and railroad days of the 19th century, heavy industry
moved in during the middle of the 20th century only to see a decline by the
1980s in many of the Great Lakes cities. Meadville was no exception but
managed to transition to a lighter industrial mix instead, earning it the
nickname Tool City USA for its typical export. Actress Sharon Stone is a
Meadville girl.
The age of the bypass is obvious first from the button copy, and second from
the dark sign backing instead of the more reflective later ones. It almost
looks like Caltrans made it. (Bleh, now I feel homesick.)
Pennsylvania's only remaining suffixed route belongs to US 6, but instead of
6A or Spur 6 or 6Y, we get ... 6N. The oldest 6N (1932-8) existed over what
is now PA 97 between US 19 and US 20 in Erie before being shifted to its
present route. This is the eastern terminus at US 6/US 19.
Note the construction in the background which obliterated US 6 between here
and Union City, a loss of seven miles of photography. My Penn spy Terri H
tells me there are other closures, confirmed by PennDOT, so we'll just have
to make the best of it. Some of these areas will be coming up tomorrow.
US 6N goes through very idyllic territory and few populated areas, including
this rather charming landscape study.
Unfortunately, US 6N was also plagued with its own upgrades, leading to
the closure of the westbound lanes and this
ugly but still legible shot through the windscreen of the western terminus
at US 20 southwest of Erie, PA.
Picking up US 6 east of Union City and the presently designated closed area.
If there *was* local access, I don't want to hear about it. I'm not going back.
For a period of time US 6 runs parallel with the Allegheny River, a major
focal point of industry and energy discovery (first from its waters, and
second from its fuel-rich valley). Allegheny is supposedly a corruption for
the Delaware Indians' term for a fine stream, and is further corrupted by
its frequent rendering as Allegany, more in line with its pronunciation.
Approximately 325 miles long,
it is a tributary of the Ohio River (which it forms in Pittsburgh with the
Monongahela), ultimately leading into the great Mississippi.
One of the major towns in this region along the Allegheny is Warren, tonight's
stop. The county seat of Warren county (43,863 [2000]), both the county and
the town are named for Maj. General Joseph Warren, a Revolutionary War-era
doctor and soldier who died a hero in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Warren itself
has 10,259 [2000]. This is a view from the old routing of US 6 through town,
now remembered as Business US 6. New US 6 has a freeway/expressway routing on
a southern bypass alignment. Part of US 6
and later Business US 6 is co-signed with US 62.
Downtown Warren along US 62 and Business US 6. US 62 then branches off to the
north in the middle of town.
The freeway alignment is not yet complete and degrades to expressway within
a couple of exits.
We'll stop here at the point where the old alignment from downtown rejoins the
new one.