U.S. Route 60: Map

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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 eastern Virginia

to western Arizona

. Despite the final "0" in its number, indicating a transcontinental designation, the 1926 route formerly ended in Springfield, Missouri

, at its intersection with the major U.S. Route 66. In fact, Route 66 was almost given the US Route 60 number.

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 in Los Angeles, California

, from 1932 to 1966, but that was moved to east of Quartzsite, Arizona

, to an intersection with Interstate 10 after the highway was abandoned in California in 1964. Some US 60 signs can be seen at this intersection — that is about five miles (eight kilometers) west of Brenda, Arizona

. Interstate 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

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 as just a two-lane highway in the Mojave 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The westernmost stretch of US-60 to the California border has been replaced by Interstate 10. The western terminus of US-60 is near Brenda, Arizona

, where it travels northeast to Wickenburg, Arizona

. From there the highway 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 US-60 highway once again. Here, US-60 is a significant part of the local commuter freeway system. 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 border with New Mexico

New Mexico

please see U.S. Route 60 in New Mexico

Texas

US 60 runs in a northeasterly 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 (three kilometers) east of Higgins

Oklahoma

Except for three short sections near Enid

, Vinita

, and Ponca City

, US-60 is a two-lane highway its entire length across Oklahoma. It enters the state fourteen miles (21 kilometers) west of Arnett

and travels east to Orienta

where it begins a concurrency with U.S. Highway 412. At Enid, it leaves the concurrency with US-412 and begins another with U.S. Highway 64 with which it is united for . Near Tonkawa

, US-60 has an interchange with Interstate 35.

At Ponca City

, US-60 enters Osage County, leaving it at Bartlesville

. From Vinita to Afton

, the highway has a concurrency with Historic U.S. Highway 66 and U.S. Highway 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

please see U.S. Route 60

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

, 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. From Burna, U.S. 60 passes through Salem

.

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 congestion out of the city.

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, going through Owensboro

, Hawesville

, and Hardinsburg

.

In Fort Knox

, U.S. 60 connects with U.S. 31W, and they remain together until downtown Louisville. Originally built as a "bypass route" around downtown Louisville

, 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

to Shively

; including a stretch on one of Frederick Law Olmsted's last remaining parkways, Eastern Parkway.

After passing Shelbyville

, it continues through the state capitol in Frankfort

. In Versailles

, its eastbound lanes are the westbound lanes of U.S. 62. After intersecting the Bluegrass Parkway, it is one of the major routes through Lexington. It intersects I-75 and goes to Winchester

and the Mountain Parkway. It proceeds to Mount Sterling

, Morehead

, past Carter Caves State Resort Park

, on to Grayson

and finally to Ashland

. U.S. 23 South follows U.S. 60 East into Catlettsburg

, where they split at 35th St. U.S. 23 South continues straight as a 4-lane highway, while U.S. 60 East turns left on 35th St., passes Oakland Avenue, and enters Kenova, West Virginia

via the Billy C. Clark Bridge.

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 is not paired with an interstate highway and serves a much more independent purpose, connecting communities located along and near the Ohio River.

West Virginia

In West Virginia

, US 60 largely follows the path of the Midland Trail. It enters the state at Kenova

by crossing over the Big Sandy River from Kentucky

. From there, it heads through Huntington

east to Charleston

.

From Charleston

, US 60 heads southeast on its own course apart from Interstate 64, its replacement. The road first follows the Kanawha River to its source at Gauley Bridge

, where US 60 then climbs out of the river valley and follows a twisting path through Rainelle

and back to Interstate 64 at Sam Black Church

. This is the last section of US 60 to have been bypassed by the Interstate system in West Virginia, with I-64 between Beckley

and Sam Black Church being opened to traffic on July 15, 1988 This is the only section of US 60 in West Virginia that sees a significant amount of traffic as a through route.

From Sam Black Church

east through Lewisburg

to White Sulphur Springs

, US 60 lives in the shadow of I-64 and carries a very small amount of traffic. Just east of White Sulphur Springs, US 60 joins I-64 for the last in the state before they enter Virginia

at Allegheny Mountain

Virginia

In Virginia, U.S. Route 60 runs west to east through the central part of the state, generally close to and paralleling the Interstate 64 corridor, except for the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and in the South Hampton Roads area.

Between Lexington

in the Shenandoah Valley

and Richmond

, I-64 uses a lower elevation crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains located about further north, where it runs parallel to U.S. Route 250 through Rockfish Gap

. In contrast, through this section, the older US 60 is mostly a rural two-lane road. With the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains at a higher altitude in more rugged terrain, US 60 in this area offers much more challenging and weather-sensitive driving conditions, as well as a history of many crashes in the years before I-64 was completed.

East of north-south U.S. Route 29 (which runs parallel to the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge), the older US 60 and I-64 gradually converge as they pass through the rolling hills of the rocky Piedmont region in an easterly direction to reach the fall line at Richmond

, where they again become very close.

From Richmond east to the harbor area near the mouth of Hampton Roads

, US 60 again essentially parallels I-64 through Williamsburg

and the Historic Triangle region, extending down the Virginia Peninsula

east to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel

which it shares with I-64. A few miles south of the bridge-tunnel, in Norfolk

, US 60 diverges to the west to follow the south shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay through Ocean View

and past the south entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to reach Cape Henry. There it curves south to run along the Atlantic Ocean

shoreline to end near the south end of the Virginia Beach resort strip.

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 original alignment of U.S. Route 70 entered Clovis, New Mexico

from the east, as it does now, but continued west to Holbrook, Arizona

. Crossing US 70 at Clovis was the El Paso

-Amarillo

U.S. Route 366. Finally, U.S. Route 164 was created by 1928, stretching northeast and east from Amarillo to U.S. Route 64 and U.S. Route 77 in Enid, Oklahoma

. 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 was not 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

overlap 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

, did not bypass the old winding US 60 until July 15, 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 overlap I-10 in western Arizona was removed. US 60 between Phoenix and Louisville remains a major regional corridor in most places, and is not paralleled by an Interstate for any significant length.