U.S. Route 60/62 in Illinois

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U.S. Route 60/62
Length: 0.92[1] mi (1.48 km)
Formed: ca. 1929 (US 60); ca. 1930 (US 62)
Direction: East-west
From: US 60/US 62 near Wyatt, MO
To: US 51/US 60/US 62 near Wickliffe, KY
Major cities: Cairo
System: U.S. Highways
This article covers the portions of U.S. Routes 60 and 62 in Illinois. For the main articles on those routes, see U.S. Route 60 and U.S. Route 62.

In the U.S. state of Illinois, U.S. Route 60/62 is a very short road around Fort Defiance in Cairo. It runs from the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge over the Mississippi River east to the Cairo Ohio River Bridge over the Ohio River; the Ohio River Bridge also carries U.S. Route 51. The bridges cross the two rivers just north of the mouth of the Ohio.

Until the Mississippi River Bridge opened ca. 1929, US 60 used a ferry directly from Bird's Point, Missouri across that river (below the Ohio) to Wickliffe, Kentucky.[2] After that it ran into Cairo and used a ferry from roughly 22nd Street to East Cairo, Kentucky.[3] US 62 was designated around 1930,[4] and the Ohio River Bridge replaced the ferry ca. 1937.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Illinois Technology Transfer Center. T2 GIS Data. Retrieved June 2, 2006. As documented in Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Roads/Lengths/Illinois.
  2. ^ United States Numbered Highways, American Highways, April 1927
  3. ^ 1931 USGS map of Cairo
  4. ^ U.S. Highways: East-West Routes