U.S. Route 6 in New York

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U.S. Route 6

Length:

78.09 mi^[1] (125.67 km)

West end:

US 6/US 209 in Port Jervis

Major
junctions:

I-84 in Middletown

NY 17 in Goshen

I-87/NY 17 in Harriman
PIP near Fort Montgomery

US 9W/US 202 in Fort Montgomery

US 9 in Peekskill

US 202 in Peekskill

Taconic in Yorktown

US 202/NY 22 in Brewster

I-84/I-684/NY 22 in Brewster

East end:

US 6/US 202 in Southeast

Numbered highways in New York
< NY 5S		NY 6N >
Interstates - U.S. Routes - State Routes

The New York segment of the cross-country U.S. Route 6 takes 78 miles (126 km) to traverse the state in the narrowing funnel that becomes Downstate New York on the northern fringe of the New York Metropolitan Area, from the Pennsylvania state line at Port Jervis east to Connecticut. Near both ends, it runs in close proximity to Interstate 84, which otherwise takes a more northerly route.

Except for a section concurrent with the expressway portion of NY 17 (the future Interstate 86, and another brief similar stretch in Peekskill it is a two-lane road. Two stretches are shared with US 202. It goes through three of New York's traffic circles, more than any other highway in the state, and is part of the only concurrency of three U.S. routes in the state.

U.S. 6 is not as important a transportation artery in New York as it in some other states. The route does, however, pass through some of the region's more memorable scenery, particularly the Hudson Highlands in the form of Harriman and Bear Mountain state parks. It crosses the Hudson River at the historic Bear Mountain Bridge. Other highlights include the Shawangunk Ridge in the west and New York City's reservoirs in the east.

1 Route description
- 1.1 Orange and Rockland Counties (West of Hudson)
- 1.2 East of Hudson
  - 1.2.1 Westchester County
  - 1.2.2 Putnam County
2 Major intersections
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Route description

Communities
Port Jervis Middletown Goshen Chester Monroe Harriman Peekskill Shrub Oak Mahopac Brewster

The Hudson roughly bisects New York's section of Route 6, although more of it is on the river's western side. Despite its many curves and turns, the road stays in a generally east-west direction.

[edit] Orange and Rockland Counties (West of Hudson)

US 6 crosses the Delaware River into New York concurrent with US 209, Matamoras becoming Port Jervis almost seamlessly, becoming busy Pike Street. Two blocks from the bridge, the highways cross under the wide grassy strip that once carried the Erie Railroad's Main Line and pass the Metro-North station, the most remote from New York on the extensive commuter rail network. A few blocks further north, at the Park Avenue traffic light, NY 42 and 97 begin to the left and 6 and 209 turn right, now West Main Street.

Two blocks later, the highways having not even come a mile from the state line, 209 splits to the left at Kingston Avenue. Route 6 continues to follow West Main past Port Jervis Middle School and Bon Secours Hospital, veering south to cross under the railroad tracks and then over the Neversink River. Germantown, the western neighborhood of Port Jervis, ends at three-way junction with short Orange County Route 15. Signs point to NJ 23, which begins a few hundred feet to the south, just past the I-84 overpass, a popular destination for Port residents filling their gas tanks due to New Jersey's lower gas prices.

Sign on I-84 indicating Route 6 truck limitations

From here traffic on 6 grows lighter as it closely parallels the interstate for the next 17 miles (27 km). Trucks going through this stretch are limited to 10 tons (9.1 tonnes). It slowly traverses up the Shawangunk Ridge alongside the interstate and then down again. Just before Exit 3, it crosses under 84 again. After putting at least a mile between the two, 6 starts to run a long straight course, as Grand Army of the Republic Highway, through the wetlands of Greenville. At the hamlet of Slate Hill, NY 284, another route down to New Jersey, comes in from the south.

US 6 west of Woodbury, near Harriman.

US 6 continues through very rural countryside through here. Shortly before Middletown it crosses over the interstate and turns left onto NY 17M, crossing over I-84 yet again. This will be the last it sees of the interstate west of the Hudson.

The 6/17M concurrency continues for another 5 miles (9 km), crossing the Wallkill River, through slightly more developed countryside to Goshen, where the two routes join the NY 17 freeway (soon to be Interstate 86) at Exit 123. 17M leaves the freeway several exits to the east, but 6 stays with it for 13 miles (21 km), where it interchanges with important local state routes 17A, 207, 94 and 208 in the villages of Goshen, Chester, and Monroe respectively to a long overpass that leaves just before it ends at the junction with the north-south 17, NY 32 and the New York State Thruway, an area often jammed with traffic from nearby Woodbury Common Premium Outlets on busy weekends. Another portion of traffic is bound for the United States Military Academy at West Point, per the signs on the Thruway directing drivers to use eastbound 6 for that purpose.

Woodbury Common and vicinity from Route 6

With the Thruway behind, 6 climbs the side of a mountain, just as it does after Port Jervis. A small pullout area reveals beautiful views of the mall and the area around the exit. At the top lies Harriman State Park, where 6 becomes Long Mountain Parkway, a 7-mile (11 km) stretch with no development. NY 293 leaves to the north to West Point's upper gates and the road widens briefly to include a middle turn lane. After dropping past a lake and then rising again, the Long Path long-distance hiking trail crosses the road on its way to the feature that gives this section of the highway its name. Driveways to the south lead to private camps that have housed various area hiking clubs since the 1920s.

Bear Mountain Bridge from the mountain summit.

A long descent leads to Seven Lakes Circle, where Seven Lakes Drive (Orange County Route 106) crosses and 6 joins Palisades Interstate Parkway, descending slowly through a very scenic three miles (5 km) through Bear Mountain State Park between Bear Mountain to the south and Popolopen Torne to the north into another roundabout, the busy Bear Mountain Circle, where the parkway ends and 6 intersects US 9W, picking up US 202 to cross the Hudson River at Bear Mountain Bridge. The rocky slopes of Anthony's Nose loom ahead. A $1 toll is charged in this direction. The Appalachian Trail's white blazes are also visible on the lampposts; this quarter-mile (200 m) stretch takes care of Rockland County.

[edit] East of Hudson

[edit] Westchester County

At the east end of the bridge, the AT turns north along NY 9D, which begins here. Routes 6 and 202 turn right and begin a four-mile (6.4-km) descent along the edge of the mountain to Peekskill. Pulloffs along this winding stretch allow drivers to take in sweeping views of that city, Haverstraw Bay and Dunderberg Mountain across the river at the southern end of the Hudson Highlands. The road finally reaches 6's third traffic circle just north of the city limit. Here US 9 joins the two highways for an 0.7-mile (1.2 km) concurrency, the only combination of three U.S. highways in the state. At a traffic light south of the circle, Bear Mountain Parkway goes off to the east while the concurrency becomes the upper end of the Croton Expressway.

6 and 202 separate from 9 at the first interchange and pick up NY 35, which begins here. The three routes follow Main Street for 0.8 mile (1.4 km) to Division Street, where 202 and 35 turn south while 6 continues east out of the city.

Northeast of Peekskill, US 6 works its way north, through the hamlet of Mohegan Lake and Shrub Oak, where it has an interchange with the Taconic State Parkway. It continues east, just south of the county line. into Jefferson Valley and past Oceola Lake, where NY 6N, the lone spur of US 6 in New York, begins a northerly loop. At Baldwin Place, it veers north again and enters Putnam County.

Middle Branch Reservoir

[edit] Putnam County

Just past the county line, NY 118 comes to its northern end. 6 runs ever more northerly, meeting 6N's other end as it follows the south shore of Lake Mahopac through the eponymous village.

The combined influence of the New York City water supply system's Croton Watershed, which includes most of the bodies of water along this stretch of US 6, and affluent residents who build on very large lots, keeps this area lightly developed. Leaving Mahopac, 6 curves past the south end of West Branch Reservoir and controlled Lake Gleneida to its next highway junction, the east end of NY 52 just south of the county seat, Carmel. The highway immediately turns toward the south again, curving around Middle Branch Reservoir at Tilly Foster to the west terminus of NY 312. At this junction, signs for the Southeast station on the Metro-North Harlem Line are a reminder that this is still commuter country. Also appearing are the first signs for I-84, whose interchange with 312 is a short distance away, since Middletown.

The Brewster Metro-North station

A long bend through countryside increasingly anticipating New England brings 6 over the Metro-North tracks and to a right turn along them takes 6 into Brewster. At that village's Metro-North station, the highway again turns left, bringing it to an intersection just outside the village where it is reunited with US 202, here concurrent with NY 22. After crossing under the interstate, the road encounters a half-cloverleaf. 22 turns left and leaves for Pawling and points north and Interstate 684 is a short distance to the south, via New York State Route 981B, a short reference route occupying the I-684 right-of-way between I-84 and NY 22,^[2]. 6 and 202 remain parallel with I-84, following the southern shore of one of the lakes of East Branch Reservoir. After one last highway terminus, NY 121's northern end, both cross into Danbury, Connecticut, right next to the interstate's Mill Plain Road exit.

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile^[3]	Road(s)	Notes
Orange	Port Jervis	0.00	Pennsylvania state line at the Delaware River. US 6/ US 209 continue into Pennsylvania.
		0.61	NY 42/NY 97	Southern termini of NY 42 and NY 97.
		0.86	US 209	Eastern terminus of US 6/209 overlap.
		1.72	Neversink River
		2.32	CR 15	To NJ 23. Northern terminus of CR 15.
			I-84	Exit 1 (I-84).
	Wawayanda	14.25	NY 284	Northern terminus of NY 284.
	Middletown	17.76	NY 17M	Western terminus of US 6/NY 17M overlap.
	Middletown	18.14	I-84	Exit 3 (I-84).
	New Hampton	22.32	Wallkill River
	Goshen	22.92	NY 17	Exit 123 (US 6/NY 17/NY 17M). Western terminus of US 6/NY 17 overlap. US 6/NY 17M overlap continues.
		23.31	NY 17A NY 207	Exit 124 (US 6/NY 17/NY 17M). Western termini of NY 17A and NY 207.
		23.89	NY 17M	Exit 125 (US 6/NY 17/NY 17M). Eastern terminus of US 6/NY 17M overlap. US 6/NY 17 overlap continues.
	Chester	27.38	NY 94 NY 17M	Exit 126 (US 6/NY 17).
	Chester	29.21	NY 17M	Exit 127 (US 6/NY 17).
	Monroe	32.71	NY 208	Exit 130 (US 6/NY 17).
	Harriman	35.67	NY 17	Exit 130A (US 6/NY 17). Eastern terminus of US 6/NY 17 overlap.
	Harriman	36.26	NY 17	Interchange. To NY 32.
	Woodbury	39.31	NY 293	Southern terminus of NY 293.
	Highlands	43.37	Palisades Interstate Parkway	Western terminus of US 6/PIP overlap.
	Highlands	45.77	US 9W/US 202 Palisades Interstate Parkway	Eastern terminus of US 6/PIP overlap. Western terminus of US 6/202 overlap.
Orange-Rockland county line		46.33	Bear Mountain Circle
Rockland-Westchester county line		46.58	Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River.
Westchester	Cortlandt	46.82	NY 9D	Southern terminus of NY 9D.
	Peekskill	49.99	US 9	Northern terminus of US 6/9 overlap. US 6/202 overlap continues.
			Bear Mountain State Parkway	Western terminus of Bear Mountain Pkwy.
		50.72	US 9 NY 35	Western terminus of NY 35. Southern terminus of US 6/9 overlap. Western terminus of US 6/NY 35 overlap. US 6/202 overlap continues.
		51.57	US 202/NY 35	Eastern termini of US 6/202 and US 6/NY 35 overlaps.
	Cortlandt	53.25	Bear Mountain State Parkway	Interchange.
	Yorktown	57.49	NY 132	Northern terminus of NY 132.
		57.70	Taconic State Parkway	Interchange.
		59.54	NY 6N	Western terminus of NY 6N.
Westchester-Putnam county line		61.19
Putnam	Carmel	61.22	NY 118	Northern terminus of NY 118.
	Mahopac	63.66	NY 6N	Eastern terminus of NY 6N.
	Carmel	68.95	NY 52	Eastern terminus of NY 52.
	Southeast	71.18	NY 312	Western terminus of NY 312.
	Brewster	73.93	US 202/NY 22	Western termini of US 6/202 overlap and US 6/NY 22 overlap.
	Brewster	74.84	I-84 I-684 NY 22	Exit 10 (I-684). Eastern terminus of US 6/NY 22 overlap. US 6/202 overlap continues.
	Southeast	75.79	NY 121	Northern terminus of NY 121.
	Southeast	78.09	Connecticut state line. US 6/ US 202 continue into Connecticut.