PRINTER'S NO. 1810
No. 1222 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY ROBBINS, LEMMOND, EARLL, MADIGAN, MELLOW, SCARNATI
AND M. WHITE, JUNE 7, 2006
REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION, JUNE 7, 2006
AN ACT
1 Designating the portion of U.S. Route 6 in Linesville Borough,
2 Crawford County, as the U.S. Route 6 "Gateway to the West"
3 and designating the portion of U.S. Route 6 in Matamoras
4 Borough, Pike County, as the U.S. Route 6 "Gateway to the
5 East."
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Route 6 Gateway Designation.
9 (a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
10 follows:
11 (1) Historic U.S. Route 6 is the longest highway ever
12 established in the United States, stretching 3,652 miles from
13 Provincetown on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, all the way to Long
14 Beach Island in California.
15 (2) In October of 1925, as part of a recommended 75,884-
16 mile U.S. numbered highway system, the Joint Board on
17 Interstate Highways proposed U.S. Route 6 from Provincetown,
18 Massachusetts, through Rhode Island and Connecticut and
19 stretching to Brewster, New York.
1 (3) By the time the debates on this system concluded and
2 the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO)
3 approved the proposal, United States Highway No. 6 consisted
4 of 707 miles stretching from Provincetown to Erie,
5 Pennsylvania. A large gap in this route (through New York)
6 was filled in 1928.
7 (4) The historic highway began as an entity in November
8 of 1926 when the American Association of State Highway
9 Officials adopted the Federal numbering system for marking
10 the nation's main interstate highways.
11 (5) U.S. Route 6 was signed in 1926 and in the early
12 years its western terminus was in Erie, Pennsylvania.
13 (6) In 1938, U.S. 6 was widened from Clarks Summit to
14 Scranton and Milford to the New York state line.
15 (7) Once known as the Theodore Roosevelt Highway, Route
16 6 was formally dedicated as the Grand Army of the Republic
17 Highway at a ceremony in Long Beach, California, on May 3,
18 1953.
19 (8) Route 6 runs exactly 399.81 miles in Pennsylvania.
20 (9) With origins that predate the American Colonies,
21 U.S. Route 6 has grown as the United States has grown -- from
22 the Appalachian Mountains of New York and Pennsylvania, to
23 the Great Plains of Iowa and Nebraska, to the Rocky Mountains
24 of Colorado and Utah, Route 6 connects big cities like
25 Cleveland and Denver, state capitals like Providence and Des
26 Moines, and small hamlets like Nappanee, Indiana, and Ely,
27 Nevada. These towns and regions could benefit greatly from
28 protecting and promoting this historic resource.
29 (10) This historic transcontinental highway continues to
30 be one of the most unique and scenic roadways in the world
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1 and is a valuable resource worth protecting and showcasing.
2 (11) Pennsylvania has authorized the Route 6 Heritage
3 Corridor as the Commonwealth's twelfth heritage park,
4 stretching through eleven northern counties.
5 (12) The corridor connects four State heritage areas and
6 two national heritage areas, traverses through the Pocono
7 Mountains, Endless Mountains, Allegheny Mountains, the
8 Allegheny National Forest and two large State forest tracts,
9 is close to at least 19 State parks, and serves as an entry
10 point for the Great Lakes Region, the Pennsylvania Northeast
11 Mountain Region as well as the "Pennsylvania Wilds" -- an
12 initiative aimed at increasing nature-based tourism in the
13 State's north central counties.
14 (13) The Pennsylvania entry points, Linesville in
15 Crawford County and Matamoras in Pike County, have long been
16 considered as the Pennsylvania gateways to the west and east,
17 respectively.
18 (14) Linesville, which is the 500 mile marker between
19 New York and Chicago, is a borough located in Crawford County
20 with a population of approximately 1,155.
21 (15) Linesville will be the future home of the National
22 U.S. Route 6 Museum, which will highlight the impact and
23 importance of Route 6 on the development of our country and
24 will provide opportunities to educate the public on its
25 historic and current significance.
26 (16) Matamoras is a borough located in Pike County with
27 a population of approximately 2,312.
28 (b) Designation.--
29 (1) The portion of Route 6 in Linesville Borough,
30 Crawford County, is designated as the U.S. Route 6 "Gateway
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1 to the West."
2 (2) The portion of Route 6 in Matamoras Borough, Pike
3 County, is designated as the U.S. Route 6 "Gateway to the
4 East."
5 (c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall, in
6 consultation with the Boroughs of Linesville and Matamoras,
7 erect and maintain a sign at each end of Route 6 to indicate the
8 designation under subsection (b).
9 Section 2. Effective date.
10 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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