U.S. Route 6 (US 6) is a major east–west road in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
. Nationally, the route continues west to
Bishop, California
Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is the only incorporated city in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley within the Mojave Desert, at an elevation of . The city was named after Bishop Creek ...
, and east to
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...
. In western Rhode Island, it forms part of one of several routes between
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, and
Providence and was planned to be replaced by
Interstate 84 (I-84). The part of I-84 that was built, from
I-295
Interstate 295
is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95:
*Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...
to
Olneyville, is now part of US 6. At Olneyville, US 6 joins
Route 10 and heads east toward
Downtown, Providence, where it turns south on
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
and east on
I-195. US 6 splits from I-195 in
East Providence, crossing into
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
on Highland Avenue. The whole route of US 6 is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
maintained by the
Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT).
Route description
US 6 crosses from
Killingly, Connecticut
Killingly is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. Killingly is the largest town by population in the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut ...
, into
Foster just east of the end of the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike, formerly known as the
Connecticut Turnpike (
State Road 695). That part of US 6 was once the Foster and Scituate Turnpike, now called the Danielson Pike. It crosses
Route 94 in Foster before crossing into
Scituate.
Soon after entering Scituate, US 6 splits into
bypass and
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
alignments. The business alignment runs further south along the old turnpike and is mostly signed as US 6 without a banner. The bypass is signed mostly as
US 6 Bypass (US 6 Byp.) on sign assemblies but as bannerless US 6 on green guide signs. Most maps and information takes US 6 along the bypass.
The business and bypass cross
Route 102 soon after splitting. The western half of the bypass is a two-lane
limited-access road, with one grade separation, under Gleaner Chapel Road, and one intersection, at Route 102. This newer section ends as it merges with
Route 101, once the
Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike, and now called Hartford Pike. The two parallel alignments cross the
Scituate Reservoir and
Route 116 before they merge near the east edge of Scituate. This merge was the east end of the Foster and Scituate Turnpike and was the east end of Route 101 until the early 2000s (when it was truncated to the merge with US 6 Byp.). (The Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike continued to the
Olneyville section of
Providence, where it is known as Hartford Avenue.)
Soon after the bypass and business routes merge, US 6 enters
Johnston. Several miles later, it intersects with
I-295
Interstate 295
is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95:
*Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...
. From I-295 to Olneyville, the old road—Hartford Avenue—is now
US 6A, as US 6 uses the Dennis J. Roberts Expressway. To get there, it turns south on the I-295
collector–distributor roads to the west end of that
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
. The south
interchange of US 6 and I-295 has numerous ramp stubs once intended for a western continuation of the Roberts Expressway as
I-84
Interstate 84 may refer to:
* Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N
* Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts), passing through New York and Connecticut
{{road disambiguation ...
.

The six-lane Roberts Expressway has interchanges with
Route 5, US 6A,
Route 128, and US 6A again on its way to Olneyville. It crosses from Johnston into Providence just west of the bridge over Route 128. At the second US 6A interchange, the older
Olneyville Bypass begins, and the freeway reduces to four lanes. Heading around Olneyville to the south and east, US 6 has partial interchanges with
Route 14,
Route 10, and Broadway before merging with Route 10 toward Downtown, Providence, on the
Route 6-10 Connector. Along the connector is an interchange with Dean Street before it (and Route 10) ends at
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
, with ramps to Memorial Boulevard for downtown access. US 6 turns south there with I-95. US 6 soon leaves I-95 for
I-195, which takes it east across the south side of downtown.
US 1A and
US 44 join after it crosses the
Providence River, and the four routes head east across the
Washington Bridge over the
Seekonk River
The Seekonk River is a tidal extension of the Providence River in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 5 km (3 mi). The name may be derived from an Algonquian word for skunk or for black goose. The river is home to ...
.
Upon crossing the Washington Bridge, US 6 enters
East Providence. US 44 leaves onto Taunton Avenue at the east end of the bridge, and
Route 103—the old alignment of US 6—begins on Warren Avenue. (Some signs still mark Warren Avenue as US 6, but signs in both directions on US 6 keep it on I-195.) After interchanges with Broadway and Pawtucket Avenue—the latter carrying
Route 114 in both directions and US 1A to the north—US 6 splits from I-195 at the interchange with Route 114 (East Shore Expressway). It takes the ramps toward Warren Avenue, which it uses most of the way to the state line before heading southeast on Highland Avenue to cross into
Seekonk, Massachusetts
Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 15,531 at the 2020 census. In 1862, under a U.S. ...
.
History
In Rhode Island, US 6 was originally New England Route 3 (Route 3) of the
New England road marking system
,
,
,
,
,
The New England road marking system was a regional system of marked numbered routes in the six-state region of New England in the United States. The routes were marked by a yellow rectangular sign with black numbers and border. M ...
, designated in 1922. The part of Route 3 in Rhode Island ran roughly how US 6 does now; the main differences were in
Scituate (where it used
US 6 Bus.) and from
Johnston east through
Providence and
East Providence (where it used
US 6A, Broadway, Washington Street, Waterman Street, the old
Red Bridge and Waterman Avenue, and then turned south on Pawtucket Avenue and east along current
Route 103 to reach Massachusetts).
By the time Route 3 became US 6 in late 1926, it had been moved to use Waterman Avenue through East Providence to Massachusetts. (In Massachusetts, US 6 turned south on present
Route 114A to reach its current alignment.) Waterman Street in Providence had become one-way eastbound by 1930; westbound US 6 came off the Red Bridge and turned north on River Street, west on South Angell Street and Angell Street, and south on Benefit Street.
At some point, possibly by 1929, US 6 had moved from the Red Bridge to the
Washington Bridge. In Downtown Providence, it turned south on Main Street and east on Fox Point Boulevard (now
I-195) to reach the bridge, taking Taunton Avenue (now
US 44) into Massachusetts (where it turned south on present Route 114A).
US 6 was realigned to bypass downtown to the south via the
Point Street Bridge by 1942. It came along Westminster Street from
Olneyville, turning southeast on Winter Street (now Fricker Street) and Lockwood Street. A short
one-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities.
Descriptio ...
on Lockwood and Friendship streets (eastbound) and Pine and Summer streets (westbound) led to Point Street and over the bridge of the same name to the west end of Fox Point Boulevard. Upon coming off the Washington Bridge, instead of heading northeast on Taunton Avenue, it had been moved to the more direct Warren Avenue by 1942.
When the
Olneyville Bypass opened in 1953, US 6 was rerouted to use it. Eastbound US 6 simply exited the bypass onto Westminster Street to rejoin its old route, but westbound US 6 used a totally different route. It turned northwest on Main Street instead of crossing the Point Street Bridge and turned west at Waterman Street to reach Promenade Street, then passing through the large
rotary north of
Union Station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
onto Kinsley Avenue. (Kinsley Avenue was later one-way eastbound in that area, so US 6 west continued on Promenade Street from the rotary, crossing to Kinsley Avenue somewhere to the west.
[1964 Rand McNally Providence map]
When the
Broad Freeway—the section of I-195 south of downtown—opened in 1958, it replaced part of eastbound US 6. Instead of turning east on Point Street, US 6 instead continued northeast on Friendship Street to reach the freeway. In 1963 and 1964,
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
was opened at the west end of I-195; the eastbound entrance from Friendship was slightly moved but otherwise remained the same. To the east of the Washington Bridge, the
East Providence Expressway—another section of I-195—opened in 1959. Maps (and even some current signage) disagree about whether US 6 moved to the new bypass at that point or remained on Warren Avenue.
To the west of the Providence area, the three-lane bypass (one lane eastbound and two lanes westbound) of Scituate opened . This road is signed with US 6 Byp. signs, while the old route is still signed as US 6.
Dennis J. Roberts Expressway
The Dennis J. Roberts Expressway opened in 1971, providing a bypass of US 6 from
I-295
Interstate 295
is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95:
*Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...
in
Johnston east to
Olneyville. However, US 6 was not moved to it, as it was part of the planned
I-84
Interstate 84 may refer to:
* Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N
* Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts), passing through New York and Connecticut
{{road disambiguation ...
(approved in 1968). It was assigned the temporary designation of Rhode Island Route 195 (Route 195), as the planned I-84 would continue east from Olneyville to the west end of
I-195. The freeway was also signed as US 6 Byp. However, I-84 was never completed, and in 1991 US 6 was moved to the freeway, with the old route redesignated
US 6A.
In Downtown Providence, US 6 was moved in 1988 with the opening of the
Route 6-10 Connector between Olneyville and downtown. US 6 was moved off the long
one-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities.
Descriptio ...
and onto the connector, turning south on
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
and east on I-195. With the construction of the
Iway, traffic was rerouted further south.
Future
RIDOT has started renumbering exits along I-195. Exits on I-95 will be renumbered in 2022.
A plan has been proposed to close westbound exit 1D (Gano Street) and open a new exit, exit 1E (Waterfront Avenue), along I-195.
Major intersections
RIDOT is in the process of renumbering exits from
sequential numbering to a
mileage-based system to conform with federal highway standards. Exits on the US 6 segments concurrent with I-95, I-195, and I-295 were renumbered. The exit numbers were signed with the three Interstates.
Related routes
There are three
special route
In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the Inte ...
s of US 6 in the state of Rhode Island:
US 6 Bus. and
US 6 Byp. in
Scituate and
US 6A in
Johnston and
Providence.
Danielson Pike
Danielson Pike, formerly known as the Foster and Scituate Turnpike, runs concurrent with US 6 and US 6 Bus. in
Foster and
Scituate.
Major intersections
References
External links
Route 6-10 Interchange Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:U.S. Route 6 In Rhode Island
06
Rhode Island
Transportation in Providence County, Rhode Island