U.S. Route 6 in Utah partially coincident with U.S. Route 50 in Utah
Western Utah
US-6 enters Utah overlapped with US-50 in the Great Basin, a large desert that includes much of western Utah. As part of the Basin and Range Province, the terrain alternates between north–south oriented flat valleys and mountain ranges. US-6 and US-50 cross Snake Valley, the Confusion Range (through Kings Canyon), and Tule Valley and crest the House Range via Skull Rock Pass. After crossing this mountainous terrain, the road arrives at Pahvant Valley there meeting and passing along the north shore of Sevier Lake, though the road is far enough away that water is usually only visible in the spring months. After Sevier Lake, the desert becomes farm lands, finally reaching the town of Hinckley just before they split in Delta. US-6 turns to the northeast at that city, paralleling the Union Pacific Railroad (UP)'s Lynndyl Subdivision to the west of the Canyon, Gilson, and East Tintic mountains—three ranges that form the eastern boundary of the Basin and Range Province.At Tintic Junction, the intersection with State Route 36 (SR-36) in the Tintic Valley, US-6 turns east and ascends the East Tintic Mountains. It passes through the mining city of Eureka near the top of the mountains, before descending into the Goshen Valley. Although it left behind the UP rail line at Tintic Junction, this part of US-6 parallels the former Tintic Branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, which has been partially abandoned. After passing through Goshen, the highway curves around the north side of Warm Springs Mountain and into Utah Valley, where it enters Santaquin. On the east side of that city, US-6 begins an overlap with I-15, while the old alignment—SR-198—continues straight through Payson and Salem. After about 13 miles (21 km) together in the Utah Valley, I-15 and US-6 separate in Spanish Fork, the latter turning southeast onto a short two-lane expressway.US-6 begins climbing the Wasatch Plateau, cresting at Soldier Summit, where it finally leaves the Great Basin into the watershed of the Colorado River. It begins to descend by following tributaries of the Price River, first meeting the main stem near Colton. The Price River takes US-6 down through the Price Canyon, the west edge of the Book Cliffs, joining US-191 at Castle Gate. The land flattens and opens out at Helper, named for the helper locomotives needed to carry trains up to Soldier Summit, and US-6 continues southeasterly around Price on a two-lane freeway bypass, with the old alignment marked as both a business route and SR-55. Relatively flat land continues as US-6 parallels the Book Cliffs to the southwest and west, crossing the Price River at Woodside. West of Green River, US-6 joins I-70/US-50, which it overlaps for the remainder of its stay in Utah. Now south of the Book Cliffs, the four routes head east to Crescent Junction, where US-191 splits to the south. As it begins to approach toward the Colorado River, the highway curves northeasterly through the Grand Valley and into Colorado.History
US-6 did not enter Utah until 1936, when it was extended west from Greeley, Colorado, to Long Beach, California. The eastern half in Utah, from Colorado to Spanish Fork, overlapped US-50, but, after a short segment on US-91 to Santaquin, it followed a route that was new to the U.S. Numbered Highway System into Nevada. This road was not yet built to good standards; while it was improved to Hinckley, the remainder across the desert was a graded earth road. It was not paved all the way until 1952, when a new alignment was completed from Hinckley into Nevada; within a few years, US-50 was moved from a long overlap with US-40 (now I-80) south to the new road, completely overlapping US-6 through Utah. US-50 was moved farther south in 1976, due to the completion of I-70 across the San Rafael Swell, separating the two routes between Delta and Green River.
partially overlapping with partially intersecting with partially sharing with partially matching with partially aligning with