U.S. Highway 20

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U.S. Highway 20

U.S. Highway 20 is an east-west United States highway. As the "0" in its route number suggests, US 20 is a coast-to-coast route. Though it is not signed in Yellowstone National Park, an implied route from the "eastern" US 20 to the "western" US 20 through the park may be assumed. Spanning 3,365 miles (5,415 km), it's the longest road in the United States [1]. US 6 is the country's longest continuous US highway at 3,205 miles (5,158 km)

US 20 at the Mississippi River
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US 20 at the Mississippi River

Contents

Termini

As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in Boston, Massachusetts at Kenmore Square, where it meets Massachusetts Highway 2. Its western terminus is in Newport, Oregon at an intersection with U.S. Highway 101, within a mile of the Pacific Ocean.

Historic termini

Until 1940, the western endpoint of US 20 was the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Historic routes

Between Fort Dodge, Iowa and Dubuque, Iowa the route has been upgraded to four lanes, the last link of this completed in 2003. Much of the old route is a few miles north of the present route except between Interstate 35 and Waterloo. There, the old route is farther north, going through Iowa Falls, Aplington, and the north side of Cedar Falls along what is now Iowa Highway 57.

Highway 20 crosses the Mississippi River at Dubuque, Iowa. The bridge crossing the river is known as the Julien Dubuque Bridge.

From just west of South Bend, Indiana to the Saint Joseph/Elkhart County line, the old route of US 20 through Saint Joseph County is now Business 20. In Elkhart County, its old route is now classified as a county road, and is simply called Old US 20. The St. Joseph Valley Parkway is the present route of US 20 in the South Bend/Elkhart Area.

Historic names

Alternate routes

As of 2004, US 20 has three alternate routes.

US 20A in New York has an eastern terminus about five miles west of Canandaigua, the county seat of Ontario County. It rejoins US 20 in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg at what is called Seven Corners, near the intersection of US 20 and US 62 and west of Ralph Wilson Stadium. While the main line of US 20 takes a direct path to Buffalo via Avon, US 20A veers to the south to serve Geneseo. The town of Attica, famous for the Attica Prison riots of 1971, lies between US 20 and 20A.

Alternate US 20 in Ohio has an eastern terminus in the Toledo suburb of Maumee. It rejoins US 20 north of Montpelier, shortly before the Indiana border. The arrow-straight parallel routes are never more than five miles apart for the entire 50-mile stretch through the Ohio farm country, with the main line of US 20 taking the more northerly route. Alternate US 20 is little more than a toll-free alternative to Interstate 80, a mile to its north.

MA 20A in Massachusetts has an eastern terminus in Springfield, at the junction of US 20 and Interstate 291. It rejoins US 20 at its junction with Interstate 91 before crossing the Connecticut River on the North End Bridge. This alignment provides an alternate to Interstate 291, which is multiplexed with US 20 for much of its length, but was originally an alternate to old US 20, which ran down State Street and Boston Road. This route was therefore never part of US 20, but has served as an alternate to two separate routes.

States traversed

The highway passes through the following states:

Principal cities

Related US routes

Sources and external links

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Primary U.S. Highways
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10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 48 49
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 87 89
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
101 163 400 412 425
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