Route 6 Bottleneck in Vermilion Eliminated – Nov. 25, 1955

Sixty-four years ago, motorists heading in and out of Vermilion on the west end of town were enjoying the new alignment of U. S. Route 6.

Here are the newspaper articles from the Lorain Journal and the Sandusky Register announcing the opening of the new four lane highway on Friday, November 25, 1955.

From Lorain Journal, Friday, November 25, 1955

Same article, from the Sandusky Register, Saturday, Nov. 26, 1955

It’s hard to believe, but prior to the road improvements, the highway used to really jog around at the west end of town. For instance, a motorist coming into Vermilion on Lake Road from the west used to have to make a left-hand turn onto Decatur Street, and then a right turn on Liberty Avenue to keep going east on Route 6. The new highway made it a straight shot, eliminating those two turns.

This photo (courtesy of historian, archivist and longtime contributor Dennis Lamont) shows an aerial view of what I’m talking about. 

The new highway was a long time coming. Here’s a newspaper article from late April 1940 pointing out the need to eliminate those two turns.

And here’s an article from the March 18, 1952 Lorain Journal that makes a case for the needed highway improvement.

Anyway, today you can still see a small remnant of the old bypassed highway on the Google Maps aerial.

And if you’re heading west out of town, you can even pretend that it’s the early 1950s and turn left onto Decatur Street from Liberty Avenue, and then right, onto that old alignment of Route 6. You won’t get very far, but at least you can see the old highway trailing off into the distance and imagine what it was like driving it in the old days.

Courtesy of Google Maps

The old highway heading west out of Vermilion

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The old alignment of Route 6 into Vermilion from the west is still very visible in this 1969 view, courtesy of historicaerials.com