^Eastbound trailblazer at Illinois 171 in Joliet, October 2021 (it was a hot fall and the leaves changed colors late).
In Illinois, US Route 6 runs east-west across the entire state, staying close to Interstate 80. It enters the state crossing the Mississippi River into Moline, heads east through the Illinois Valley, and stays south of Chicago as it approaches Indiana.
US Route 6 crosses the Mississippi River, concurrent with Interstate 74, heading south into Moline, Illinois (photo looks north):
US Route 6 crosses the Mississippi River, concurrent with Interstate 74, heading south into Moline, Illinois (photo looks north):
Illinois 92 passes under Interstate 74 and US Route 6 as a pair of one way streets in Moline, with some scattered ramps providing access:
US Route 6 and Interstate 74 continue south through a cloverleaf interchange to Illinois 5:
At another cloverleaf interchange, Interstate 74 exits to join Interstate 280 east, while US Route 6 continues south:
US Route 6 turns easterly immediately, to run parallel with Interstate 280, then it soon meets the northern end of US Route 150:
Still very close to Interstate 280, US Route 6 meets the southern end of Illinois 84 near Colona:
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One mile later, US Route 6 has an interchange with the north-south section of Interstate 80:
After leaving the Quad Cities area, US Route 6 reaches Geneseo, where it joins Illinois 82 south:
On the south side of Geneseo, US Route 6 splits from Illinois 82 to head easterly again:
US Route 6 crosses Illinois 78 at Annawan:
Now on the south side of Interstate 80, US Route 6 is joined by US Route 34 in Sheffield:
In Princeton, US Route 6 trades US Route 34 for Illinois 26 at a junction where those other two routes are duplexed to the north:
On the east side of Princeton, Illinois 26 leaves US Route 6 to continue south:
Three and a half miles farther east, US Route 6 meets a full interchange with Interstate 180:
After passing through Seatonville, US Route 6 joins Illinois 89 south, south of Ladd...
US Route 6 and Illinois 89 continue together past the northern end of Illinois 29 into Spring Valley:
In Spring Valley, Illinois 89 leaves to head south over the Illinois River, as US Route 6 continues east:
In Peru, a compact cloverleaf interchange provides access to Illinois 251:
In LaSalle, US Route 6 joins Illinois 351 north for two blocks:
Two blocks to the north, Illinois 351 sends US Route 6 to continue east:
Next, a diamond interchange from Interstate 39 meets US Route 6 at-grade, as US Route 6 leaves LaSalle...
At Utica, US Route 6 meets Illinois 178 at a roundabout, near Utica:
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In Ottawa, US Route 6 crosses Illinois 23, and Illinois 71 comes from the south leg of Illinois 23 to join US Route 6 east:
US Route 6 and Illinois 71 leave Ottawa together, and immediately after doing so, US Route 6 splits from Illinois 71 to follow the north shore of the Illinois River through Marseilles and Seneca:
In Seneca, US Route 6 meets the northern extent of Illinois 170:
In Morris, US Route 6 joins Illinois 47 north for just under one mile...
US Route 6 soon splits from Illinois 47 to continue east out of Morris:
In Channahon, US Route 6 meets an interchange with Interstate 55:
At Rockdale, or near Joliet, US Route 6 meets the southern end of Illinois 7:
US Route 6 passes under Interstate 80 and joins US Route 52 east over the Des Plaines River in Joliet:
Still in inner Joliet, US Route 6 joins Illinois 53 north at a junction where US Route 52 joins Illinois 53 the other way, to the south:
US Route 6 and Illinois 53 reach downtown Joliet together, where Illinois 53 and US Route 30 are each a pair of one-way streets; this creates a bit of an enigmatic situation where US Route 6 turns from Illinois 53 onto US Route 30 east:
US Routes 6 and 30 are now concurrent on a pair of east-west one-way streets, but they part ways just east of downtown Joliet:
US Route 6 is now heading north a few blocks before it turns east, but this turn to the east takes place at the southern end of Illinois 171:
US Route 6 escapes from Joliet heading east, and it meets a fountain interchange with Interstate 355...
US Route 6 jogs north a bit before it straightens out to head east again, and as it straightens out, it bounces off of Illinois 7, which comes from the west and turns northerly (this is what I call a "ricochet junction"):
US Route 6 heads east into Orland Park where it crosses US Route 45:
In Tinley Park, US Route 6 crosses Illinois 43:
In Oak Forest, US Route 6 meets a 4-way junction with Illinois 50:
After about one more mile, US Route 6 meets a cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 57:
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At Markham, another cloverleaf interchange interacts with US Route 6, this time accessing Interstate 294:
At Harvey, US Route 6 crosses Illinois 1:
In the South Holland area, US Route 6 meets a cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 94's stint along the Bishop Ford Freeway...
In Calumet City, less than two miles from the Indiana border, US Route 6 joins Illinois 83 south...
By Lansing, Illinois, a single-point interchange connects Illinois 83 to the concurrent Interstates 80 and 94, and US Route 6 uses that interchange to join those Interstates east...
