East end of US highway 6 in Provincetown MA

Photo credits: Cameron Kaiser; Robert Mortell; Eric Paulsen; Michael Summa; Ernie Tripp; me

One thing that hasn't changed about US 6 - from the time it was planned in 1925 - is that its eastern end has always gone all the way out to the tip of Cape Cod. There most of its original route is now MA hwy 6A. Through Provincetown, however, 6A is directed onto Bradford Street today - whereas when US 6 went through town, it was on Commercial Street (which was two-way back then). The US 6 designation ended at the rotary on the west end of Commercial. (Thanks to Emi Briet for writing with the info here, as well as elsewhere on this page.) She also directed me to the photo below, from the website for Provincetown Inn (though it was later brought to my attention that the photo on that site is flipped upside-down; I've fixed it below):

The view here is basically east. Emi writes:

"Heading north from the rotary [towards the lower left] is Bradford Street Extension. It's officially a state road (as is the rotary), but has no route number.

1/5th of a mile up that road is the junction of Bradford, Bradford Ext, and Province Lands Road. At that intersection, MA 6A is signed "South" on Bradford back into town and "North" on Province Lands Rd, where it eventually meets up with [and ends at the modern terminus of] US 6.

Heading east from the rotary [towards the upper left] is Commercial Street, the original US 6 (though from that point, you can't actually drive east on Commercial anymore, because today it's one-way westbound)."

There used to be a cool sign on that rotary at the east end of US 6, stating (among other things) the mileage to Long Beach CA. I once caught a brief glimpse of it on the credits for a TV show; if you could obtain a photo of this sign, please let me know! I suppose the sign would've been moved (and maybe changed as well) in the 1950's, when US 6 traffic was rerouted onto the bypass (see next section). Below is an image from an old postcard that shows the sign at the west beginning of US 6 after it was moved to the second rotary (now gone):

Summa

I believe that's heading north in the 2nd rotary, away from downtown and the old rotary. The fork to the left led to Provincelands Road (the sign says "Race Point Coast Guard Station" and "Airport"); to the right was the east beginning of US 6. I've been told that sign was taken down after US 6 was truncated back to Bishop. Here's a shot from roughly the same spot, but later:

Summa, 1982

In both images, the green sign on the left points to the right and says:

Truro 11
Boston 124

Here's a sign mounted on the railing in front of a store by the harborfront:

Paulsen, Sep. 2003

That's a homemade sign - my guess is someone simply had it manufactured as kind of a novelty. You'll see more work from this person below...

Since the 1950's, US 6 traffic is routed onto a newer bypass (see the National Park Service map below). When the bypass reaches the end of the Cape, it loops back around and connects with the original highway through P-town. So the eastern end of US 6 doesn't have a nice, clear terminus like some highways do. I was there in August 1997, and the state certainly doesn't make a big deal out of it: even though it's (nearly) a coast-to-coast route, its end is no longer acknowledged with a sign of any kind.

Interestingly, the map shows how - because of the way the Cape is formed - one is actually heading west when they come to the eastern end of US 6! Understanding this will help the descriptions below to make more sense. Also, keep in mind that the "new" US 6 (the bypass) is a divided highway - two lanes each direction.

me, 1997

I realize now that the photo above is kind of pointless. It's where the Provincetown bypass crosses into federal land (see the map). In case you can't make it out, the sign on the left says "State Highway Ends", and the sign on the right says "Province Lands; Cape Cod National Seashore". I took this photo because I assumed that sign meant that this point marked the end of US 6 - and that's the information I posted on this page until April 1998. However, Ernie Tripp informed me that US 6 actually ends at the highway's junction with Province Lands Road - which you can also see on the map. But, like I said, there was no sign actually on US 6 itself (nor on 6A, for that matter) when I visited. Actually, I observed several "State Highway Ends" signs at multiple places along US 6; turns out they simply mean that section of the highway is not maintained by the state (at the location shown above, maintenance of US 6 becomes the responsibility of the National Park Service).

It's not likely that I'll be anywhere close to the Cape in the near future, but Ernie sent me some of his photos. The one below shows what the east end of US 6 looks like as you approach the Province Lands Rd intersection from the east. The road veering off to the right is how you go northbound on Province Lands Rd. The road that curves to the left is also Province Lands: it's US 6 only to the traffic signal. Beyond that, the road is designated state highway 6A:

Tripp

The photo below is taken from the opposite direction at the same intersection. The camera is on state highway 6A, and the road coming in from the left is Province Lands Rd. Beyond the traffic light begins westbound US 6 - which actually starts out heading east. I know it's confusing...

Tripp

The photo below shows the sign that is posted on southbound Province Lands Rd as you approach the intersection with the bypass, and it provides the best official proof that this junction does indeed mark the true eastern terminus of US 6. The car in the background is stopped at the traffic signal visible in the two photos above. If it turned right, it would be on highway 6A; if it turned left, it would be heading east on US 6...

Tripp

...but the sign is correct when it says "West" towards Boston, because the highway mimics the curve of the Cape, and eventually it does head westward on its long path to California. If you take that left, the first westbound reassurance marker looks like this:

Mortell, 1995

By the way, that intersection is relatively new; before 1982 it was a large, oblong, complicated rotary. Emi sent the images below. This first one is a USGS map showing the old rotary...

...and below is an aerial photo of the modern intersection:

Interesting how you can still see the scars from the old roadways. Continuing east on westbound US 6, the second assembly has a, um... interesting addition:

Kaiser, July 2006

Recognize that style from one of the photos above? Probably an ambitious local road historian.