Saskatchewan Highway 6


Highway 6 is a paved undivided major provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Montana Highway 16 at the Canada–US border near the Canada customs port of Regway to Highway 55 near Choiceland. Highway 6 is about long. Highway 6 is part of the CanAm Highway from Corinne, through Regina, to Melfort for a distance of about. The CanAm Highway in Saskatchewan comprises Highway 35, Highway 39, Highway 6, Highway 3, Highway 2, and Highway 102.
Major provincial highways that Highway 6 intersects are Highway 18, Highway 13, Highway 39, Highway 1, Highway 11, Highway 99, Highway 22, Highway 15, Highway 16, Highway 5, Highway 3, Highway 41, and Highway 55.
Highway 6 passes through the cities of Regina and Melfort.

Route description

Canada–United States border to Corinne

Communities

Highway 6 begins at the Canada–United States border. The border crossings are Raymond, Montana on Montana Highway 16 in the United States and at Regway, Saskatchewan on Highway 6. Two early name choices for Meyer were Meyersville or Fort Comfort the name of the neighboring North-West Mounted Police post to the north. Minton, became a hamlet in 1930 and in 1951 Minton incorporated as a village. The initial stages of the journey are mixed grassland, and the main economy is ranching. This area traversed is the Big Muddy Badlands area of the Missouri Coteau. The terrain of the Missouri Coteau features low hummocky, undulating, rolling hills, potholes, and grasslands. This physiographic region of Saskatchewan is the uplands Missouri Coteau, a part of the Great Plains Province or Alberta Plateau Region which extends across the south east corner of the province of Saskatchewan. There are several unique geographical features. The Big Muddy Valley, The Hole in the Wall Coulee, Roan Mare Coulee are all deep valleys of the area. The Big Muddy Lake, an alkali lake, could be crossed at the Diamond Crossing was a rise in Big Muddy Lake. Outlaw gangs such as the Jones-Nelson Gang used this undulating landscape to cross the border and hide out. Between the Canada customs port of Regway and Minton are several points of interest such as an old schoolhouse, and the historic Ceylon Park Memorial Garden. Gibson Creek is dammed with Ceylon Dam providing water to the village of Ceylon, as well as the Ceylon Regional Park which is located just off Highway 6. Besides passing ranches, oil and gas wells, agricultural lands producing feed, there are also Pregnant Mare Urine barns along this route. Highway 6 intersects the Red Coat Trail near Pangman at Ceylon.

Highway 6 section of CanAm Highway begins

Corinne is located at the Highway 6 and Highway 39 junction, where the two routes share a short concurrency. It is here that the northern journey of the CanAm Highway continues on Highway 6. The historic Wood Mountain - FortQu'Appelle Trail is marked with a point of interest marker.
File:Cloverleaf interchange.svg|thumb|left|upright|Sk Highway 6 and Sk Highway 1, the TransCanada Hwy Cloverleaf interchange south of Regina one of the first two SK interchanges which opened in 1967. Highway 6 reaches Regina, which is the capital of Saskatchewan and is the second largest in the province. Regina was previously the headquarters of the North-West Territories, of which today's provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta originally formed part, and of the District of Assiniboia. The city is situated on a broad, flat, treeless plain. There is an abundance of parks and greenspaces: all of its trees — some 300,000 — shrubs and other plants were hand-planted and Regina's considerable beauty is entirely man-made. As in other prairie cities, American elms were planted in front yards in residential neighbourhoods and on boulevards along major traffic arteries and are the dominant species in the urban forest. The IPSCO Wildlife Park is located off Highway 6 at Regina.
Highway 6 and Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Hwy, intersect at the Regina Bypass, located just south of Regina, at a partial cloverleaf interchange. The Regina Bypass is a $1.8 billion project that included 12 overpasses and of four-lane highway, and opened in October 2019. As part of the project, the Highway 1 and Highway 11 designations were moved from Regina city streets to the Regina Bypass. Highway 6 continues north to a cloverleaf interchange at Ring Road at the south end of Regina, it is one of the first two Saskatchewan interchanges which opened in 1967. Highway 6 is signed to follow Ring Road and bypass the downtown area; however, it officially follows Albert Street through the city. North of Victoria Avenue, Highway 6 shared a concurrency with Highway 11 until the route reaches the north end of the Regina, where the routes rejoins Albert Street. Unsigned Highway 11A branches northwest towards Highway 11 and Saskatoon and Highway 6 leaves Regina.
The Qu'Appelle River flows east–west across the province, Highway 6 goes through the Qu'Appelle valley north of Regina. A crosswalk was installed at Southey, with overhead lights giving higher visibility to pedestrians crossing Highway 6 at Assiniboia Avenue.

In the Aspen Parkland ecoregion, deer and other large ungulates are a hazard to traffic, resulting in potential animal or human deaths, especially in the autumn mating months or when deer are searching for feeding grounds in the spring. The defence mechanism of deer in the face of a threat is to freeze. There are over 3,500 deer–auto collisions per year in Saskatchewan. A number of measures have been implemented to increase awareness such as fencing, feeding programs, automobile whistles. Deer mirrors along the edges of highways were installed for reducing deer-vehicle collisions. The Wildlife Warning System is triggered by highway vehicles, setting off lights, sounds and or odours ahead of the approaching vehicle to frighten away animals. A system that detects vehicle was installed in 2002 near Harris to reduce the quantity of mule deer–automobile accidents for a two-year testing period. Another system detects large animals and sets off a warning system to drivers of vehicles, alerting them that an animal is on or near the highway ahead of time.
McNab Regional Park is located south of Watson featuring pool and golf course. Watson is located amid the junction of Highway 5 and Highway 6. In this area Highway 6 is travelling through the boreal-transition ecoregion. The highway travels east of Lake Charron upon which Lake Charron Regional Park offers camping, fishing, nature trails, and snowmobiling trails. Naicam is served by Highway 6, and Highway 349. This area is sustained by agriculture, with the ecosystem changing from the rolling parkland to boreal forest. The Barrier river valley, Kipabiskau Regional Park, and Lake Charron Regional Park are nearby features.

Highway 6 section of CanAm Highway ends

, a city of about 6,000, is located on Highway 6, Highway 3, and Highway 41. The CanAm Highway continues north on Highway 3. The South Saskatchewan and North Saskatchewan Rivers join together west of the highway. The highway thus crosses the Saskatchewan River. The Fort à la Corne Provincial Park and the confluence of the Saskatchewan River Basin are two major attractions in this area. Choiceland is located north of Highway 55, the terminus junction of Highway 6. The Rural Municipality of Torch River No. 488 is located past the tree line of Saskatchewan. There are several recreational sites in the area such as Scot's Landing on the Saskatchewan River and Carrolls Cove Campground, Pruden's Point at Tobin Lake.

History

In 1999 the asphalt concrete pavement section of Highway 6 north of Raymore was tested with a Cold in-place recycling or “CIR” method to rehabilitate highways. This CIR process is a cost-effective method which recycles the top surface of a road. This pulverized material is mixed with asphalt emulsion and spread and compacted back onto the highway surface. This surface is then recovered with a new seal dependent on traffic volume.

Major intersections

From south to north: