NEW SIGN DIRECTS TOURISTS TO SCENIC OLD U.S. ROUTE 6.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

NEWHALL -- The city of Santa Clarita on Tuesday placed a U.S. Route 6 sign on Sierra Highway near historic Beale's Cut, a deep slice in a mountain pass that linked the old cross-country route to the first access between Newhall and Los Angeles.

The state removed all Highway 6 signs in the late 1960s from Sierra Highway when the Antelope Valley Freeway was built, a move that later caused some distress.

``A lot of small towns were hurt when the interstate was built because they were bypassed,'' said Fred Hann, executive director in California for the U.S. Route 6 Tourist Association. ``The (new) signs are going to lure tourists to the old road, so they can see old two-lane roads and old towns that were bypassed by the freeway.''

Hann said tourists in motor homes and members of car and motorcycle clubs often enjoy less-congested, scenic routes. Hann's group hopes the signs are a magnet for travelers' dollars.

The highway spans 14 states. In California it winds through Bishop, Lone Pine, Mojave, Rosamond, Lancaster, Palmdale and Newhall, then south to Long Beach.

Hann, a retired Los Angeles County firefighter and former mayor of Lancaster, celebrated his 69th birthday Monday, but got a belated gift from Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean and Councilwoman Laurene Weste -- a plaque from President George W. Bush commending his efforts on the project.

The 3,562-mile thoroughfare that links Cape Cod, Mass., with Long Beach is still trod by many. The sole national arterial honoring dead veterans of the Civil War -- also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway -- it is the longest uninterrupted roadway in the nation.

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(ran in SAC edition only) - Fred Hann, Executive director in California for the U.S. Route 6 Tourist Association