diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 681038afd..092bd5973 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@
 
 [1]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/nodejs-spanner?activeTab=versions
 
+## [6.15.0](https://github.com/googleapis/nodejs-spanner/compare/v6.14.0...v6.15.0) (2023-08-04)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* Enable leader aware routing by default. This update contains performance optimisations that will reduce the latency of read/write transactions that originate from a region other than the default leader region. ([6852d99](https://github.com/googleapis/nodejs-spanner/commit/6852d99b858eb323ac3fc5e61905b8bf59486062))
+
 ## [6.14.0](https://github.com/googleapis/nodejs-spanner/compare/v6.13.0...v6.14.0) (2023-07-21)
 
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4e948cc35..39b3b5cd8 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@google-cloud/spanner",
   "description": "Cloud Spanner Client Library for Node.js",
-  "version": "6.14.0",
+  "version": "6.15.0",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "author": "Google Inc.",
   "engines": {
diff --git a/samples/package.json b/samples/package.json
index bbd9e78e4..2bfc78d63 100644
--- a/samples/package.json
+++ b/samples/package.json
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@google-cloud/kms": "^3.0.0",
     "@google-cloud/precise-date": "^3.0.0",
-    "@google-cloud/spanner": "^6.14.0",
+    "@google-cloud/spanner": "^6.15.0",
     "yargs": "^17.0.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 558382ba7..76eccc6b3 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -108,8 +108,8 @@ export type GetInstanceConfigOperationsCallback = PagedCallback<
 
 /**
  * Session pool configuration options.
- * @property {boolean} [routeToLeaderEnabled=False] If set to true leader aware routing will be enabled.
- * Enabling leader aware routing would route all requests in RW/PDML transactions to leader region.
+ * @property {boolean} [routeToLeaderEnabled=True] If set to false leader aware routing will be disabled.
+ * Disabling leader aware routing would route all requests in RW/PDML transactions to any region.
  */
 export interface SpannerOptions extends GrpcClientOptions {
   apiEndpoint?: string;
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ class Spanner extends GrpcService {
   projectIdReplaced_: boolean;
   projectFormattedName_: string;
   resourceHeader_: {[k: string]: string};
-  routeToLeaderEnabled = false;
+  routeToLeaderEnabled = true;
 
   /**
    * Placeholder used to auto populate a column with the commit timestamp.
@@ -318,8 +318,8 @@ class Spanner extends GrpcService {
     } as {} as GrpcServiceConfig;
     super(config, options);
 
-    if (options.routeToLeaderEnabled === true) {
-      this.routeToLeaderEnabled = true;
+    if (options.routeToLeaderEnabled === false) {
+      this.routeToLeaderEnabled = false;
     }
 
     this.options = options;
diff --git a/test/spanner.ts b/test/spanner.ts
index 322566389..2ca4697f0 100644
--- a/test/spanner.ts
+++ b/test/spanner.ts
@@ -1491,14 +1491,14 @@ describe('Spanner with mock server', () => {
     });
 
     describe('LeaderAwareRouting', () => {
-      let spannerWithLAREnabled: Spanner;
-      let instanceWithLAREnabled: Instance;
+      let spannerWithLARDisabled: Spanner;
+      let instanceWithLARDisabled: Instance;
 
-      function newTestDatabaseWithLAREnabled(
+      function newTestDatabaseWithLARDisabled(
         options?: SessionPoolOptions,
         queryOptions?: IQueryOptions
       ): Database {
-        return instanceWithLAREnabled.database(
+        return instanceWithLARDisabled.database(
           `database-${dbCounter++}`,
           options,
           queryOptions
@@ -1506,18 +1506,18 @@ describe('Spanner with mock server', () => {
       }
 
       before(() => {
-        spannerWithLAREnabled = new Spanner({
+        spannerWithLARDisabled = new Spanner({
           servicePath: 'localhost',
           port,
           sslCreds: grpc.credentials.createInsecure(),
-          routeToLeaderEnabled: true,
+          routeToLeaderEnabled: false,
         });
         // Gets a reference to a Cloud Spanner instance and database
-        instanceWithLAREnabled = spannerWithLAREnabled.instance('instance');
+        instanceWithLARDisabled = spannerWithLARDisabled.instance('instance');
       });
 
       it('should execute with leader aware routing enabled in a read/write transaction', async () => {
-        const database = newTestDatabaseWithLAREnabled();
+        const database = newTestDatabase();
         await database.runTransactionAsync(async tx => {
           await tx!.runUpdate({
             sql: insertSql,
@@ -1539,7 +1539,7 @@ describe('Spanner with mock server', () => {
       });
 
       it('should execute with leader aware routing disabled in a read/write transaction', async () => {
-        const database = newTestDatabase();
+        const database = newTestDatabaseWithLARDisabled();
         await database.runTransactionAsync(async tx => {
           await tx!.runUpdate({
             sql: insertSql,