Traveling Oklahoma’s Route 66
From News9: OKLAHOMA CITY – Route 66, the mother road, is a big part of Oklahoma. The stretch of road that crosses through the heart of Oklahoma, attracts tourists from all over the world, and that’s exactly what state leaders, who are focused on tourism, want.
It was last year in Oklahoma City, when folks hit the motherlode on the mother road, original Route 66 bricks exposed by road construction.
“People have a souvenir of the original road you know,” said Brent “Slim” Byrd.
The full pickup beds did not surprise now Lt Governor Matt Pinnell.
“It tells me Route 66 is red hot,” Pinnell said.
Gemini Giant Lit Up In Wilmington
Gemini Giant/Wilmington Photo Tully Garret
From 1340 WJOL: One of the biggest attractions along the Mother Road of Route 66 is once again open and serving food. The Launching Pad and The Gemini Giant in Wilmington opened in May of this year after a complete renovation. Holly Barker and Tully Garrett bought the shuttered restaurant in 2017 and remodeled it, but tried to keep some of the charm from 1965.
As for the 28 foot tall space man known as the Gemini Giant, it was touched up with paint and will be lit up day and night.
Route 66: ‘Mother Road’ was decommissioned 34 years ago this week
From WSB-TV 2: Route 66 used to be the Mother Road of the United States.
Linking Chicago to Santa Monica, California, with a highway across the country. U.S. 66 came to life in 1926. The stretch of road helped small communities grow, created cities in rural areas and changed the way of life across America.
Albuquerque Eyes Route 66 Upgrades in ‘Forgotten’ Part
FILE – In this Nov. 19, 2014 file photo a car travels down historic Route 66 toward Albuquerque, N.M. New Mexico’s largest city is the latest to embark on upgrades to its portion of the historic Route 66 Highway. AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File
From U.S. News & World Report: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico‘s largest city is the latest to embark on upgrades to its portion of the historic Route 66 Highway.
Officials in Albuquerque want to see improvements to a barren stretch of Route 66 in an area that some complain is a forgotten part of the city, KRQE-TV reports .
City officials are eying a $2.3 million plan that would add medians, landscaping and lighting along the Mother Road west of downtown. Currently, there are no sidewalks, landscaping or bike lanes and very few street lights.
Plan calls for Route 66 to become National Historic Trail
A new U.S. Senate proposal would designate Route 66, the Mother Road that connected Chicago to Los Angeles and was once an economic driver for small towns across the post-World War II nation, as a National Historic Trail. Mike Gullett / AP
From the Chicago Tribune: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A new proposal moving through Congress seeks to designate Route 66, the highway that connected Chicago to Los Angeles and was once an economic driver for small towns across a post-World War II United States, as a National Historic Trail.
U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Jim Inhofe announced this week the introduction of a bipartisan bill that would amend the National Trails System Act and include Route 66 in an effort to help revitalize cities and small towns that sit along the historic corridor.