Defending the Interstates in Route 66 Culture

If you where to have a transparent overlay of the modern interstates, and laid it over an old map of Route 66 you could see what replaced what quickly. If you could get a more in depth view, you could also see what sections of 66 are now interstate. You'd see I-40, 55, 44, and 15 all take a cut, and there is a really great reason. 

You see study Route 66 long enough and immerse yourself in the culture and you will eventually begin to hear about the "evil interstates". You'll here the old adage about "driving from one end of the country to the other on the interstate and never seeing a thing", that's one the old timers like to tell. Or the accusations that "the homogeny of the interstate begat homogenous fast food, hotels, and gas stations so no matter where your at your always in the same place !". Trust me the list goes on, and I do see what they are getting at. The flat four lanes, and lots of McDonalds, BPs, and Comfort Inn's do add some homogeny, but to me not enough to get where there at. There are also those little intimations that that the interstates killed Route 66, and the death of Route 66 meant the death of a kinder gentler America. All I have to say is really?

 You see it in the magazines, and you'll read it in books, on the subject. Some of the best authors will mention it either directly or in passing. But what I think they forget is this one simple fact "Route 66 killed Route 66". The road had just carried to much of a burden on it, and may of its sister routes did, and many still do. Sure the road went from town to town, and flowed with the land, but that was also its undoing. As I mentioned in a previous article "Bloody 66 - A Harsh Reality" the Route 66 had become a route noted for terrible car accidents, due to its flowing roads, and town to town hoping. 

The interstates love them or hate them where needed. Sure they are flat, and the bypassed towns, but they where safer and unencumbered by side roads, stop lights, and two lane hilly, curvy stretches. They had in fact become an absolute necessity, in a two lane world. 

Besides the aspect of safety which to me seems to be the number one benefit, there of course is commerce. Trucks where able to become bigger and carry more, and without stopping at every dot on the map for a stop sign or light, could in fact deliver goods faster and with greater fuel efficiency, not to mention cheaper. Which also must make you ask, if the interstates had not existed widely by the 1970's, specifically 1973 and 1974 during the oil crisis could things have been far worse. 

Now as a proponent of Route 66, and a firm green believer in interstate rail transport over truck, its hard for me to stand by the Interstates. Yet at the same time we must admit that they have made life safer, and have helped to keep the costs of products down. Even if your not a fan of the marginal economic gain, you have to ask yourself about the value in human life of the highway. 

So as you read on and the interstate's become evil, stop and ask yourself about their true value. 

Welcome Back Everyone!

Hello again! Before we really get into full swing on the old route I wanted to give everyone a quick true and false test on their Route 66 knowledge. So have fun, and I hope you take something away,

True or False

•If you where alive in 1984 you lived while Route 66 was still a recognized US Route?

True, Route 66 bypassed Williams, AZ in 1984. It was the final town to be bypassed by I-40.

•The interstate system completely replaced the US Route system?

False. The US Route system is alive in kicking. I'm sure wherever you live there is probably a US Route nearby. For us in the Chicago area there is US 12, 14, and 45. In Chicago US 45 has the world famous moniker "Lake Shore Drive".

•All the original sections of 66 lay intact near I-55, I-40, and I-44.

False, some sections of I-40, 44, and 55 are lie on top of old sections of 66. Some of the newer sections of 66 where divided four lane highway, as the interstate system was implemented these sections where repaved to meet interstate specifications and/or newly signed to meet interstate specifications. There are many examples of this across country there are sections through New Mexico, and Arizona where this is visible.

•The US Route system was the first system of cross country roads?

False. The US Route system was the first government funded and maintained cross country route system. It was preceded by the named system of privately built and chartered roads, the "Lincoln Highway" is the most well known of these.

•There are multiple alignments of Route 66.

True. Oklahoma, and Arizona have some of the best examples of these, but the other 6 states have other alignments as well.

•Route 66 was known as "Bloody 66" in it's heyday?

True. In it's heyday 66 had many traffic control issues, and with it a huge amount of traffic fatalities. These issues forced the government to replace the busy route with an interstate system.


I hope you learned something today. As my blog progresses I hope to cover these topics more then the little snippets. There are a lot of cool facts about 66 out there.