What Ever Happened to Route 66?

Route 66 is forever rooted in American culture, even though it was decommissioned in 1985 and removed from modern maps as a continuous U.S. Highway. 

The legendary road still stretches from Illinois to California, but sees fewer travelers than it did in its heyday.

By the 1950s, Route 66 had become so iconic that Bobby Troup wrote the classic song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” celebrating America’s Main Street and its must-see stops. Travelers from all over would fill their tanks and set off down the Mother Road, excited to explore the unique landscapes, diners, and motels that lined the way.

But everything changed in 1956.

How did the beloved road go from one of the nation’s most popular attractions to disappearing from the map? Let’s adjust our mirrors on Route 66 to discover exactly what happened to this road-tripper’s paradise.

THE BIRTH OF THE MOTHER ROAD

Route 66 was established in 1926, when the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads first introduced the federal highway system. In its early days, the road, running alongside major railway lines, was “rough and rugged,” according to David Dunaway, author of A Route 66 Companion.

Dunaway and his coauthor, Stephen Mandragoc, noted that the route’s placement was weather strategic. Starting in Chicago, it avoided snow for much of the year, then continued through states where summer heat would be tolerable.

In the 1930s, travelers flocked to Route 66 in search of work out west, especially in booming California. By 1938, the once rough road running through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California was fully operational, standing out as the first U.S. highway to be fully paved. Used as a vital transportation route during World War II, Route 66 was officially equipped for mass tourism by the mid-1940s.

Americans packed up their cars and headed west for their family vacations, lured by neon signs, diners boasting the best burgers, and motels promising the coziest stays in town (much like Radiator Springs in Pixar’s Cars). 

For Americans traveling Route 66 in the ’40s and ’50s, the journey was the destination, until one bill changed the road’s fate in ways no one could have imagined.

THE FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY ACT OF 1956

In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, launching a new era of efficient interstate highways designed to help Americans get to their destinations as quickly as possible.

With new, efficient highways crisscrossing the country, there was less need to take the old, winding Route 66 and stop in every small town along the way. As more Americans opted for the interstates, Route 66 was left in the dust.

Travelers still relied on Route 66 for services like motels and fuel stations until those amenities began to appear along the new interstates, pushing the Mother Road toward near obsolescence.

First came Interstate 40, then 55, and by 1984, only a single stretch of the original Route 66 remained in Arizona. Locals fought to preserve it, but the road was officially decommissioned in 1985.

ROUTE 66: 100 YEARS LATER

After its removal from the highway system, America’s Main Street experienced a comeback, of sorts. The Road Ahead Partnership, a research and education group, made it their mission to bring life back to the road, attracting visitors from around the world who wanted to experience America in its most authentic form by traveling Route 66.

While Route 66 no longer appears as a continuous U.S. highway on modern maps, many still pack up their cars to travel its storied path, becoming part of history as they stop at remaining attractions, historic sites, and ghost towns. 

Though this famous route's busiest days are likely in the rear view, it remains a vivid symbol of American culture, even a century after its creation.

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