Highway 66, along with other highways of the day, offered attractions and diversions for the motorist. These attractions did not require speeding off a high speed freeway on a ramp and then negoiating what sometimes is a maddening series of turns and detours. In the days of the two-lane highway, a motorist simply had to pull directly off of the highway to visit one of these attractions.
Yet, the two-lane highway also had a tendency to offer dangers that are not seen on a passionless slab of four-lane monotony that we call freeways.
For example, one of these dangers that existed along Highway 66 was the dreaded Jericho Gap about 60 miles east of Amarillo, Texas.
In this area, there are some low hills and ridges which Route 66, and now Interstate 40, had to negotiate. Between the towns of Groom and Alanreed was the most feared stretch of highway in the United States in the early days of automobile travel. The most infamous stretch was the aforementioned Jericho Gap the legend and lore happened in the years from 1926, when U.S. Highway 66 officially became a federal highway, to 1937, when the highway was completely paved and this unpaved stretch of it was re-routed. East and west of this section were paved stretches of road, but this area was unpaved and, thus, a "death trap" for automobiles of the day. You see, the soil in this area is sort of a black, gumbo type soil that sticks to everything after a rainfall or snowfall. Route 66 went directly through this black, gumbo soil and it was extremely hazardous when it was wet. The legend of the Jericho Gap grew and grew until it reached epic proportions. It is still talked about to this day. A traveler's guide that was published by the Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC) in the early 1930s had this to say about the Jericho Gap:
"The New Age automobiles could move on that highway [66], but were helpless in the gooey, gummy mud of Jericho Gap. Tires spun, mud balled up under the fenders and, if your car fell into the deep ruts, you were there until someone pulled you out...only a team of horses could extract your car from the gumbo..."
Many farmers who lived along the highway made alot of money by charging motorists to pull their autos out of the thick mud with a team of horses. There is an unproven, but likely, legend that, even during dry times, these farmers would sneak out at night and thoroughly soak the dirt highway so they could make money off of unsuspecting motorists the next day by extracting their vehicles from the sticky mud. This legend has never been proven, but every farmer that lived along the route owned a water wagon and there are accounts that were made by people traveling on Route 66 back in the day that they got stuck in the mud in the Jericho Gap and they had absolutely no idea why the road was so muddy in that particular location when it was not muddy east or west of there.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Why The Craze?
Why is Route 66 such a craze these days? Alot of it has to do with the fact that people have a yearning, a longing, for the way things used to be. The days before interstate highways and the proliferation of fast food places and strip malls. U.S. Highway 66 is sort of a microcosm of America itself. It is where the motel was first developed, it is where the first McDonald's opened in Arcadia, California. It is where the fast food business really began its stranglehold on America (not a good thing), and it also represents the days when highways went through the heart of towns instead of along the edge and, as a result, downtown business districts were the heart and soul of every community in America. It also represents a time when highways conformed to the landscape instead of blasting through it like today's highways blast through hills instead of over or around them.
In the nebulous beginnings of cross country highway travel, hotels, usually in he heart of cities and towns everywhere, were the norm. These developed into tourist cabins along the highways and then tourist cabins developed into motels.
The early days of highway travel were not for the faint-hearted. Most of the roads were dirt, which turned into quagmires after rains and the pavement usually extended to the edges of towns or a short distance beyond, before ending. That is when the dangers of highway travel began and those experiences are still written about to this day. Dwight Eisenhower had a bad experience with muddy highways in 1917. During World War II, he was impressed with the Autobahn in Germany and, as a result, in 1956, while president, he signed the Interstate Highway Act.
While Route 66 receives most of the attention, there are/were other highways that were replaced, in whole or in part, by interstates. To me, the ones with the most fascinating histories are U.S. Highway 80 and U.S. Highway 91. U.S. Highway 80 once ran from Tybee Island, Georgia to San Diego, California. Now it ends in Dallas, Texas. Everything west of Dallas is now either a business loop for an interstate highway, a state highway, a city street, a county road, a private road or completely missing in some places. Some pieces of old highway 80 are still there, reposing under the merciless sun and serving as a reminder of days gone by. U.S. Highway 80 was once called "The Broadway of America ," in deference to highway 66's appellation as "The Main Street of America." Highway 80 was also one of the busiet highways in America during its heyday and also represented a microcosm of American life, but it never received as much attention as its northern cousin. Highway 80 was actually longer than highway 66. It ran from coast to coast while highway 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.
The other one that has the most fascinating history, is my opinion, is U.S. Highway 91, which once ran from
Long Beach, California to the Canadian border at Sweetgrass, Montana. Now, U.S. Highway 91 is only 145 miles long, running from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Brigham City, Utah in two different segments separated by a 20 mile "co-alignment" with Interstate 15 south of Pocatello, Idaho. The northern segment, 43 miles long, between Idaho Falls and Pocatello, mostly runs in the shadow of Interstate 15, basically serving as a frontage road for the interstate. The southern segment strikes out on its own and receives quite a bit of traffic.
I have read recently that AASHTO, the organization which oversees federal highways, is seriously considering de-commissioning the remaining segment of U.S. Highway 91, relegating it to the history books, the same fate which has befallen U.S. Highway 66.
In the nebulous beginnings of cross country highway travel, hotels, usually in he heart of cities and towns everywhere, were the norm. These developed into tourist cabins along the highways and then tourist cabins developed into motels.
The early days of highway travel were not for the faint-hearted. Most of the roads were dirt, which turned into quagmires after rains and the pavement usually extended to the edges of towns or a short distance beyond, before ending. That is when the dangers of highway travel began and those experiences are still written about to this day. Dwight Eisenhower had a bad experience with muddy highways in 1917. During World War II, he was impressed with the Autobahn in Germany and, as a result, in 1956, while president, he signed the Interstate Highway Act.
While Route 66 receives most of the attention, there are/were other highways that were replaced, in whole or in part, by interstates. To me, the ones with the most fascinating histories are U.S. Highway 80 and U.S. Highway 91. U.S. Highway 80 once ran from Tybee Island, Georgia to San Diego, California. Now it ends in Dallas, Texas. Everything west of Dallas is now either a business loop for an interstate highway, a state highway, a city street, a county road, a private road or completely missing in some places. Some pieces of old highway 80 are still there, reposing under the merciless sun and serving as a reminder of days gone by. U.S. Highway 80 was once called "The Broadway of America ," in deference to highway 66's appellation as "The Main Street of America." Highway 80 was also one of the busiet highways in America during its heyday and also represented a microcosm of American life, but it never received as much attention as its northern cousin. Highway 80 was actually longer than highway 66. It ran from coast to coast while highway 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.
The other one that has the most fascinating history, is my opinion, is U.S. Highway 91, which once ran from
Long Beach, California to the Canadian border at Sweetgrass, Montana. Now, U.S. Highway 91 is only 145 miles long, running from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Brigham City, Utah in two different segments separated by a 20 mile "co-alignment" with Interstate 15 south of Pocatello, Idaho. The northern segment, 43 miles long, between Idaho Falls and Pocatello, mostly runs in the shadow of Interstate 15, basically serving as a frontage road for the interstate. The southern segment strikes out on its own and receives quite a bit of traffic.
I have read recently that AASHTO, the organization which oversees federal highways, is seriously considering de-commissioning the remaining segment of U.S. Highway 91, relegating it to the history books, the same fate which has befallen U.S. Highway 66.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A Briefing on Route 66
U.S. Highway 66 was once the busiest highway in the country. It was basically a victim of its own success. Beginning in the late 1950s, sections of it were bypassed and it was planned to be completely bypassed by the mid 1970s, but people in the affected towns had other ideas. Alot of lawsuits were filed to prevent,the bypassing of certain towns. Some towns were going to be bypassed by interstate highways by several miles and the people in those towns didn't like that idea because the bypass would completely pull traffic away from their towns and businesses would suffer as a result. It was finally agreed to route the new interstates along the edges of the towns, or right through the middle of them in some cases. The most notable example is the 42 mile stretch between Tucumcari, New Mexico and the Texas border. For many years Interstate 40 ended on the east side of Tucumcari and dwindled down to a two lane road and remained a two lane road all the way to the Texas border, where it became a freeway again. The town of San Jon filed a lawsuit to force the highway planners to re-route the highway closer to town when they learned of plans to build the freeway six miles north of town, thus providing cross country travelers with no reason to patronize San Jon businesses. It was finally agreed to build the interstate on the north edge of San Jon. A good example of a freeway going right through the middle of town is Gallup, New Mexico,. It was originally planned for the freeway to go south of Gallup and miss the town by about two miles.Many towns still suffered, anyway, because the new freeways did not go directly through the downtown business district. In some cases, a new commercial center sprang up along the interstate, after the downtown area had been bypassed. A good example of this is Winslow, Arizona.
Other towns filed suit because the original plans called for an exit at each end of town and the town wanted another exit in the middle of town. The best example of this is Williams, Arizona. They won the fight and that middle exit is presently the most utilized exit in the town. Williams was the last town to be bypassed by highway 66 and that came on August 13, 1984, about ten years behind schedule. The next June, in 1985, U.S. Highway 66 was officially decomissioned as a federal highway and ceased to exist.
Although U.S. Highway 66 is no longer a federal highway, most of the fabled road still exists. Parts of it are still a federal highway. Serving as business loops through various towns. Parts of it are state highways or county roads or city streets. Parts of it are privately owned and still other parts are abandoned and lie next to or near the interstate. In most cases these abandoned stretches are still open to the public in various forms, possibly as a foot trail or it can be driven by someone with a four wheel drive vehicle. Some portions of the highway have completely disappeared, but about 85% of the highway still exists.
Other towns filed suit because the original plans called for an exit at each end of town and the town wanted another exit in the middle of town. The best example of this is Williams, Arizona. They won the fight and that middle exit is presently the most utilized exit in the town. Williams was the last town to be bypassed by highway 66 and that came on August 13, 1984, about ten years behind schedule. The next June, in 1985, U.S. Highway 66 was officially decomissioned as a federal highway and ceased to exist.
Although U.S. Highway 66 is no longer a federal highway, most of the fabled road still exists. Parts of it are still a federal highway. Serving as business loops through various towns. Parts of it are state highways or county roads or city streets. Parts of it are privately owned and still other parts are abandoned and lie next to or near the interstate. In most cases these abandoned stretches are still open to the public in various forms, possibly as a foot trail or it can be driven by someone with a four wheel drive vehicle. Some portions of the highway have completely disappeared, but about 85% of the highway still exists.
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