Abandoned Route 66: The ultimate roadtrip Guide Start Exploring Gary, indiana 41.588007, -87.336967 Only 30 minutes east of Chicago, Gary Indiana is known as one of the most abandoned cities in the United States. A perfect place to start before you embark on your abandoned Route 66 journey. Route 66 was realigned here in 1937, which is what saved this historic pavement - the old alignment became just a rural road and was not improved. This road is a concrete pad overlaid with a thin layer of asphalt. It is in very poor condition; the asphalt is missing in many places and is often covered in gravel.
Abandoned Route 66 Photograph by Frank Romeo
In 1956, with the passing of the Federal Aid Highway Act, modern interstates began to replace sections of Route 66, and by 1970, nearly all of the original route was bypassed by four-lane highways. Route 66's popularity led to its downfall, with traffic swelling beyond its two-lane capacity. In 1956, legislation created the Interstate System, and over the course of three decades, five. Route 66 in Illinois is a very tenacious road. Although decommissioned in 1977, the Prairie State's portion of the Mother Road endures, often under new designations, and all but about 13 miles of the final alignment remains traversable. The six road segments below are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In many respects, the physical remains of Route 66 mirror the evolution of highway development in the United States from a rudimentary hodge-podge of State and county roads to a federally subsidized complex of uniform, well-designed interstate expressways.
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Constructed around 1933, the road that exists for tourists to drive today replaced a lonely, blacktopped path that spearheaded its way through the lonely desert - the first U.S. 66, and the last iteration of one of the first transcontinental auto routes - The National Old Trails Highway. Facing an abandoned two-lane section of old Route 66, the office is modest. It's practical. It's tan. Motorists could easily drive right past it without realizing its considerable significance, but slow down two miles south of Pontiac and take a look at the building. Below is a map with the curved 1940-40 Route 66 in red and the later 4-lane US66 (dashed line).. Looking south along the abandoned former northbound lanes of US66 between Litchfield and Mt Olive IL. Click for st. view. Illinois, in 1924. Two years later the original Route 66 was aligned through the town. Business bloomed. Oct 9, 2018 Back before the days of the interstate system, there was one primary way to get across the country, and that was by way of Route 66. The Mother Road, as it came to be known,.
Spectacular Drone Video of Abandoned Section of IL. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 ( US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. [3] Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico is a neon lover's paradise. One of the best signs anywhere can be viewed above the El Don Motel. This site is dedicated to roadies and road trips along America's back roads and two lane highways: travel Route 66 and other historic U.S. auto trails.
By Edward McClelland. December 23, 2021, 2:19 pm. Cozy Dog Drive In's connection to Route 66 is on full display inside the fast-food joint. Lori Rackl/Chicago Tribune. U.S. Route 66 begins in. Today, many rural areas of the old highway are littered with houses, businesses, and full and partial ghost towns, with 200,000 structures standing abandoned along Route 66, according to a 2012.
Abandoned route 66 Old Route 66, Route 66 Road Trip, Historic Route 66
This is one of the strangest sections of Old Route 66 — one that left me feeling like the last person on earth, standing on an abandoned road that was built differently than any 4-lane highway I had ever seen, through a place where two lanes would have been excessive. Between Interstate exits 169 and 163, old US 66 mysteriously, and quite unexpectedly, transforms from two lanes to four. It. Route 66's early history is revealed by its early paths. Tank Farm Loop This 1.7-mile stretch of the original Route 66 between Kellyville and Bristow is so named because several oil storage tanks stand along the roadway. This curvy alignment, built without shoulders, carried the Mother Road from 1926 to 1938.