The Pros And Cons Of Route 66

Route 66 was a two street that stretched for over 2,400 miles. With the incoming tourist and increase in automobile activity, there was always large congested traffic. Bumper to bumper traffic took the roads and accidents made travel become unethical. This is when Route 66 began to take a turn for its high popularity and love for the mother road, to changes of a more convenient road structures like a 4 lane street. In 1941 the Federal Defense Highway Act of 1941 authorized and funded a limited access four-lane divided highway that was constructed between 1942 and 1945 from Joliet, Illinois, to Wilmington, Illinois which redirected a route of Route 66. This was to help sustain the wear and tear of wartime like traffic by updating their construction methods by applying a special sub base of gravel and stone on top of the older road bed. This would become a major transportation alternative rout of Route 66 until the upcoming interstate I-55 in 1956. By 1984, the poorly maintained and outdated U.S. Highway 66 …show more content…
In 1990, the United States Congress passed Public Law 101-400, the Route 66 Study Act of 1990, which recognizing that Route 66 had “become a symbol of the American people's heritage of travel and their legacy of seeking a better life." Accord to the legislation, the National Park Service conducted the Route 66 Special Resource Study to evaluate the significance of Route 66 in American history and to identify options for its preservation, interpretation, and use. This study led to the enactment of Public Law 106-45 and the creation of the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. This program provides financial and technical assistance to individuals; nonprofits; local, State, tribal and Federal agencies; and others to help preserve the most significant and representative historic resources along the route for people to learn from and