In 1985 Route 66 was officially decommissioned as a federal highway. However, daily use of the road had been gradually replaced in earlier years by the Interstates.
The road was decommissioned due to public demand for better transportation as the old road deteriorated after World War II.
85% of the road is still drivable. During all of its life, Route 66 continued to evolve, leaving many abandoned stretches of concrete, still waiting to be found by the more adventurous traveler.
Cyrus Stevens Avery from Tulsa, Oklahoma can be called the father of Route 66. He was the first to refer to Route 66 as “The Main Street of America” in 1927.
Most of the road was replaced by five interstate highways, including I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15 and I-10, but still a surprisingly high amount of old road is waiting to be found by the more adventurous traveler.
You cannot count on the road to be marked with road signs. Though some states and organizations have posted signs, these often disappear with souvenir hunters. Others are simply never posted.
The last original Route 66 road sign was taken down in Chicago on January 17, 1977. John Steinbeck in his novel, Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, was the first to refer to Route 66 as “Mother Road.”
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