How were towns affected by the building of Route 66?

Question

The towns on Route 66 were greatly affected by the building of large interstate highways. What happened to them?

Answer 1

Yeah, I think the last part of your question is the primary issue. I think the towns on Route 66 got a lot of business from tourism and trucking, etc., and then when Interstate 40 came in, for example, and bypassed the Route 66 towns, the towns started to decline due to fewer travel dollars coming their way. Just a guess.

Answer 2

U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway after the humorist, and colloquially known as the "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road") was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, covering a total of 2,448 miles. It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup, originally recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio in 1946, and later performed by such artists as Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, The Manhattan Transfer and Depeche Mode) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.

Answer 3

Old Route 66 goes right through where I live in Central Illinois. Many towns that thrived along Route 66 lost tons of business when I-55 was built in this area. There are still lots of old restaurants like the Pig Hip sitting abandoned along this stretch of road. Same with Route 51 when they built I-39

Answer 4

A few of the tiny villages, such as Los Angeles and Chicago, apparently still exist.

Answer 5

People just left them.

Answer 6

Come on, do your own homework.