Route 66 in the News

Road Section May Get Historic Status

2008-03-17 18:28:11

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The 1.3-mile section of road southeast of Springfield is narrow, rough and probably headed for landmark status.

An advisory council to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency has unanimously recommended that a stretch of old Route 66 between East Lake Shore Drive and New City Road be included on the National Register of Historic Places.

A decision on the designation, which would require any work on the road to take preservation into account, is expected in about three months.

“When it gets to this point, it’s about 99 percent it will be approved unless there’s a big red flag, and there’s no red flags here,” said John Weiss, a Route 66 author and preservationist who traveled from his home in northern Illinois for a recent meeting at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

The Route 66 application, one of six, was the only submission from central Illinois. The volunteer council of architectural and historic specialists evaluates projects for the state agency.

Route 66 preservationists stepped up efforts last fall to get the local road on the council’s March agenda after learning the section was on a Sangamon County Highway Department schedule for paving and widening in 2009.

Even if the road is added to the national register, the designation will not prohibit improvements, said council chairman Floyd Mansberger.

“It’s really just a system of recognizing the historic significance of the road,” said Mansberger. “It really doesn’t preserve anything. But should the county want to improve it, they will be sure to review the historic significance.”

Council members said only the road and right-of-way would be included in the designation. About two dozen landowners in the area should not be affected.

Mansberger also said the national commission typically accepts recommendations from the states.

Farm equipment, as well as buses from nearby Ball Elementary School, often use the road, though it also serves as a commuter route for residents and people who work in the area.

“It’s rough, and it’s narrow, and it has potholes on the side because it’s become very soft. You do have to get off for bigger vehicles like school buses,” said Pat Wright, who drives the road at least once a week to reach her job as executive director of the Midwest Mission Distribution Center, south of Springfield.

Wright said she would like to see improvements to the road, or at least the addition of shoulders, but she favors the historic designation.

“I would love to see the original road left, but it could have a little shoulder added on the side,” she said.

County highway engineer Tim Zahrn said work on the road probably would not begin until late 2009 or perhaps the spring of 2010. The agency does not oppose the historic-place designation.

“We plan to do some widening, and try to do an overlay and patching. We did not file any opposition. We just want to make sure we do the proper maintenance,” Zahrn said.

For all the research that went into the application, one question remained unsolved: Is there still a section of Route 66 at the bottom of Lake Springfield?

Route 55 enthusiast Dorothy McMullen, who splits her time between central Illinois and Georgia, said after helping Weiss with the presentation that she believes the road probably was left intact when the lake was built.

“Why would they tear it up if they knew they were going to put it under water?” she said.

About the road:

The section dates to the early 1920s and is thought to be the longest remaining drivable stretch of the original Route 66 in Illinois. The section is part of the original alignment of Route 66 into Springfield.
The pavement is 16 feet wide compared to 24 feet for most modern, two-lane highways.
Originally known as Olde Carriage Way.
The road opened before Lake Springfield was constructed in the 1930s, and some Route 66 historians believe a section of the road remains at the bottom of the lake.
Two other central Illinois sections of Route 66 — a restored brick section off Illinois 4 between Chatham and Auburn, and a section south of Litchfield in Montgomery County — already are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Interstate 55 replaced the last section of Route 66 in Springfield in 1977.

Source: Illinois Route 66 Association

~Tim Landis, SJ-R.com