Great River moves ahead on 350-mile Route 66 project

Springfield-based engineering firm Great River Associates was hired by the Route 66 Association of Missouri to develop a 350-mile corridor management plan for the Missouri Route 66 Historic Corridor as the group works to secure national scenic byway status for the roadway.

Association President Tommy Pike said 80 percent of the $188,000 research project is funded by a grant from the Federal Highway Commission, through the Missouri Department of Transportation, with the Route 66 Association of Missouri picking up the remaining $37,600.

The association secured state scenic byway status for Route 66 in 2005, Pike said; the next step is national scenic byway status, and ultimately all-American road status. He said several other states along Route 66, including Illinois and Oklahoma, also have attained state scenic bypass designations for Route 66 within their boundaries. In Oklahoma and New Mexico, Route 66 has both state and national scenic byway status, and in Arizona, all three designation levels have been attained, Pike said.

Public meetings in each of the 10 Missouri counties along the corridor are the next step in the process of gaining national scenic byway status for Route 66 in the Show Me State. Meetings already have been held in Greene, Jasper and Lawrence counties, and the next meeting, in Webster County, is slated for a 6-8 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Empire Bank Building, 1197 Spur Drive, in Marshfield, according to a Great River news release. Meetings in the remaining counties - Crawford, Laclede, Pulaski, Franklin, Phelps and St. Louis, will be held before the end of February.

The corridor management plan will create guidelines for the preservation, protection and enhancement of the historic Route 66 corridor, focusing on benefits travelers, tourism and communities. A key goal for the plan will be creating economic development opportunities in cities such as Springfield, Mount Vernon, Carthage, Rolla and Kirkwood.

"A lot of communities buy into it and use it in their economic development plan," Pike said of achieving the designations, although he noted that some municipalities, including the city of St. Louis, aren't interested in participating.

Public participation in the meetings - which are scheduled through February - aims to identify opportunities that may not be identified during Great River's field observation, the release said. Business owners, government officials and area residents are encouraged to attend.