The Rise and Fall of Route 66 (Why America's Greatest Road Fell into Oblivion)

In the mid 2000s a lot of people gained or renewed their interest in Rt 66 due to the movie "Cars" that's continued to this day.

Back in 2012 I drove Route 66 (Chicago to Santa Monica) on a Yamaha FJR1300, camping & moteling along the way. What a great adventure! So many things to see & great people along the way, I never had a dull day. One thing I noticed is at that time there were more people from other countries then Americans on 66. I grew tiresome of all the gift shops so I then turned my attention to the old abandoned structures that were once popular. Old gas stations, motels diners, bars etc. I even found some of the original highway, it was super narrow. What an amazing journey back into time! I've had many, many motorcycle tours in my life but Route 66 was by far the highlight of them all. It really is a slice of America that everyone should put on their bucket list. I would highly recommend anyone reading this comment to make the trip. You won't be disappointed.

Driving down old Route 66 sometimes feels like you’ve traveled back into the past.

Real simple reason for Route 66's demise, the interstate system made it obsolete.

Being a 71 year old Arizona native, I've been on 66 many times over the years. People today have forgotten the joys and sights of taking a road trip.

When I was a kid I used to watch a show where 2 guys in a corvette traveled and had adventures on route 66, always told myself I would do that some day.

I live literally a block from the original first paved segment of 66 which is now College and St. Louis streets in Springfield. Great video but theres a lot of information left out. The route was also instrumental in connecting Fort Leonard wood and other bases to the Pacific coast and was vital for military logistics which didnt all go by train. The original highway was extremely dangerous due to it and the automobiles of the era being very crude by modern safety standards. Drunk driving was legal at that time leading to many untimely deaths and human suffering, as was the deer problem through Illinois Missouri and Oklahoma. There were many hardships for travelers who had little more than gas money. My grandfather broke down in Arizona with his wife and first baby in the dangerous heat and had to work an entire day in a salvage yard to afford the part he needed to get back on the road.Also, the heavy traffic clogged city centers toward the later years and the original route and its businesses fell victim to re-routs outside of towns then the much faster and safer Interstate highway system. The Cadillac Ranch is iconic but so were the many neon signs along the route. Another popular spot is were people stop to take pics standin' on the road, in Windslow Arizona, next to a flat bed Ford as mentioned in the Eagles song Take it Easy.

My son is a US Marine and the two of us drove from S. Florida to San Diego In late Dec '21 and had a great time. I had some car parts to drop off so we picked up I-40 in Amarillo. Route 66 was an old friend right there for most of the trip through the long desert. We used it to go to some of the small dusty towns that is still snakes through. At one point in New Mexico we hit a severe snow storm that closed the interstate due to jackknifed trailers and since we had a Jeep, it was a snap to so some adventuring on the old road for many miles (something the locals seemed to take advantage of as well). What a special trip.

Back in the mid 1970's, I was lucky enough to travel parts of Route 66 in Arizona and New Mexico before Interstate 40 was completed. It certainly was a colorful highway!

I live on route 66 and absolutely love it! I travel to other towns on my favorite road frequently. I especially like the parts of the road where I can't see the interstate next to me and I can imagine that I'm back in time driving along the road when it was new. So many parts of the original road in my area are being torn up to make bike trails or to lay lines for high speed internet.... etc... which upsets me; it's something to be protected , not destroyed.

Im familiar with folks only calling it “root” 66.

2:45 to skip the sponsored section.

My grandparents used the 'Green Book,' to travel in the 50s and 60s. I'm so happy you touched on it. Great video as always!! Thank you.

We drove from Chicago to Phoenix when I was 10yo. I'll never forget the cool things we saw along 66. Magical.

Back in 2016 I found myself with the opportunity to take a few weeks to check off the biggest attainable item on my bucket list, and loaded up my little hatchback with me driving, my cat as copilot, and about 50 pounds of computer and camera gear, three duffel bags of clothes, and 30 pounds of cat food and cat litter, and set off from Nashville, TN, up to Chicago, then off on the Mother Road, all the way to Santa Monica. I've got about 100 GB of photos and footage from the trip that I still need to do something productive with.... <_< One quibble: 18:40 -- while truly iconic, Monument Valley isn't on the Route 66 alignment -- at the closest point, it's over 100 miles away....

I travelled Route 66 back in 2012 in an old Dodge van I bought for 800 dollers. Great adventure, definitely the journey of a lifetime. Greetings from Ireland.

We moved to CA from TX in 1963. We took 66 in a car with no air conditioning. My great uncle had a restaurant on 66 in Clinton, OK. It would have been nice to revisit more of the businesses and towns along this historic highway. "Root" 66!

Missourian here, just saying how great it is to have this historic landmark in our state. Thousands maybe millions used Route 66 for a better life. Them and their dreams will never be forgotten, that’s for sure.

I've spent more time on route 66 than you would believe. I lived in williams az for years. I went to Jr. High and high school there and have lived there off and on since. I used to sit on a bench right on rt. 66 for hours talking to tourists from all over the world who are going to the grand canyon nearby. That was a lot of my entertainment in that town throughout my teens. I've lived in motels right on route 66 in williams and flagstaff az, paying monthly for long periods of time throughout my life. I'm 41 now. I even have a route 66 sign tattooed on my forearm. Many, many memories I've made on that road.

I work on one of the roadside attractions, The Route 66 Village in Tulsa Oklahoma, specifically the locomotive Frisco 4500