New Pavement Markings Coming For Historic Route 66

The famous Route 66 runs through 46 communities in Oklahoma, and this year ODOT is rolling out a way to help cities and counties along the historic route to improve their section of the highway.  

ODOT’s Traffic Division released pavement marking guidelines to local governments that have sections of Route 66 on state or federal highways within their jurisdiction.

This is in response to several cities statewide asking for a way to highlight their section of the route.

The goal of these markings is to attract more tourists to small towns to generate more sales tax.

Oklahoma has the most drivable miles of Route 66 out of any state and Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell said the state needs to capitalize on that.

"We see Route 66 signs in Oklahoma and we're used to it," he said, "but people need to understand that this is the most famous road in the entire world and it's only playing to our strengths if we invest the dollars into Route 66 so that small business owners all across our state are going to reap the benefits of it."

The black and white markings are 21-feet by 8-feet and are intended to be installed on sections of roadways with a speed limit of 35 mph or less.

Each entity will pay for pavement markings in their area. 

Cities and counties may add their name into the design after their application is accepted.

Communities along the route are also encouraged to provide an additional pavement marker in a safe location for the public to take photos with, such as a parking lot adjacent to the route.