Article from the South County News
Published September 29, 2005
By David Ambrose
Illinois Historic Route 66 is now an American Scenic Byway-one of 45 American Byways designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday, Sept. 22, in Washington, D.C.
State Route 66 and tourism officials formally announced the designation in Illinois during a press conference on Friday afternoon, Sept. 23, at Shea’s Station, a Route 66 landmark in Springfield. A photo of Bill Shea with some of the antique gas pumps in his collection appears on the plaque presented by the Transportation Department in Washington.
“This is a proud day for Illinois,” said state Tourism Director Jan Kostner.
Kim Rosendahl, President of the Board of Trustees for the Illinois Route 66 Heritage Project said the designation will mean more dollars from tourism for communities located along the 421-mile Route 66 alignment in Illinois. In addition, communities will be eligible to fund marketing, landscaping, construction of visitor centers and other amenities.
“This opens a lot of communities to a lot of opportunities,” Rosendahl said.
About $25 million in federal funding is available for local projects. By 2009, that figure is expected to grow to $40 million. But the grants are awarded on a competitive basis and communities located along the nation’s 125 designated American Byways are eligible to apply.
“We’ve seen more and more people traveling down Route 66 every day,” Rosendahl said, predicting that the American Byways designation will attract even more tourists in the coming years.
Once a road is designated as a National Scenic Byway, they receive national recognition on the www.byways.org website and they are actively promoted as tourist destinations by the Federal Highway Administration.
The economic impact could be significant, Rosendahl said, since about 60 percent of the state’s population lives in Route 66 communities. Mom and pop diners, roadside attractions, specialty shops and other concerns are among those likely to benefit from the increased traffic.
Even small communities are likely to see benefits, according to Rosendahl.
“They now have a National Scenic Byway going right through their town,” she said. “It makes them part of a larger heritage attraction. Maybe a community wouldn’t be a tourist destination on its own. But this makes them part of something larger.”
Historic Route 66 was a main route west for motorists after it was built in 1926. Local officials have promoted the route for years, and it has become a popular destination for tourists, especially foreign travelers.
Route 66 has been popularized in Europe, where Route 66 nightclubs and restaurants thrive. Many foreign tourists will visit larger cities on their first couple of trips to the U.S., Rosendahl said, but when the come back “they want to get out on the open road and see how most Americans live.”
The Illinois Route 66 Heritage Project, which prepared the American Byways application, plans to apply for federal money to prepare interpretative and marketing plans for the scenic byways. Scenic Byways are eligible to apply for a $25,000 annual seed grant for administration of the byway for the first five years.
Rosendahl said the Heritage Project put together a “public and private” partnership involving individuals and organizations from Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge and worked more than a year to develop the application.
She had high praise for Patty Ambrose of Carlinville, newly appointed Executive Director of the Illinois Route 66 Heritage Project, who accompanied a contingent of Illinois officials to Washington, D.C., for the American Byways announcement.
She just jumped in with both feet and she’s ready to run,” Rosendahl said.
Since 1992, the National Scenic Byways Program has provided funding for almost 1,500 state and nationally designated byway projects in 48 states.
Illinois previously had five route on the list of National Scenic Byways: The Great River Road along the Mississippi River; the Illinois portion of the Historic National Road, which cuts across the southern half of the state; Lincoln Highway, which starts south of Chicago and travels along US Rt. 30 and IL Rt. 38 to Fulton; the Meeting of the Scenic Route in the Metro East area, at the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois Rivers; and the Ohio River Scenic Byway, along the southern edge of the state.
For more information, write CITDO, 700 E. Adams St., Springfield, IL 62701; call 217-525-7980 or 866-378-7866; or visit www.illinoisroute66.org.
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