What is or was Route 66?

Answer 1

Route 66 (the 'Mother Road') was one of the original numbered highways in the United States. It was established on November 11th 1926 and originally ran through several states (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California). It started at Chicago, Illinois and ran for approximately 2,448 miles (3,940km) until it reached Los Angeles, California.

A major realignment resulted in the west terminus of the route be moved west of LA, ending at Santa Monica instead. The Route 66 designation was removed from the list of highways in the United States as 'it was no longer relevant', while the Interstate Highway System was being introduced. It has been largely replaced by various Interstate highways including I-55 (Chicago to St. Louis), I-44 (St. Louis to Oklahoma City) and, the longest segment, I-40 (Oklahoma City to Barstown, California).

In most cities along the route and in some rural areas, the new Interstate highways generally follow Route 66 but the old highway still exists as a local road, sometimes with designations such as "Business 66".