More reports from Oklahoma 66 meetings

Required public hearings about designating Oklahoma’s Route 66 a national scenic byway are working their way across the state, and reports from newspapers are coming with them.

The Associated Press has an article.

The Sapulpa Daily Herald has one.

And the Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City attended a hearing in Edmond:

“More neon,” Marilyn Emde said.

Mel Norton said he’d like to see it rebuilt with a mind toward his fellow bicyclists.

“I’ve biked down Route 66 before, and I’d like to do it again, but it needs to be in better shape,” he said.

Bikers come from all around the world to travel Route 66 in Oklahoma, but the state of the road is squandering their good will, Norton said.

Some hesitated to give their suggestions, fearing them too extravagant, but Carter-Burgess representative Lynne Marie Whately said this is the time to think of the best.

“There are many pots of money out there,” she said. “This is the ‘dream big’ part.”

The most popular request was for more signage and to preserve what could be saved of the old Route 66.

Andrews said preservation was a goal, but that it has to be balanced with safety.

Emde, by the way, is executive director of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association.

And I’m presuming the cyclist is referring to western Oklahoma’s portion of Route 66 being in worse condition. Parts of the road west of El Reno are admittedly primitive, mainly because they were built in the 1930s. However, I’m not real keen on replacing original, historic roadbed. And neither is the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.

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