The historic Rock Creek Bridge in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, recently reopened to the public — if not traffic — with the debut of the Route 66 Park, with the bridge as the centerpiece.
City officials, residents and visitors took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the park’s completion.
The century-old bridge, which leads to an Ozark Trail alignment of Route 66, was closed to traffic in 2023 due to structural issues.
The bridge’s deck was restored. It’s no longer open to vehicles due to protective bollards, but pedestrians can walk across it.
Oklahoma Route 66 Association President Rhys Martin took some photos from the ceremony:
The Sapulpa Times also reported:
The park includes parking and seating, and a canopy that supposedly has an audio feature similar to the “Center of the Universe” in Tulsa, where you can stand and speak and hear your voice echo back to you.
Among the most unique features is the newly introduced “Signpost Park,” an interactive installation that invites visitors to leave their mark by attaching personalized signs, license plates, or markers to a series of wooden posts that look like shortened telephone poles. […]
The concept encourages visitors to bring or create a sign representing where they’re from—whether it’s a hometown, state, or even another country—and attach it to one of the posts.
The park was funded by a $2 million grant from the Oklahoma Route 66 Commission.
(Screen-capture image of Route 66 Park in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, from News on 6 video)