We love birthdays here at the ol’ ADOT Ranch. We really do. 

We’re just like everyone else; we like a good excuse to plunder our well-intentioned diet and pig out on sinfully sweet sugary confections, even if sometimes our only source is the vending machine. 

Ever had a two-year old Twinkie? Not bad, really. But we digress, so let’s get back on the road, so to speak. 

The road in this case being Historic Route 66. 

November 2021 marks the 95th anniversary of the official opening of the “Mother Road” linking Chicago to L.A. and running smack through northern Arizona.

Ah, yes, perhaps the most-romanticized stretch of highway anywhere...subject of song, TV shows and film, (“Cars”, anyone?). 

All those song lyrics, TV scripts and movies, not bad for a two-lane strip of pavement that hasn’t officially existed as a true highway (it’s Historic 66, after all) since 1984. That’s when the last portion of Interstate 40 was completed right outside of the northern Arizona town of Williams. 

Perhaps because the Arizona part of I-40 was the last to be built, we have the distinction of having some of the best-preserved miles of Route 66.

It’s a subject that hasn’t suffered a lack of attention. In fact, we’d love for you to visit ADOT’s very own Arizona Highways Magazine website if you’d like to see some truly magnificent stories and photos of Route 66. 

If you really want to immerse yourself, what better way than a road trip? Back in the day, Route 66 was a working highway with motels, gas stations and restaurants that thrived until, well, they could thrive no longer. 

But in recent decades a Renaissance has occurred and you can experience it yourself. 

Venture to Kingman and begin a journey that can start at the Arizona Route 66 Museum and then head east into perhaps the quietest yet very scenic part of the road as it takes you through wide-open spaces until you hook back into Seligman, a riot of neon and restored shops and restaurants. Stop and get a burger and a chocolate malt and imagine you’re driving a ‘58 Buick to Albuquerque. Then again, maybe you really are…

Which reminds us that no matter what kind of vehicle you drive, you can pay your respects with a pretty snazzy and award-winning Route 66 specialty license plate. 

Back on the road, go east through Williams, maybe stay the night in that cool and charming community and take a side trip on the train to the Grand Canyon.

Flagstaff may get more a practical use of Route 66 than any other town. It was, is and probably always will be a major traffic artery there, and there’s plenty to check out from restaurants to the Riordan Mansion.

Okay, it gets a little tough to stay on the road east of Flag. You pretty much have to take I-40, but be sure to stop off at Winslow, and see if “a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford” slows down to take a look at you. 

At the very least, you could stand on a corner and play the song in your head. Or, if you stand at a particular corner, there’s a gift shop where that song pretty much never stops, and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. 

We could go on, and maybe we will. That road trip sounds mighty tempting. 

So one more salute and a Happy 95th Birthday to Historic Route 66!

If you happen to have a birthday in November, too, congratulations and have a Twinkie on us. 

There's no getting around the fact that we here at ADOT generally, and on this blog specifically, are road geeks. Highway history, engineering, construction, etc., is what we find fascinating.

And we get excited when other folks out there show interest as well. That's why we can't help but pass along this photo, shot by an employee while on vacation in northern Arizona recently. Now, for anyone out there not versed in vintage automboiles, that's a rusted-out 1932 Studebaker sitting just a stone's throw away from modern Interstate 40. 

But the best part is, that's not just an abandoned car our employee just happened to stumble across and thought would make for a nice photo. No, this particular vehicle was placed in this specific spot to commemorate something special.

Who exactly would want to stage a nearly 90-year old car out on the Colorado Plateau, you ask? Well, for that look no further than the National Parks Service. The federal agency set up the car and a small pull out to see it inside of Petrified Forest National Park on the north side of Interstate 40 back in 2006. You see, this old Studebaker now sits right where the Mother Road itself, US Route 66, used to pass through – the only national park the highway crossed, by the way. What's more, from where this not-so-mobile automobile is (or from a nearby bench shaped like the hood of a classic car) visitors can see the original road bed and historic telephone poles of what was once the "Main Street of America."

We don't think we need to tell you the importance that US Route 66 used to have as it crossed through eight states on it's 2,000-some-odd-mile journey between Chicago and the Pacific Coast. As our 2012 Transportation History notes, it has already been the subject of songs, movies and even an eponymous television series. Even today we still ocassionally write blogs about its legacy, including not too long ago when we invited you to get your kicks on the extant portion that runs between Seligman and Kingman. 

Next time you are traveling up that way, why not pull over? You can look out and imagine for a second the thousands of 1930s Dust Bowl-stricken workers heading toward California, the World War II-era military convoys or the 1950s families packed up in station wagons on their way to visit Meteor Crator or maybe even Two Guns.

We don't know about you, but to us that sounds like the perfect pit stop.

By Ryan Harding / ADOT Communications

The West Seligman Bridges project continues advancing with completion of new bridge decks on the Historic Route 66 and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad overpasses providing one of two connections between Seligman and I-40. This week, crews will begin working on the final bridge along this connection between I-40 and Seligman's west side, where the route passes over Business 40.

Work began last June and is scheduled to finish this spring in time for the summer travel season. The three bridges, all of which are 40 to 50 years old, needed new decks and other repairs to extend their lifespans and keep traffic flowing in and out of west Seligman for decades to come.

While Exit 121 to Seligman on I-40 is closed for these improvements, Route 66 aficionados have convenient access to and from Seligman via I-40 Exit 123. Signs on I-40 direct travelers to this exit, which connects to the east side of Seligman. The map below shows this route.

By Ryan Harding / ADOT Communications

With one of two routes between I-40 and Seligman closing today for a project replacing bridge decks, we want to make sure everyone seeking an Old Route 66 fix knows there's still a convenient route to and from the interstate.

ADOT has worked with the community on ways to direct I-40 motorists to Exit 123, which connects with the on the east side of town. That includes signage along the interstate, as described in this video about Seligman, this project and the partnership between ADOT and the area's business community.

While I-40 Exit 121, leading to the west side of Seligman, remains open, that won't provide a link to and from Seligman until the project is completed. And this project doesn't affect through traffic on I-40 or Route 66.

By David Rookhuyzen / ADOT Communications

Today we're throwing back to these uniformed men standing outside the US 66 port of entry near Kingman in 1978.

These Motor Vehicle Division officers were being honored as ADOT employees of the month for repairing and remodeling the facility.

Until 2010, ADOT’s enforcement officers were part of the Motor Vehicle Division. Eight years ago, ADOT formed the Enforcement and Compliance Division to focus more on commercial vehicle safety.

That isn't the only change in the four decades since this photo was taken. Kelly Lightfoot, who oversees operations at the Kingman and Topock ports of entry, says ADOT’s current Kingman facility isn’t where it was back in 1978. A new structure on US 93 near State Route 68 opened in 1998.

The state-certified police officers with ADOT's Enforcement and Compliance Division focus on transportation issues including commercial vehicle enforcement, title, registration and driver’s license fraud, unlicensed auto dealers and commercial vehicle permits.

By Peter Corbett / ADOT Communications

Motorists in northeastern Arizona may notice an unusual number of vintage cars later this week when road-trippers show up for the 31^st annual Route 66 Fun Run from Seligman to Kingman and Topock. These city of Kingman photos show how the event has looked in previous years. The Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona has events planned Friday through Sunday (May 4-6) along Historic Route 66, one of the longest continuous stretches of America’s most celebrated highway.

Organizers are expecting more than 700 participants in the untimed road rally. That includes around 300 from Arizona, others from surrounding states and even Route 66 enthusiasts from Canada, France and elsewhere in Europe, said Nikki Seegers, Route 66 Association director of operations.

“The Fun Run is Arizona’s signature Route 66 event,” she said.

Arizona’s historic highways engage with local communities and rev up heritage tourism. Travelers from all over the world visit the state to see the landscapes, neon signs and vintage cars along Route 66, and to meet the characters who operate legacy roadside attractions, diners and motels.

Interstate 40 replaced Route 66 across Northern Arizona from the 1960s through 1984. A year later, federal highway officials decommissioned US Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, after 59 years as a cross-country highway.

In 1987, the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona successfully lobbied for a historic designation of Route 66 in Arizona. The first Fun Run was held in 1988 with about 50 participants.

Again this year, Seligman and Kingman will host preliminary events Friday.

The 140-mile Fun Run starts at 10 a.m. Saturday with historic and late-model cars traveling west on Route 66 from Seligman to Grand Canyon Caverns, Peach Springs, Truxton, Valentine, Hackberry and Kingman.

The final 50-mile leg of the Route 66 cruise will leave Kingman at 9 a.m. Sunday en route to Oatman, Golden Shores and Topock on the Colorado River.

The ADOT Motor Vehicle Division now offers specialty Route 66 license plates for $25, with $17 of that going to the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona. The black and white plates are available from ServiceArizona.com.

Last year, the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association picked Arizona’s Route 66 license plate as the nation’s Best New License Plate.