Route 66 in the News
Route 66 Funding May Continue
2008-05-15 09:16:15
ALBUQUERQUE, N. Mex. - Judging that a federal program to preserve aspects of historic Route 66 is helping breathe new life into rural America, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici has offered legislation to ensure its continuation for another decade.
Domenici has introduced the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Reauthorization Act of 2008 that would renew until 2019 a National Park Service program that is now being used by communities and organizations to restore and preserve unique cultural resources along the 2,200-mile Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif.
The Senate bill is cosponsored by Senator Jeff Bingaman, and a companion bill is being introduced by Representative Heather Wilson in the House of Representatives.
“There are more kicks to be had on old Route 66 and this program should be reauthorized. In towns like Albuquerque, Tucumcari and Grants, Route 66 helped define the character of the community. This program works to maintain that spirit,” Domenici said. “This is not a huge program, but it is useful to support grassroots efforts to save what's left of Route 66, which played such an important historic role in the migration of Americans in the 20th century.”
“For decades, drivers who have wanted to tour our nation's heartland have taken Route 66. Through this partnership, we've been able to use federal and local funding to help preserve the many sites along this historic route, and I'm pleased to join Senator Domenici in extending this grant program,” Bingaman said.
The bill would allow the National Park Service to continue collaborating with private property owners, non-profit organizations and local, state, federal, and tribal governments to identify and address preservation needs along the historic Route 66. The program offers cost-share grants for the restoration properties dating back to 1926. The bill reauthorizes funding over 10 years and supports grassroots efforts to preserve aspects of this historic highway. (http://www.nps.gov/history/rt66/)
From 2001-2006, New Mexico entities received $220,000 in federal Route 66 grants to support such projects as stabilization of an historic structure in Tucumcari, an oral history project and a sign restoration program across the state. The 2008 grant application process is now open. (http://www.rt66nm.org/)
Congress in 1990 enacted Domenici's “Route 66 Study Act” that directed the Park Service to determine the best ways to preserve, commemorate and interpret Route 66. That law led to the 1999 creation of the existing program.
Designated in 1926, Route 66 became the first completely paved highway across the United States in 1938. It rolled through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985.
~Cibola County Beacon
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