Well, blow me down July 24, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Highways, Vehicles.add a comment
The Green Roadway, a project to generate “green” energy along highways that is endorsed by the Route 66 Alliance, is auctioning patents to states starting today.
What’s interesting is how the Green Roadway aims to generate that electricity. I thought it’d be a mix of standard solar panels and wind turbines to do so. But the New York Times found intriguing other details:
The project’s patent portfolio includes specifications for small wind turbines – 25 feet high or less – powered by both natural wind and the “dirty wind” generated by passing cars and trucks. Another patent covers the deployment of millions of tiny turbines an inch in length or less that could be attached to median guardrails, road signs or noise-barrier walls.
So those big gusts of wind coming from big rigs might do something other than blow dust and sand all over creation.
More …
According to Mr. Fein, the technologies allow for the creation of a utility-scale system that can plug into the existing grid infrastructure, potentially over hundreds of miles. The power generated could be used for homes, businesses and electric-vehicle charging stations. [...]
Auction documents suggest that each 10-mile stretch of the Green Roadway system could generate enough energy to power up to 2,000 homes. The installed cost would be about $2.6 million for the solar components and $4.2 million for wind, but up to 65 percent could be knocked off if federal, state and local subsidies and tax credits are factored in, the documents suggest.
They also say that the solar and wind power generated, given the available incentives, would be cost-competitive with natural gas-fueled power generation.
I’m skeptical whether Green Roadway will get what it hopes from the auction (reserves are $125,000 in South Dakota and $1.5 million in California, for instance), especially during a time of a poor economy and cash-strapped state coffers.
But, again, some states might see a market advantage of creating electricity-generating stations for the plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. That would go especially for government-owned cars, thus eliminating the middle man.
And with the inevitable decline of oil as an energy resource, there may be plenty of long-term incentive to build these green stations, also.
Break-ins migrate across Old Chain of Rocks Bridge July 24, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, bicycling, Bridges.1 comment so far
Car burglaries at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in north St. Louis got so numerous that Trailnet closed the parking lot on the bridge’s west side.
KTVI-TV in St. Louis now reports that car burglaries at the bridge that once carried Route 66 now have migrated to the parking lot on the east side, in Madison, Ill. The mile-long bridge over Mississippi River is now part of an extensive pedestrian and bicycle trail system.
The Roger Kramer Cycling blog notes that Trailnet has no intention of closing the parking lot on the Illinois side, and police are aggressively trying to stop the break-ins.
Instead, police are hoping cameras installed at the parking lot and help from the public will lead to the arrest of suspects in the break-ins. [...]
For a while, Trailnet was able to provide security at the Missouri lot. But because of funding limitations, Trailnet last year closed the Missouri lot except for special events. People who want to approach the bridge from the Missouri side have to park in North Riverfront Park in St. Louis and bike or walk to the bridge.
If you do park on the Illinois lot, be sure to take your valuables with you while exploring the bridge or at least hide them out of sight if possible.
Money needed, stat July 23, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Railroad.6 comments
The Southwest Tulsa Chamber of Commerce needs $26,000 by mid-August to pay for a 154-foot-tall oil derrick replica at a Route 66 Station park under construction on Southwest Boulevard, reports the Tulsa World.
The newspaper reported that some pledged donations for the project have been pulled back because of the weak economy, hence the hastily made plea for funds.
Most of the derrick’s funding came from state centennial funds as part of an effort to capitalize on Tulsa’s Route 66 heritage. David Breed, who has been working on the project for more than five years, said plans also call for moving a refurbished steam engine to the grounds and building an historical village complete with a replica of the Red Fork train depot and an old-fashioned filling station.
For now, though, organizers would settle for getting the derrick in place.
“We’re taking it one step at a time,” Breed said.
The Tulsa County News has a few more details on the holdup of the project:
Steel for the derrick was purchased and the parts fabricated, ready for erection. But for various reasons, the project was delayed. Because some of the derrick design did not meet city building codes, access to the proposed observation deck was eliminated. The chamber pushed forward and entered into a lease with the city allowing the derrick to be built with the chamber maintaining the site for the next 10 years. In recent weeks, the city finalized its part of the project by completing a circular driveway onto the property from Southwest Boulevard; and piers for the derrick were set.
The next – and final – step is actual erection of the derrick’s steel parts. But there is not enough money left to do the job.
Earlier artist’s renderings of the planned Route 66 Station park can be found here.
New Mexico woman earns prestigious preservation honor July 22, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, People, Preservation.add a comment
Patty Guggino of Los Lunas, N.M., on Monday earned the prestigious Historic Preservation Medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She is the first resident of New Mexico to win the honor, and only the 16th in the United States, according to a report in the Valencia County News-Bulletin.
The DAR Historic Preservation Medal is awarded to individuals with a distinguished record in historic preservation. Its purpose is to honor individuals whose study, promotion and dedication to historic preservation has made a distinguished contribution on the local, regional and state level. [...]
Heske said that Guggino’s love of history and preservation began as a young adult when her childhood school, St. Vincent’s Academy, a 19th century three story brick building at the corner of Sixth Street and Lomas Blvd. in Albuquerque, was knocked down due to “progress.” Around the same time, the Alvarado Hotel also met the wrecking ball.
“The fate of these two buildings struck a cord with Patty, and opened her eyes and heart to the importance of preservation,” Heske said. [...]
The Alvarado Hotel was a Harvey House next to Route 66 in Albuquerque. The loss of that structure spurred many area preservationists in addition to Guggino.
For nearly 11 years, Guggino has worked diligently on a weekly basis to record and catalog the oral histories, buildings and sites that contribute to Los Lunas’ unique “sense of place.” [...]
Guggino has also worked as a consultant for the Camino Real and completed a video about the its influence titled “The Direction of Historic Route 66 Through New Mexico.”
Greatest American Road Side Trip July 22, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television.6 comments
The third episode of NBC’s reality series “The Great American Road Trip” turned out to be slightly better than its predecessor — namely because it didn’t have a repeat of the dreadful talent show in Branson.
However, the show found other ways to dismay and irritate. Namely …
— For all the ballyhoo about it being on Route 66, the families seemed to spend precious little time on the Mother Road. Side trips on Monday included Independence, Kan.; Sudan, Kan.; and Pawhuska, Okla. — all of which are at least 60 miles from Route 66.
Folks on the Mother Road in Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma probably felt shafted. “Great American Road Trip” either bypassed those regions, or the footage wound up on the cutting-room floor.
I will give props to the stunning Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska, where families saw buffalo grazing the natural grasslands. Tallgrass sits about an hour northwest of Tulsa, but attracts a fair (and growing) number of Europeans traveling the Mother Road. However, unlike Tallgrass, I know of no Route 66 guidebooks or articles that tout the original Little House on the Prairie or Red Buffalo Ranch to tourists.
— POPS in Arcadia, Okla., said to watch for footage of its establishment on Monday. But unless you know all its nooks and crannies, you probably wouldn’t have noticed it in the all-too-brief footage there. Another missed opportunity by the show’s producers.
— My B.S. meter goes off every time one of the Pollards talks about feeling tension from the other families. That smells of a fabricated ploy by the producers to drum up drama for a series that had precious little to start with. I sincerely doubt it was ever remotely that acrimonious between the contestants.
— The segment that spurred me to nearly throw something at the monitor was when the producers treated all the families to a big communal meal at … Applebee’s.
Any roadie could think of dozens of excellent and unique Route 66 restaurants. Instead, the contestants were dispatched to an utterly unremarkable chain. It was one the most blatant and cynical examples of product placement that I’d seen. A pox of food poisoning to the producers’ houses.
— At least the physical challenges on Monday were better (no talent show, for one thing), and the internal dynamic in the families became intriguing a couple of times.
But those small pluses don’t overcome King Kong-sized minuses in this ill-conceived program. It’s become obvious its producers did very little research on Route 66 before setting up the cameras, if they did at all. Route 66 boasts a ton of cool stuff and people, but you’d barely know that from this program.
In retrospect, one of the crucial errors was giving the families big, unwieldy RVs to drive instead of minivans or SUVs. Smaller, nimbler vehicles would have allowed the families to traverse narrow stretches of old Route 66, such as the Sidewalk Highway near Miami, Okla., and the brick highway near Auburn, Ill. But driving those behemoths made that nearly impossible, and effectively banished the families to the interstates.
Ratings for Monday night were unchanged from the previous week. So it appears “Road Trip” isn’t bleeding any more viewers. However, it remains stuck in a distant fourth among the four major networks in its time slot, which isn’t good, either.
NBC hasn’t canceled it, so it appears the network will stick with this dog to the bitter end.
Marker near Rock Creek Bridge stolen July 22, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Highways, History.2 comments
A historical marker that explains the origins of the Rock Creek Bridge that once carried old Route 66 near Sapulpa, Okla., was stolen about a month ago, reports the Sapulpa Daily Herald.
Fortunately, the marker that was pilfered is not the original. The original marker is at the Sapulpa Historical Society Museum.
The bridge was built in 1921, predating Route 66 by several years. It carried the Ozark Trail over Rock Creek and was at the time called State Highway 7. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places.
From the article:
The marker, which was erected in 2004, says “Route 66 Bridge: This Bridge was built in 1921 to serve the Ozark Trail. It became part of U.S. Highway 66 in 1926 when the Chicago to Los Angeles route was initiated. The bridge served motorists traveling on U.S. 66 until a new highway was built to the south in 1952.”
A photo of the marker can be seen here.
County OKs pact for Route 66 bikeway July 21, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in bicycling.add a comment
The McLean County Board in Illinois approved a $170,000 engineering contract in an effort to build a 3-mile bicycle path next to Route 66 from west Bloomington to Shirley, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph.
The county hopes to eventually attract federal stimulus money to help pay for the $1.75 million project. Getting the bikeway “shovel ready” is one way to improve the chances of landing the funds to cover 80 percent of proposal.
If federal funds arrive, construction may start in the spring.