Joplin (Mo.) Globe columnist Mike Pound reports that Broadway in Joplin, which is part of an old alignment of Route 66, seems to be undergoing a traffic resurgence.
The restaurants along the street are busier, and a promising lunch-only place called the Cobblestone Cafe has opened there.
The cafe, which has been open for three weeks now, is kind of what you would expect to find on a street with a historic past. The famous Route 66 sort of wound its way through and around Broadway, and Ginger said she and her sisters opted to run a family-style diner like those you used to find dotting the Mother Road 40 years ago.
“We serve a lot of home-style family recipes, soups, salads, sandwiches, and we offer a hot-plate special every day,” Ginger said.
So what’s causing the surge in traffic? City of Joplin planning specialist Troy Bolander thinks he knows why.
Troy said Broadway used to be seen mainly as a convenient way to get from Florida Avenue to Main Street, but he said more and more people are using Broadway to get to Range Line and sometimes to avoid Range Line. Regardless, there is more traffic on Broadway than there used to be.
“And the increased traffic makes the properties on Broadway more visible to potential customers,” Troy said.
It’s good to see an old alignment of 66 experiencing an increase in traffic, when the reverse is common.