The Route 66 Welcome Center off Interstate 44 in Conway, Missouri, may get a roadway made of solar panels, according the Kansas City Star and other media.
The proposal is part of the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Road to Tomorrow initiative, which seeks away to improve the state’s highway system in the 21st century
Details from the Star and MoDOT’s Tom Blair:
The final pilot project would focus on creating energy in the public right of way. The department is looking into a project with Solar Roadways of Sandpoint, Idaho, which is developing solar panels that can be driven upon.
“If their version of the future is realistic, if we can make that happen, then roadways can begin paying for themselves,” Blair said.
The department hopes that the Historic Route 66 Welcome Center at Conway, Mo., would get the first solar roadway panels.
“We expect them to be in place, I’m hoping, by the end of this year, maybe before snow flies,” Blair said.
Here’s a poplar and pie-in-the-sky video from two years ago that still manages to explain the solar roadways concept fairly well:
Although solar highways would be mind-bogglingly expensive — no small issue in itself — I suspect the biggest issue is how durable they would be against ice, rain, heat and the weight of big trucks. You don’t want to spend a colossal amount of money on solar roadways, only to be forced to replace them in a few years because they’re too beat up to work.
Still, Solar Roadways benefits from MoDOT’s proposal because it can see how well the roadway performs in real-life situations.
The Route 66 Welcome Center on eastbound I-44 in Conway opened in 2009 and offers Route 66-themed decor, including a neon sign that’s inspired by the Munger Moss Motel neon sign in Lebanon, Missouri.