Tulsa’s mayor on Friday announced the creation of a Route 66 Commission to promote tourism and economic development in the city.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett announced the commission at the Soul City store, restaurant and nightclub on 11th Street (aka Route 66) in Tulsa. Bartlett chose it as the site of the announcement because it’s a symbol of revitalization along Tulsa’s Route 66 corridor.
According to the Tulsa World:
Created by an executive order that Bartlett signed earlier in the week, the commission will have 15 members, including one from each of the five City Council districts that have a stretch of Route 66 running through them. Other commission members will include Ken Busby, the executive director of the Route 66 Experience, a $19.5 million tourist attraction that he hopes will break ground this fall next on the east side of the historic 11th Street bridge. […]
The commission’s first priorities will include revamping signage along the highway to help motorists follow the historic route through Tulsa. A lot of tourists skip the city simply because the route is hard to follow, officials said.
More signs doesn’t sound like much, but that’s the biggest complaint of tourists traveling Route 66 — a lack of signs to direct them where they need to go.
Here is the official text from the mayor’s announcement.
(Image of the Oasis Motel along Route 66 in Tulsa by Michael Kesler via Flickr)