A 1934 railroad overpass that brought Route 66 into Carthage, Missouri, unexpectedly closed Thursday after an inspection showed serious deterioration.
Ron Hart at the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce reported the bridge already was scheduled to be demolished in April and will not reopen until late 2017.
Hart also made a new map that aims to help Route 66 travelers into Carthage.
He wrote:
There are two options to select to bypass this closure, and you need to continue into Carthage despite any remote signs stating “Local Traffic only”. Once you arrive in Carthage, follow the Route’s shown in the map. The Orange Route is actually the original 1926 Route 66, but may have train blockages.
The Blue Route is the 1932 First Alternate of Route 66 and has some old filling stations and three, 1928 bridges, so it is the recommended route to take. Route 66 detour signage at V Hwy. and on N. Garrison should be placed soon.
Here are Google Maps of the Route 66 detours, as well. This is the preferred detour, in gray:
Carthage residents — along with some Route 66 business owners in Carthage — attended meetings in July about the coming closing of the bridge and another. The Missouri Department of Transportation took a lot of criticism for another bridge project in 2012 that detoured Route 66 tourists away from much of the Mother Road in Carthage.
We’ll see whether MoDOT listens to the concerns of the business owners this time.
UPDATE 9/7/2016: The Carthage Press posted a story about the bridge’s closing. About the only good news from it is it appears MoDOT will install some sort of signage to direct Route 66 travelers into downtown.
(Images courtesy of Ron Hart at the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce)