Missouri and Kansas are working to set up a U.S. bicycle route along Route 66 in their states, and Missouri may have it in place by summer.
The Joplin Globe reported:
The U.S. Bicycle Route System is the national cycling route network that’s serviced by state and local governments. Its goal is to connect bicycle routes across the entire country for safer, long-distance cycling. With this designation, it allows each state’s Department of Transportation to map and post signs for cyclists along their portions of the Mother Road.
Missouri is closest to reaching its designation, said Patrick Tuttle, Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau director. He said the state agencies must make the April submission deadline in order to be approved by this year. […]
If approved, Missouri would become the first of eight states that Route 66 travels through to receive the designation. The route would be called USBR 66, and state transportation departments have the option of posting signs for cyclists along the trail.
If designated this spring, Missouri hopes to make an official announcement on June 17 in Joplin, Tuttle said.
Tuttle said he’s been working with the Missouri Department of Transportation to send the necessary paperwork for the bicycle route to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, told the newspaper USBR 76 in Missouri is the first such bicycle route in Missouri, the most famous and the most popular. However, Hugh said Route 66 already has almost the same number of cyclists as USBR 76, which runs more than 2,300 miles from Virginia to Oregon.
Data from the Adventure Cycling Association show cyclists spend 40 percent more than typical tourists. The association a few years ago published a series of maps that guide cyclists across the length of Route 66.
And revenue from cyclists likely will keep rising. Hugh said the number of cyclists in Missouri tripled since 2000.
Kansas also is working to get a U.S. bicycle route on its 13 miles of Route 66. It also is submitting its application in April, and landing the designation may happen this year, as well.
The Land of Lincoln established an Illinois Route 66 Trail for cyclists, but it’s not an official U.S. Bicycle Route. The Sooner State also designated a 90-mile Oklahoma Route 66 Bike Trail from Sapulpa to Edmond, but it also is not U.S.-designated.
(Image of cyclists in 2017 Bicycle Across Missouri by Brandon Schatslek via Flickr)