Roamin’ Rich Dinkela, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri, recently proposed an alternative option for preserving the nearly century-old Sidewalk Highway in Ottawa County, Oklahoma.
Dinkela, who owns a paving company in the St. Louis area, said in a Facebook video a few days ago he modified an earlier plan for the Sidewalk Highway between Miami and Afton, Oklahoma, and improved on it.
The video is here. The good stuff happens around the 16:30 mark, where Dinkela had a laboratory analyze a piece of the original road surface. The lab discovered it contains a higher asphalt content, thus making it last much longer.
Dinkela also advocates milling both shoulders of the Sidewalk Highway, repairing original concrete curbs as needed, building proper drainage and a base, then laying a chip-and-oil seal onto the top to make it a stronger surface with less maintenance required.
The surface of the original highway would be patched with the higher- percentage asphalt, conforming it to original historical standards.
Dinkela is convinced this is the best option for the highway. With his background in road construction, he makes a compelling case.
He is asking Route 66 advocates to fill out this form (download link), advocate for his option and mail it to Guy Engineering Services, 6910 E. 14th St., Tulsa, OK 74112 or email to info@guyengr.com before March 31, the deadline for the comment period on the historic highway.
Ottawa County earlier this month presented four options for the Sidewalk Highway:
- OPTION #1: Widening- adds 16 feet to top width; keeps original concrete and asphalt section; rebuilds existing gravel shoulders into new gravel driving lanes on each side; adds new gravel shoulders to both sides
- OPTION #2: Widen one side- adds 26 feet to top width; keeps original concrete and asphalt section; keeps original gravel shoulders; adds two new gravel driving lanes to one side; adds new gravel shoulders to each side
- OPTION #3: Widen beyond existing- adds 26 feet to top width; keeps original concrete and asphalt section; keeps original gravel shoulders; adds new gravel driving lanes to each side; adds new gravel shoulders to each side
- OPTION #4: New Parallel Road- adds 46 feet to width; keeps original concrete and asphalt section; keeps original gravel shoulders; adds new gravel roadway separated by a drainage ditch
Each option costs about the same — between $3.8 million to $4 million. Dinkela’s option is basically a variation on Option No. 1.
There’s no timetable on what option the county will choose.
The 9-foot-wide Sidewalk Highway, on the National Register of Historic Places, also was part of an original Ozark Trail that predates Route 66.
(Image from Rich Dinkela’s plan for the Sidewalk Highway in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, via Facebook)
Thank you for the detailed information about Rich Dinkela’s Modified Option 1 plan and the reminder that all comments for the Sidewalk Highway are due by March 31st. I’ve downloaded the PDF from Roamin’ Rich and placed them in an envelope addressed to Guy Engineering in Tulsa.
Hard to read Rich’s small print on his PDF download? I re-typed his plan here:
(1) Mill / Grind existing material away from historic road bed; beginning on one side of the road while leavingthe other intact for travel.
(2) Make grade changes and improvements to drainage swales, culverts, and fences.
(3) Repair curbing as needed using exact / like materials as found in historic road. Install combination of rock /asphalt / chip & seal -OR- combination rock/chip & seal to finalize improvements for this side of historic road.
(4) Repeat items #1, 2, 3 on opposite side of historic road.
(5) Patch asphalt on historic road as necessary using exact/like materials and processes as used to installoriginal surface.
Excellent! PDF form completed and emailed.
FYI…I received an acknowledgement from the engineering company within just a few hours.