KRMG, a prominent radio station in Tulsa, recently produced a special about that city’s extensive link to Route 66 and its role in the historic highway’s future.
The three-part segment, which totals less than eight minutes, includes interviews with Michael Wallis, author of the seminal “Route 66: The Mother Road”; Ken Busby of the Route 66 Alliance; and Mary Beth Babcock, owner of the Buck Atoms Cosmic Curios on Route 66 souvenir shop.
Here are the three parts:
The only thing somewhat infuriating about the segment — and it isn’t the radio station’s fault — is the ongoing delays to break ground on the long-gestating Route 66 Experience complex near the Arkansas River and Avery Centennial Plaza.
The project, first announced in 2015, has kept moving back the start date on its construction because of slow fundraising. The Route 66 Experience’s roots date back, however, more than 15 years ago.
This time, Busby predicts groundbreaking will occur in the spring. Let’s hope so.
(Nighttime image of the Route 66 Gateway in Tulsa courtesy of Dennis Whitaker)