The town of Williams, Arizona, was the last Route 66 town to be bypassed by the interstate 40 years ago.
The actual date was on Oct. 13, 1984, when 500 people gathered at Interstate 40’s new Grand Canyon Boulevard exit to mark the assumed end of the highway.
Bobby Troup, who wrote the immortal song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” performed it at the event, adding “Williams” to the list of towns in the lyrics.
The Williams-Grand Canyon News published a story last week on the 40th anniversary of the event, including an interview with Eric Eikenberry, who was director of the chamber of commerce at the time.
City officials were mindful of how other Arizona Route 66 towns suffered after they were bypassed. Because Williams was essentially the last man standing after years of fights to prevent the six-mile bypass, they decided to have a big event to mark the occasion for the benefit of the media.
Local business owners and other residents gathered to create a memorable event out of the day with Route 66 paper banners, the Bill Williams Mountain Men on horses, free hotdogs courtesy of Roger Weeks, Papillon Helicopters out of the Grand Canyon for a big entrance and help from the Arizona Department of Transportation to garner more media coverage.
“I have to thank a man named Walt Gray. He was with ADOT and he did the press release (for the event),” Eikenberry said. “When he sent that out, it became an international event.”
Eikenberry said the event reached major news outlets like BBC, CBS, NBC Nightly News, NPR, Good Morning America, The Today Show and more. […]
The day of the event, everyone gathered on the interstate as media outlets covered the event and Troup flew in on a helicopter.
“Then the Mountain Men came through the Route 66 paper sign on their horses, and then Olsen Motors, they had a brand new Suburban and it drove through the sign too,” Eikenberry said.
Alas, I have not been able to find footage of the Williams bypass event from any of the television outlets mentioned.
The Williams paper and other outlets found on Newspapers.com published photographs of a glum-looking Troup at the event.
Troup in a documentary interview years later admitted he was saddened by the event, proclaiming it the end of an era that shouldn’t have been celebrated.
After Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, Eikenberry and other locals saw a big decline in traffic through the town, as expected. Numerous businesses shut down, as did the Grand Canyon Railway.
But Williams and Route 66 didn’t die. Williams began to rebound in the 1990s when the Grand Canyon Railway was purchased and revived. Route 66’s renaissance also began around that time.
Eikenberry also said the Arizona Department of Transportation made the key decision to mark Interstate 40 near Williams as “Grand Canyon, next three exits.” He said that also helped entice motorists off the interstate.
Nowadays, thanks to the link to the Grand Canyon and Route 66, Williams again is a prosperous tourist town. Many other Route 66 towns took note and played up the highway, as well.
(Image via Newspapers.com from the Arizona Daily Sun of Bobby Troup performing “Route 66” when Williams, Arizona, was bypassed by Interstate 40 in 1984)
Don’t recall the year but I remember traveling with my family on I-40 eastbound. The new Interstate was complete and stretched ahead of us but there were barriers across the road with signs and arrows directing us to exit and go through Williams. I didn’t understand the issues back then but thought it odd to drive through a town with stop lights rather than bypass it. My dad owned a motel east of Ashfork and I recall what a fight it was to get an exit installed nearby. Lots of disruption caused by the new Interstate.