The City Council of Rialto, Calif., voted Tuesday to make $3.8 million in improvements in a stretch along Foothill Boulevard, aka Route 66, reported the Contra Costa Times.
The work will include repaving the road’s surface, but also other improvements:
The city is looking at enhancing the pavement at Riverside Avenue and Foothill Boulevard with pavers or scored and colored concrete in a grid pattern.
The aesthetic portion of the improvements include monument structures at the east and west entryways of the city, new street-name signs and new bus shelters near Riverside Avenue.
Route 66 plaques and the city seal could be mounted on the bus shelters.
The city hopes to begin the work this fall.
Hopefully they will find a way to preserve the many motels and hotels in the area, and perhaps create a sign district. I know that an initial windshield survey of this area indicated that while the buildings themselves may not have been entirely historically significant, the right of way was dotted with historically significant signage. It would be nice if the City of Rialto found a way to incorporate and salvage that significance. (If not, here comes another Rancho Cucamonga!)