MoBikeFed, stage agencies, local partners work for official adoption of Bicycle Route 66 across Missouri this spring
MoDOT, the Adventure Cycling Association, the Missouri Bicycle Federation, and many local partners have been working to have Bicycle Route 66 in Missouri officially adopted into the U.S. Bicycle Route System and outfitted with wayfinding signs across Missouri.
We are hopeful to have the project completed and official recognition of the route from the national committee in time for BigBAM, Missouri's annual cross-state bicycle ride, to ride across Missouri Bicycle Route 66 in June 2018.
Missouri and Kansas are working to designate sections of Route 66 as a U.S. bicycle route, and one of the states could receive approval for its route as early as this year.
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.
“The feedback has been very good and very positive,” Tuttle said. “They all understand the value of Route 66 and the value of tourism coming through.” . . .
USBR 76 was the first national bicycle route designated and signed in Missouri, according to Brent Hugh, the executive director of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. The federation works to make the state a safer and more accessible place for nonmotorized trail users.
“USBR 76 is the oldest cross-country bike trail in the U.S., the most famous and the most used,” Hugh said. “If you look at the usage data, Route 66 gets almost the same amount of bicycle tourists as 76. I was pleasantly surprised.”
The signs posted along USBR 76, which gives cyclists directions nearly turn by turn, would be similar to the ones posted to Route 66 once it becomes a designated bicycle route.
Bicycle Route 66 is one of seven cross-country bicycle routes that cross Missouri. Find out more about all cross-country and cross-state bicycle routes in Missouri on our routes & maps page.
Working to create a seamless statewide system of bikeways and trails--like Bicycle Route 66--is one way we reach our goal of creating a world-class bicycle and pedestrian transportation network in Missouri. That is one of four primary goals of MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri.
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