ALERT: Ask MoDOT to support wayfinding signage for U.S. Bicycle Routes 51, 251, and 66 across Missouri
Help us get wayfinding signage for U.S. Bicycle Routes 51, 251, and 66 in Missouri.
Go to this page on the MoDOT web site, fill out name, address, organization (if applicable), choose AREAS "Statewide" and "southwest", "Kansas City", "Northwest", "Central", and "St Louis". TIER is "multimodal".
Suggested message:
I (and/or my organization) strongly supports adding standard AASHTO wayfinding signage to U.S. Bicycle Routes 51, 251, and 66 in Missouri.
Wayfinding signage will help raise the visibility of these routes, help promote tourism and economic development in the communities along the routes, and is very helpful for the thousands of people who bicycle these routes each year.
Background information about USBR 51, 251, and 66 - and why we need wayfinding signage installed on these national bicycle routes through Missouri
Why is wayfinding signage important for national bicycle routes in Missouri?
Adding wayfinding signage to our existing national bicycle routes is one of the most cost-effective ways to support bicycling in Missouri while also supporting tourism and economic development in dozens of communities along these routes.
Wayfinding signage helps people find and use the routes, and feel comfortable riding them.
Wayfinding signage improves safety, because riders are easily able to follow the route without getting lost and wandering onto other, less suitable routes for bicycling. The signage also helps inform motorists that bicyclists regularly use the route, and that it is a recognized and designated national bicycle route.
USBR 66
USBR 66 in Missouri has been a designated route since 2018. However, although it is an officially designage national bicycle route, there is currently no wayfinding or identification signage install on the route.
It is particularly important to install wayfinding signage on USBR 66 soon for a couple of reasons:
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2026 is the Historic Route 66 Centennial celebration. That will bring tens of thousands of people to Missouri to explore Route 66. Exploring the route by bicycle is one of the most common and popular ways to explore the route. Thousands bicycle the entire route each year, but even more ride various sections of the route, or drive between major destinations but then bicycle portions of the route along the way.
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USBR 66 is already the second most popular cross-state bicycle route in Missouri - behind only the Katy/Rock Island Trail cross-state route. If you look at the Strava Cycling Heatmap for Missouri, you will easily see the Katy/Rock Island Trail route as the most popular and well used, then USBR 66 stretching from St Louis to Springfield and Joplin, and then further south (and third most commonly used) USBR 76/Transamerica Trail.
USBR 51 and USBR 251
USBR 51 and 251 are new this year. We have been working with communities along these routes since 2018 to develop the routes - and it is just this year that we have finally reached the point of official designation by MoDOT and AASHTO.
USBR 51 and 251 (and alternate/loop route in the Springfield/Cassville/Pea Ridge region) are exciting new bicycle tourism routes that bring riders a real slice of Americana and some of the best Missouri has to offer. View or download the full routes here. 
Along the routes you will find:
- Jesse James and other Missouri Civil War history
- Missouri's quilting headquarters
- Missouri Mormon/LDS history sites, including a number of sites in northern Missouri (including an optional loop route that, together with USBR 51, encompasses nearly all important Mormon/LDS history sites in Missouri, as well as the Santa Fe Trail and other historic sites)
- Civil War battle sites, history, and more in Lexington, Higginsville, and Warrensburg
- Enjoy a section of the Spirit Trail near Warrensburg, visit Knob Noster State Park and Whiteman Air Force Base (home of the B-2 stealth bomber), and the Katy Trail at Sedalia
- The beautiful, scenic, and remote Truman Lake and Pommes de Terres district
- Parallel a lengthy segment of the historic Butterfield Overland Stage National Historic Trail and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail through Warsaw, Wheatland, Bolivar, Springfield, and Cassville
- Visit Historic Joplin and connect to the Razorback Trail in northwest Arkansas
- Visit top Civil War history sites Wilson's Creek National Battlefield and Pea Ridge National Battlefield (along USBR 251, which also parallels the Butterfield Overland Stage route from Springfield to Pea Ridge)
- Several spur, connecting routes, and loop routes give you routing options and access to various destinations near the official USBR 51/251 route.
- USBR 51/251 connects to numerous other statewide and cross-state routes: The Katy Trail, the Rock Island Trail (forthcoming), Adventure Cycling Lewis & Clark Bicycle Route, MoBikeFed's Lewis & Clark Missouri River Adventure, USBR 50 (forthcoming), USBR 66/Bicycle Route 66, USBR 76/Transamerica Trail, and others
- You can connect to Amtrak Stations on the trail at Warrensburg and Sedalia. The Amtrak Station in Osceola, IA, is near the north terminus of the route (and is on Iowa's planned portion of USBR 51 - not yet officially adopted)
- Much more - see the full map here.
What USBR wayfinding signage looks like and how it helps
We have wayfinding signage on USBR 76 - Transamerica Trail in Missouri, and the thousands of cyclists who ride the route each year really appreciate it. Each turn or intersection is marked in advance (signs with arrows) and then a confirmation sign follows each turn. All this means you can ride the route with confidence and without getting lost. The signs also raise the community awareness of the routes, and that they are official designated routes that cyclists are following:
You can see all the national designated routes in Missouri and how they fit into the national system on the Open Street Map (cycling version):
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