The Oklahoma Department of Transportation recently installed the first round of U.S. Bike Route 66 signs in Tulsa; placed where it is safe for bicycles to ride, including sections on city streets or Route 66 segments with paved shoulders.
[Above photo by the City of Tulsa]
The new signs – 50 of which will be installed in the Tulsa metropolitan area alone – will highlight the 400-mile bicycle route starting along the Kansas border in Ottawa County, which then passed through Tulsa and Oklahoma City before ending along the Texas border in Beckham County.
“One of the things that is so special about Route 66 is that this road is for everybody, no matter who you are or where you’re coming from, it unites us,” noted Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell in a statement. “Route 66 can be everything that we want it to be and everything that we dream about in the state of Oklahoma.”
“Route 66 is an iconic road, not just in Oklahoma but worldwide, and we are excited to get more people out enjoying everything it has to offer,” added Tim Gatz, Oklahoma DOT secretary. “We hope this will help get Oklahomans and tourists out exploring the mother road, in a car, on a motorcycle or a bicycle.”
The U.S. Bike Route or USBR designation for Route 66 is the result of more than two years of work by lawmakers, state and local agencies, bicycling advocates, and others, with approval from the Oklahoma Transportation Commission and Federal Highway Administration.
The designation and signage will help Oklahoma connect to an 18,000-mile national network of bicycle routes, including an already designated portion of USBR 66 in Kansas and Missouri.
The Oklahoma DOT noted it plans to work with more cities along Route 66 to get more bike route signs installed ahead of the historic road’s centennial in 2026.
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