Old cars ride through the Painted Desert in Arizona following the original dirt road.

The evolution of Route 66 parallels the remarkably history of America throughout most of the 20th century and into the 21st century: from the Depression to World War II, from the economic prosperity of the 1950s to the space race of the 1960s, from the challenges of the 1970s to the modernization of the 1980s, when U. S. Route 66 was officially decommissioned. The past few decades of evolution have been about preservation and revitalization.

LOST ALIGNMENTS Route 66 has a reputation for being one highway, a single line on the map stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica. The reality is far more interesting. For much of its life, Route 66 was not a single road but a living network of evolving alignments which have been rerouted, straightened, bypassed, and sometimes abandoned entirely as America’ s transportation needs changed.

When the highway was commissioned in 1926, it stitched together existing state and local roads rather than carving an entirely new path. That meant early Route 66 was often indirect, following the contours of towns, farmland, and terrain. It bent into communities instead of skirting them, which is what made it economically powerful. Every turn brought travelers past gas stations, cafes, and motor courts that depended on the steady flow of cross- country traffic.

But roads change, and Route 66 changed faster than most.

By the 1930s and 1940s, increasing traffic volumes and the push for faster interstate travel began to reshape the highway. Engineers straightened curves, bypassed crowded downtowns, and shifted the route onto newer pavement where available. After World War II, this process accelerated. Entire segments of U. S. 66 were relocated to improve safety and efficiency, leaving behind long stretches of“ old road” that quietly slipped into local use – or simply faded away.

By the time the Interstate Highway System arrived in 1956, Route 66’ s fate was sealed. Interstates 55, 44, 40, and 15 gradually replaced it, and in 1985 the highway was officially decommissioned. But even before that final designation, Route 66 had already become a patchwork of original alignments, second- generation re- routings, and modern bypasses all coexisting across eight states.

For today’ s traveler, that layered history is exactly what makes Route 66 so compelling.

Following Route 66 isn’ t as simple as picking a single road and staying on it. In many places, there are multiple alignments to choose from, each offering a different version of the story. The earliest paths often run closest to the original 1920s route with narrow, winding, and broken pavement remnants that pass directly through small towns and forgotten stretches of countryside. Later alignments tend to be smoother and faster, built to accommodate postwar traffic, with wider shoulders and fewer interruptions. Some sections are just parts of what we now know as the interstate system.

Neither version is“ correct.” They are simply different chapters.

Follow an early alignment, and you’ ll often find yourself on quiet backroads where time feels compressed. These are the sections where you might cross a one- lane bridge still bearing Route 66 signage or roll across brick pavement laid nearly a century ago. The pace is slower, the navigation more deliberate, and the reward is immersion in the road’ s earliest form.

RIDERMAGAZINE. COM / AUGUST 2026 / 37