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Essay: How Route 66 Would Be Built Today

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During the upgrading of the road, the two-lane system was replaced by a four-lane highway in some places to accommodate the increasing traffic. The stretch between Joliet and Wilmington is one of the sections that underwent such changes. It was reconstructed between 1942 and 1945, a process that was authorized by the Federal Defense Act of 1941. The engineers used updated construction methods so as to sustain the wear and tear that was typical of the wartime. They applied sub-base of gravel and stone carpet on the original roadbed. They used Portland cement to construct the roadbed, making it 24-foot wide and 10-inch thick (National Park Service). Remarkably, the highway served Americans for about 50 years before it was officially decommissioned in 1984 and consequently abandoned by travelers following the construction of high-speed Interstate Highways. How Route 66 Would be Built Today Despite the fact that Route 66 had been decommissioned and were no longer used by travelers, the road’s …show more content…

If the construction process of the highway were to occur today, these factors would be put in consideration. Notably, the route experienced heavy traffic jams since it was very narrow and passed through towns, which had heightened economic opportunities. The new construction process would project the possible traffic flow along the road and construct it wide enough. For instance, having four to eight lanes would ease the traffic flow, unlike the two-lane system. Although the road was meant to connect the small town to major road networks, it was not necessary that the main highway goes directly through the towns. A new construction of the route would probably have it pass outside the towns and have feeder roads connecting the main route and the commercial

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