Talk:U.S. Bicycle Route 66

A fact from U.S. Bicycle Route 66 appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 15 September 2018, and was viewed approximately 1,976 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that United States Route 66, decommissioned in 1985, was recently designated as a bicycle route?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2018/September. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/U.S. Bicycle Route 66.

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Status[edit]

The lead says it "is planned". Is this something that is achieved, or is intended to be? Does it actually follow the route. Is the route entirely open? Chemical Engineer (talk) 16:56, 22 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Chemical Engineer: US Bike Routes are designated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials based on applications from state departments of transportation, one at a time (or, in this case, a pair to start things off). The goal is to have US Bike Route 66 travel from Los Angeles to Chicago on the former alignment of US Route 66 (as much as possible), which would require six more states to apply once they've prepared a suitable bicycling route on low-speed roads and off-road trails. Sounder Bruce 00:02, 23 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@SounderBruce: So could you clarify the lead, please? Chemical Engineer (talk) 09:57, 23 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Chemical Engineer: Done, though I don't think it was that confusing to those who are familiar with how U.S. highways work. Sounder Bruce 23:47, 23 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@SounderBruce: Much better. Wikipedia is an international encyclopedia, and the lead should be understandable on its own. Well done. Chemical Engineer (talk) 14:45, 24 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Parallel to?[edit]

Doesn't the route run on at least some decommissioned sections of US-66? My experience has been that there are quite a few such stretches running alongside the Interstates that replaced US-66, and even some abandoned bridges. Abductive (reasoning) 07:36, 13 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Some sections use parallel bicycle paths and other lower-traffic roads, per the designation documents. I plan on writing up a fuller description in time for the DYK run. Sounder Bruce 07:37, 13 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

History[edit]

I made some revisions to the History section to clarify some important historical aspects of this route and of the USBRS in general:

AASHTO is the "owner" of the U.S. Bicycle Route System, in much the same way as they "own" the US Numbered Highway System. Although Adventure Cycling Association is doing nearly all the work in publicizing and expanding the USBRS, it's still under the oversight and final approval of AASHTO and its member agencies.
The US government (US Department of Transportation / Federal Highway Administration) is not directly involved with the designation or approval of US Bicycle Routes, although FHWA staff have served as advisory members of the AASHTO Task Force on US Bicycle Routes and have offered advice and guidance where appropriate. So it's not correct to refer to "Federal" approval.
Also made some minor edits regarding the route alignment, as it runs on as well as alongside the historic alignment of US 66, and noted that the June 2018 dedication was for the Kansas-Missouri segment, in order to not give the impression it was a dedication for the entire route.

RCMoeur (talk) 00:16, 16 September 2018 (UTC) (Chair of the AASHTO Task Force on US Bicycle Routes, 2003-2017)[reply]

Corrections required[edit]

Mileage table has a transposition typo for the CA mileage. Actual mileage is 329.8 but table lists 239.8. References 5, 11, 17 bad links. Reference 11 has no link. Add link to Adventure Cycling USBRS maps: https://www.adventurecycling.org/usbrsmaps

I am the Adventure Cycling Association US Bicycle Route System Volunteer Coordinator. I am a volunteer with Adventure Cycling, have been working as a volunteer on the USBRS since 2004, and am not paid in any way by them or anyone else associated with the USBRS. I am a retiree and receive no income from any source other than pension, Social Security, and investments. I say this because I have been informed that I have a conflict of interest and therefore am not permitted to edit any pages associated with the USBRS. This despite the fact that I am actively involved with AASHTO, see all the USBR applications submitted by the DOTs, work directly with the DOTs in developing USBRS and in preparing their applications to AASHTO for USBR designation, and possess the historical documents associated with the USBRS and benefit in no way from providing this information to Wikipedia. ACAeditor (talk) 23:12, 16 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]