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Will Rogers Highway Marker

Route 66 at S 520th Rd., Afton, OK
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East < GO > West

The Will Rogers Highway Marker is located on this last little piece of the Sidewalk Highway before heading west into Afton. The marker was installed in 2009 with help from David Kane of the Afton Station Packard collection.

The marker tells the story of the Sidewalk Highway

"In 1922 a new nine-foot wide roadway was completed between Miami and Afton, OK. Because no standards existed and so few roads were paved , its width was not unusual for the era. It consisted of a concrete base and edges with a surface of rock asphalt. In 1926 the "Sidewalk Highway" as it would be known was adopted by US 66.

Rt. 66 was paved piecemeal from 1926 - 1937. Since the Miami to Afton section was paved it became the last segment upgraded to the standards established in 1930. It was also realigned and included a new bridge on the Neosho River.

On Sept. 12, 1937 the opening of the bridge completed the last RT. 66 paving in Oklahoma. The "Sidewalk Highway" thus became one of the early stretches of Mother Road paving to be bypassed and today is the only RT. 66 roadway of its type in existence."

The southern segment of the Sidewalk Highway (or Ribbon Road) follows the 1926-1937 alignment of Route 66 from the Northeast Technology Center at the intersection of Hwy. 69 (Route 66) and E 200 Rd and then turns left onto S 520th Rd. This last curve and visible remnant of the Sidewalk Highway on the south side of the intersection with US 66/60/69 is turning west towards Afton. This view is looking southwest.

Photo(s): 2012