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Route 66 turns 100 in 2026, but we won’t be there
Probably the best known highway in the world – USA’s Route 66 – was completed in November 1926 and celebrates its centenary in what is also the USA’s 250th independence anniversary year.
Amboy, California – Dietmar Rabich
Travelling along as much of Route 66 as possible is on many people’s bucket lists and two of the Historic Vehicles website’s extended team have done the drive in recent years.
HV planned to run articles on the Route 66 centenary in late-2026, but our two intended Aussie correspondents have pulled out of their trips to Trump’s US of A, citing the repressive and invasive nature of the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) that requires family details, as well as social media and email history.
Although the full depth of ESTA’s inquisition isn’t mandatory, it can be used by border officials at their discretion and many would-be entrants to the USA have been turned around at the borders.
For those happy to run the gauntlet, here are hundreds of events planned along the Route during 2026, leading up to the official centenary date in November and there are dozens of helpful websites that can aid visitor planning. A starting point might be this one:
US Route 66 is also known as Route 66, US Highway 66, The Main Street of America, The Mother Road and the Will Rogers Highway. One of the original US highways, Route 66 was established on 11th November, 1926.
It originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, before ending at Los Angeles, after a total of 2448 miles (3940km). It was progressively replaced by various Interstate freeways, starting in 1956 and was decommissioned as a national highway in 1985.
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