Why Chicagos Route 66 is Totally Forbidden | Joliet Road00:11:14

Just outside Chicago, a mile-long stretch of historic Route 66 sits barricaded behind fences, slowly crumbling hundreds of feet above two massive quarry pits. Once called Joliet Road, this corridor carried twenty thousand drivers a day through the southwestern suburbs lined with diners, gas stations, and family businesses that depended on the constant flow of traffic. Today, it is permanently sealed, overgrown, and completely off-limits to the public.
The story of how this section of Americas most iconic highway was destroyed is one of industrial ambition, legal warfare, and a community left to pick up the pieces. Decades of aggressive limestone quarrying by Vulcan Materials gradually ate away at the bedrock beneath the road, leaving it suspended on a crumbling ridge. By 1998, the pavement was buckling and shifting in explosive, sudden jolts. IDOT closed the road for good and after a $40 million legal settlement, Illinois chose not to rebuild. The businesses, the commuters, and the communities were left with a detour and a scar.
#Route66 #ChicagoHistory #ItsHistory

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