Historic Roads

The preservation of historic roads is important to the preservation of national heritage and culture. Both governmental and non-governmental agencies have created programs intended to create an appreciation for and safeguard historic roads and the social history they embody. Examples of programs and projects in historic road preservation are listed below.

National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Web-Only Document 189: Design and Management of Historic Roads - This Transportation Research Board (TRB) document explores how the inherent flexibility in the current policies, manuals, criteria, rules, standards, and data sets that underlie the transportation planning and project development process may be used to preserve historic roads and roads in historic districts and settings.
Bureau of Land Management Historic Roads - BLM administers 261 million acres of America's public lands including numerous historic roads.

Regional Historic Themes and National Register Criteria for Evaluation Guidance for Roads in the Pacific Northwest: In December 2017 the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) published the results of NCHRP 25-25 task 97, Historic Roads - A Synthesis of Identification and Evaluation Practices. This NCHRP study highlighted the critical need for the development of regional historic contexts to identify and evaluate roads for historical importance. To advance the development of these regional historic contexts, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funded a pilot study to develop a regional historic road context for the Pacific Northwest, focusing on Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. This report presents the results of this study.

It is FHWA's intention that this regional historic context will serve as a model for other regions in the country to use and inform the development of other regional historic road contexts. FWHA anticipates that regional historic contexts can, in turn, function as guides for the completion of state-specific historic road contexts.

The purpose of the study is to outline the major regional historic contextual themes in which roads may derive significance and to provide guidance on applying the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) Criteria for Evaluation tailored to roads within the region. The goal is to provide a regional perspective that conveys the main contextual themes related to the development of the regional road network. This report can support the development of, and serve as a guide for, state-specific historic contexts and/or provide a framework for states to develop other state-specific guidance documents.

Ultimately, FHWA expects this study will assist FWHA and state departments of transportation (state DOTs) to better understand roads through a regional perspective, which can assist in the identification, evaluation, and treatment of historic roads in the context of compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Section 106).

photo of a Phillips 66 Gas Station on Route 66-McLean, TX — Phillips 66 Gas Station on Route 66 in McLean, Texas. Photo courtesy of
the National Route 66 Federation.

Route 66, the United States' first all-weather highway linking Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California, reflects the national evolution of road transportation. Organizations with the mission of preserving this historically significant highway are described below.

National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program - This NPS program is a source for preservation and historical information relating to Route 66, including interactive maps, photos, and travel itineraries.
Route 66 Travel Itinerary - National Park Service Route 66 Discover our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary.
Route 66 Corridor Preservation - In 1999 Congress passed an Act to create the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, in response to the recognized need to preserve the rich resources of the historic highway. The National Park Service administers the program.
Oklahoma Route 66 - Includes construction history, links to official records, maps, and a picture gallery.

Image of the Lincoln Highway near Lyman, Wyoming

The Lincoln Highway is a 3300-mile long road stretching across the United States from New York City to San Francisco. Its creation was the result of the first successful effort to build an all-weather transcontinental highway specifically for automobiles. Sites related to the Lincoln Highway include:

The Lincoln Highway Association is dedicated to preserving and promoting the Nation's first transcontinental highway for the automobile.
While the Lincoln Highway runs from coast to coast, Pennsylvania has designated a six-county region as the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. The LHHC works to promote economic development through tourism grant programs and community beautification projects.

AASHTO Center for Environmental Excellence – This website includes information, resources, and best practices for a variety of historic preservation and cultural resource areas, including historic bridges) includes guidance, reports, best practices.
As the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (Interstate Highway System) approached the fifty-year anniversary on June 29, 2006, large sections of the Interstate System would have achieved the mark at which resources are often evaluated for historic significance. In order to address the volume of administrative work this could foster, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation adopted the Section 106 Exemption Regarding Effects to the Interstate Highway System on March 10, 2005.

Glenwood Canyon section of I-70 in Colorado. Photo courtesy of Joseph K. Kracum, Kracum Resources, LLC

This exemption effectively excludes the majority of the 46,700-mile Interstate System from consideration as a historic property under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). In addition, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, Public Law 109-59, Aug. 10, 2005) includes a provision (Section 6007) that exempts the bulk of the Interstate Highway System from consideration as a historic resource under Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act. With these two exemptions in place, Federal agencies are no longer required to consider the vast majority of the Interstate Highway System as historic property under Section 106 and Section 4(f) requirements.

Excluded from these respective exemptions are elements of the Interstate System that are exceptional in some way or meet a national level of significance under the criteria for the National Register of Historic Places. The final list above identifies those elements that are not covered by the exemptions discussed above and will therefore continue to be subject to consideration under the Section 106 and Section 4(f) processes.
- Eisenhower Interstate Highway System Website - This FHWA website contains historical facts about the Interstate system, answers to questions about its operation and maintenance, and insight into what led President Eisenhower to push for a network of national highways.
- Listing of State Archival Materials Pertaining to the Interstate Highway System - View this list of archival materials for each state, including source or responsible party, and specific contact information.
- Final List of Nationally and Exceptionally Significant Features of the Federal Interstate Highway System - This list includes states, interstate numbers, property types, and additional information regarding why the structure is deemed significant.

Iowa's Historic Automobile Roads: A National Register Study of Pre-1948 Arterial Highways .
From Milestones to Mile Markers - This resource provides information to help local byway organizations understand and manage a scenic byway with historic intrinsic qualities and resources. This publication will help identify a historic road, define the elements that make it historic and determine the appropriate course of action.
America's Byways - FHWA's National Scenic Byways Program, is a grass-roots collaborative effort established to help recognize, preserve, and enhance selected roads throughout the United States.