Back in April 2014, members of the Oklahoma Bicycling Coalition ( OBC – the state bike advocacy group ) presented ODOT with the application to designate Route 66 as a U.S. Bike Route. For more details on this initiative, click HERE for a summary, or visit WWW.OKBIKE.ORG and menu to Legislative>U.S. Bike Routes for details.
At the time or the application in 2014, ODOT management was concerned about the liability to the state for cyclists riding Route 66, thinking that a cyclist might assume that if a road was designated a U.S. Bike Route, that would indicate that it was a safe place to ride for any level of rider. Now over two years have passed, there have been changes in ODOT leadership, time to have legal council review the liability, and the addition of a full time Bike/Ped coordinator. Jessica Scott is bringing this application back to ODOT management for a second review. First stop is the internal ODOT committee, then Senior ODOT Staff.