The Nine-Foot “Sidewalk Road”: Oklahoma’s Last Stretch of Narrow U.S. Route 66

Near Miami, Oklahoma, a nine-foot stretch of pavement survives as the only remaining section of old U.S. Route 66. Known locally as the “Sidewalk Road,” it dates to the early years of federal road building.

The project was approved on December 8, 1918, as Federal Aid Project No. 8. Work was divided into two stages. ¹ The first linked Miami and Narcissa, begun in July 1919 and finished in March 1921. The second extended the road to Afton, with grading starting in July 1921 and the surface completed in February 1922. The Western Paving Company built the road with a five-inch concrete base, two inches of Topeka asphalt, and curbs. In all, the completed segment stretched 15.46 miles from Miami to Afton and was designated part of Oklahoma State Highway 7.

Additional work soon followed. The General Construction Company extended the road from Miami to Commerce, 3.6 miles, under Federal Aid Project No. 105A, and further north to the Neosho River Bridge under Project SAP 1. ¹

By the mid-1920s, Oklahoma officials sought to link Miami with Oklahoma City via Vinita, Claremore, and Tulsa. Their effort coincided with the creation of the U.S. highway system in 1926. The committee drafting the new system incorporated existing state highways, and Ottawa County’s section of State Highway 7 was adopted into the alignment of U.S. Route 66. ¹ With the Associated Highways Association of America’s approval, the narrow “Sidewalk Road” officially became part of the new national highway.

The roadway remained in use until the 1930s, when improvements were needed. In 1935, construction began on a wider, straighter alignment between Miami and Afton. ¹ Opened in 1937, this new road, now U.S. Routes 60 and 59, bypassed the six sharp 90-degree curves of the old pavement.

Today, the short surviving section near Miami is a rare trace of early federal roadbuilding and the formative years of U.S. Route 66.