Tulsa's 11th Street Bridge

Tulsa's 11th Street Bridge. Spanning History. Route 66 had a dual role in Depression-era Oklahoma. It was the "mother road" that, as John Steinbeck wrote in The Grapes of Wrath, carried Oklahomans west in the midst of the Dust Bowl. At the same time, the highway fostered a thriving tourist industry. Vintage motels, gas stations and diners along Route 66 through Tulsa still capture this roadside culture., The 11th Street Bridge underwent maintenance and improvements in the decade following its incorporation into Route 66. Railings and ornamentation were replaced in the modern, geometric Art Deco architectural style popular in Tulsa's booming downtown. Funding from the Public Works Administration, a federally sponsored Depression-era program, widened the bridge by 16 feet through the addition of a second set of concrete spans., After World War II, American automobile ownership soared to a new high and travelers sought leisure and entertainment along Route 66. Large-scale folk sculptures and Wild West-themed attractions lined the highway through Oklahoma. Nevertheless, by the 1970s the construction of the Interstate Highway System had bypassed Route 66 across the state, and in 1980 the 11th Street Bridge closed to automobile traffic. Today the bridge represents two important eras in Tulsa's history as an Oil Capital and central stop on "America's Highway."