Route 66, the “Mother Road” stretching more than 2,000 miles across the United States, is becoming a musical highway to celebrate its 100th anniversary and America’s 250th birthday.
Musical highways use specially designed rumble strips to create songs through vehicle vibrations. The strips are engineered to produce specific musical notes and withstand local weather conditions. According to Route 66’s musical road website, a car traveling 45 mph hits 330 rumble strips per second to produce the musical note E.
A stretch of Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, plays America the Beautiful when drivers travel 30 mph over the strips, one woman says in a video posted below. Oklahoma and New Mexico also feature musical sections and installations are planned in all eight states the historic roadway connects from Chicago to Los Angeles. Several portions will play patriotic tunes as part of the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday celebration.
Other Route 66 events in Missouri include a display of 3D street artwork in Joplin from June 1-6 and a free traveling exhibit highlighting Missouri’s role in Route 66 history. The exhibit will stop at locations across the state through August.
Watch Missouri’s musical road here:
This lady is driving down a stretch of road on St. Louis St. in Springfield, Missouri.
She is driving exactly 30
Mph and as she does so the rumble strips create the melody of “America The Beautiful”. This just opened up recently.The song was chosen as a tribute to America’s… pic.twitter.com/a1KENMRdq0
— 👉M-Û-R-Č-H👈 (@TheEXECUTlONER_) May 27, 2026
(Photo by Route 66)
