The stretch of Route 66 that travels east out of Albuquerque, New Mexico and heads to the small town of Tijeras is desolate at best. Besides a handful of gas stations and a spider web of power lines that cast their shadows onto the two-lane roadway, there’s not a whole lot to see. But for one quarter-mile stretch, there’s plenty to hear.
Two years ago, the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT), along with the National Geographic Channel, had the idea to make a roadway that sings—literally. Enlisting the help of San Bar Construction Corp., a New Mexico-based company that designs and constructs traffic control devices and signs, NMDOT created a length of roadway between mile markers four and five that plays music whenever a vehicle drives over it. But there’s a catch—the tune, in this case “America the Beautiful,” only works when cars are traveling at exactly 45 mph. The road’s purpose is twofold: to encourage drivers to stay the speed limit and to bring a little excitement to an otherwise monotonous highway.
COOL! I will be in that area soon and I will definitely check this out. I hadn’t heard of it. Thank you.
That is a little over 3 hours from me! We’ll check it out some time! Thanks for sharing!
Mind. Blown. Thanx!
That is very cool.. Except the speed limit is marked as 55, so I’m hopeful that there’s a typo in this story 🙂