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Route 66 Corridor Management Plan
Rolls Into Barstow, Tues. Feb. 25
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Initial stakeholder meetings to establish a cornerstone.
Public input to guide content of the plan.
Posted: February 21, 2014
The first Scoping meeting will be held Tuesday, February 25, 2014
at Barstow's Fred Harvey House at 6 P.M. The public is invited to attend and learn
what a National Scenic Byway designation for Route 66 can do.
'Scoping' is a Bureau of Land Management open public comment period
that initiates the Corridor Management Plan (CMP) process. This stage of the planning
process influences the scope or range of issues that the CMP will seek to address.
Public input during this phase of planning ensures that the issues that the public would
like the CMP to address are understood.
The Barstow presentation will be lead by Jim Klein of Lardner & Klein
located in Alexandria, Virginia. He will present a Power Point presentation on National Scenic
Byways. Klein and his associates will write the Corridor Management Plan that will serve
as the important basis for a National Scenic Byway designation being awarded.
The plan is being advanced by the Bureau of Land Management that
acquired a federal grant. The BLM has partnered with
the California Historic Route 66 Association that has lobbied for the National Scenic Byway
designation.
The target of this CMP is the 153-mile segment of Route 66 from the
Colorado River to the western boundary of Barstow. The process is timetabled to take
15-months after which the California Historic Route 66 Association may then work on the segment
from Barstow through the Cajon Pass.
Earlier this month, in discussing with the Blotter early ideas
for a meeting, Klein advanced the thoughts that the meeting may include an overview of what a
corridor management is and how it has benefitted other communities along historic travel routes,
such as Route 66. Klein indicated that he would like to question the audience and learn:
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• Assets - What is particularly unique about Route 66 in Barstow and what are some of
the stories about Route 66 that can be told only here?
• Opportunities - Thinking ahead, ten or fifteen years from now, if all things went well
with the Route 66 CMP, what would be your ideal vision of Route 66 through Barstow?
What kinds of things should be done in Barstow to capture some of the visitors that are
coming to Route 66?
• Challenges - What are some of the limitations that have to be overcomed to increase
visitation to Barstow? A corridor management plan represents an opportunity to think ahead
into the future about how Route 66 might be preserved and enhanced over time so that more
people might be interested in stopping in Barstow.
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Klein stated that a Corridor Management Plan lays out the steps that
can be taken to achieve a vision in a realistic way; and how efforts can be coordinated to capture
some of the economic activity associated with the history and culture of Route 66.
The regional public of Barstow, Daggett, and Newberry Springs are
highly encouraged to attend the Barstow meeting as a National Scenic Byway designation can
have an economic impact upon the area for many decades.
Newberry Springs
The following day, Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 1 P.M., the
Newberry Springs Community Alliance is hosting a Newberry Springs community discussion
opportunity with Jim Klein at the Newberry Springs Community Center.
This is planned as an intimate gathering.
Klein would like to use the time to ask questions about Newberry Springs whereby he can listen and
learn about Route 66 in the community.
It has been decided that a Power Point presentation will not be made.
Rather then speaking to a Power Point, Klein wants to use a handout to provide an overview of the
CMP process.
Klein would like to learn more about places in Newberry Springs that
could help tell the story of Route 66.
Klein said, "If you think about Route 66 as an "outdoor museum," what
would be the part of the story that could best be told in Newberry Springs?"
Geology/Natural history - mining, water, etc.?
Early travel history - pre-Route 66?
Route 66 serving travelers in its prime?
Route 66 roadside attractions in its prime?
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For those who know something about the past of Newberry Springs, Klein wants to hear
from them.
Other opportunities to participate.
For those unable to attend the public meetings, on Thursday, February 27, a
repeat of the Barstow meeting will be held at the Needles High School, in Needles,
at 6 P.M.
Earlier that Thursday afternoon, February 27 at 1 P.M., there will also be a
Web-based meeting to provide an additional opportunity for those who are unable to make any
of the meetings in person.
For more information on the Corridor Management Plan, contact Doran Sanchez
at the BLM Barstow Field Office: (760) 252-6030. For more information on the Newberry Springs
informal discussion meeting, contact the Newberry Springs Community Alliance at:
NSCA e-mail.
Route 66 Corridor Management Plan Calendar
Barstow Corridor Management Plan meeting: Barstow Harvey House • February 25 • 6 to 8 P.M.
Newberry Springs CMP informal meeting: N.S. Community Center • February 26 • 1 to 2 P.M.
BLM Corridor Management Plan Webinar: See registry link below • February 27 • 1 to 2 P.M
Needles Corridor Management Plan meeting: Needles High Cafeteria • February 27 • 6 to 8 P.M.
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