OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Used to be, U.S. Route 66 carried a lot of travelers between Chicago and Santa Monica, California, and that traffic brought tourism money into central Oklahoma.

These days, that doesn't happen much at all. Warr Acres Vice Mayor Jim Mickley said people are more likely to seek out the Mother Road to buy a previously owned vehicle for traveling somewhere else. Interest in the corridor is dying, and with it, economic potential.

The Journal Record reports that Mickley and representatives of the Bethany, Yukon and Oklahoma City municipalities want to reverse that trend. They are...