Springfield’s “Musical Road” is an oddity.
The Musical Road is located on St. Louis Street near the Queen’s Gate 66 right off of Glenstone as you travel west towards the square. It is a musical rumble strip on the north edge of the street made up of 2,309 precisely spaced strips on an 855 foot stretch.
If your car is fairly quiet, you roll up your windows and drive exactly 30 mph over the strips and you hear music to America The Beautiful.
It’s a novel idea but that idea has worn out it’s welcome with surrounding neighbors. The local resident’s are complaining about the “grating” and “rumbling” sound heard over and over as cars travel the road. It has also been cited as unsafe in some cases where cars swerve to the right suddenly to run the length of the strips. Repetition has also been sited by neighbors as an annoyance.
The Musical Road will continue during the 100 year anniversary celebration of the founding of Route 66… at least until the end of the summer.
(photo courtesy of Stan Shaw)