The Transcon Lane turnoff from Interstate 40 into Winslow is an unremarkable stretch of road until you turn onto east Third Street or Old Route 66 heading into town.
That’s where you’ll hit Winslow’s new musical rumble strips, greeting visitors to downtown with a quick burst of the Eagles' "Take It Easy."
Armando and Victoria Fajardo were heading back to Phoenix on a road trip when Armando thought he heard something.
"We drove over it and it sounds like my tires were singing," said Armando while laughing. "I was like, 'Wait a minute; what is that?' I moved over because I thought; that’s what it was! Oh my god! That’s pretty cool."
Winslow’s Chamber of Commerce contracted with Alabama-based Road Tunes, which installed some 40 feet of a 2-foot-wide rumble strip along Winslow’s eastern end of Route 66 and the city’s infamous Standin’ On the Corner Park, where the Fajardos were visiting.
The rumble strip is a logical connection to the park, to Route 66 and to the upcoming anniversary, says chamber CEO Bob Hall.
"The lyric that references Winslow. And the lyric is, 'I’m standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see.' The notes that it plays, that’s what it is."
He says the new addition goes along with the city’s marketing of that one line from the 1972 classic rock song.
"Because it’s on Route 66 here in Winslow, it’s part of what we’re adding to our community to celebrate the centennial next year," Hall said.
A few decades ago, downtown Winslow was going through a rough time. The population was drying out. Business was moving away from the fading Route 66, which had been replaced by Interstate 40.
"I would have people walk into my business," Hall said, "and ask, 'Where’s the corner? Where’s the corner? Where’s the corner?'"
A committee was formed, the Standin’ On the Corner Committee.
"There was a shift. There was an, 'Oh! This is something we can benefit from,'" Hall said.
Nowadays, the park draws tens of thousands of tourists. Statues of Eagles band members, a flatbed Ford and restaurants have popped up, and gift shops sell Route 66 and Eagles merchandise in intertwined unison.
There are plans for a sound wall painted with the lyrics, one that Hall hopes will make the strip even louder.
At the Take It Easy Store kitty-corner from the park, manager Ashley Scott says the park created a lifeline for local businesses.
"Obviously growing up here; this was not here, this started in 1999. So it was kind of ghost townish down here when the freeway bypassed Winslow. So it has definitely changed the scheme of downtown and Winslow as a tourist place."
Nowadays, she says, the Standin' On The Corner Park can be empty one moment and teeming with visitors off a tour bus the next.
Interstate 40 diverted the great American road trip around Winslow. Scott, Hall and the Fajardos hope Jackson Browne's and Glenn Frey’s lyrics bring it back.
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