Pikes Peak-Ocean to Ocean Highway
by Judy Aulik
It’s early days in auto travel. How successful would you believe a transcontinental highway spanning the continent would be? Now, what if you learned that New York City, Baltimore, Columbus, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco were some of the cities the fledgling highway was routed through? Sounds great, doesn’t it? However, Pikes Peak-Ocean to Ocean Highway (PPOO) emphasized connecting state capitals and county seats. 
And despite the route shown in the 1915 map, it bypassed many of the above.
According to http://www.ppoo.org, the route was so poorly planned that only US 36 overlaid any significant part of the PPOO: Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas had sections which later became part of the federal highway system. From the July, 1919 issue of Automobile Journal, we learn that associations that contributed to the PPOO included the William Penn Highway Association, the Hannibal-Springfield Highway Association, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Cross State Highway Association, The Rock Island Highway Association (Kansas), the Lincoln Highway Association (Colorado), the Overland Trail Club (Nevada), and the Feather River Route Association (California).
In its original Illinois routing of the PPOO, only Decatur, an agricultural industry center, and the capital, Springfield, lay on the route. By 1924, both Danville and Urbana wooed the PPOO highway officials into using SBI (State Bond Issue; an early designator for Illinois highways ) 10 as its local path. Since its PPOO days, SBI 10 has had multiple changes to its route. By 1927, Urbana appeared completely prepared for tourism, according to articles in the Urbana Courier and the Daily Illini. There was a significant cluster of automotive service providers on Urbana’s Main Street, now mainly residential. A 1923 tourist camp underwent improvements to its Crystal Lake park location through 1927.
A 1927 map shown on “The Appian Way of America” web page shows how the final route deviated from design. Columbus, Indianapolis, and even San Francisco no longer appeared on the PPOO. Instead, it terminated in Los Angeles. By that time, a motorist could use the straightforward US 66 instead from Chicago westward.
Like so many of the highly logical routes proposed by the National Highway Association, the Pikes Peak-Ocean to Ocean Highway was swerved by civic boosters and emotional appeals. However, the final product never rivaled either the Lincoln Highway or the National Old Trails Road, later encompassed by US 30 and US 40, respectively, east of the Rockies.
American Geographical Society Library 