h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some years back I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico on business. I made it a point to drive Route 66 in my rental car, realizing I would probably never have another chance to drive that bid of history. And while 66 is definitely one of the best known, there are some others in the U.S. that are similar in importance. Route 20, for example, runs from Boston, Massachusetts to Seattle, Washington. Transportation is one of the "driving factors" (pun intended) of U.S. growth over the past century.

And there's Highway 101 along the Pacific Coast ... also the name of a pretty good band ...

Is Route 20 preserved like 66 is, or has it been turned into more of a regular highway?

Route 40 is about 5 minutes away from my house, and is currently under massive construction to modernise. In the city it isn't so obvious, but out by me it's easy to see how the highway has changed over the years. The original two-lane is very hilly and fun to drive on. When they expanded to 4 lanes, the existing lanes became westbound only and new eastbound lanes were constructed. They follow the original road for the most part but the hills have been reduced to gentle rolls. The new interstate lanes that are currently being installed are straight and flat (and terribly boring). Most of the original 2-lane will become frontage road.

I've heard of Highway 101, but probably as a band. Are they country? A few years ago while driving through California I saw several spangly signs for historic highway 99, but I don't know much about it.

Yup, Hiway 101 is (was?) pretty much country rock, with a strong female singer. Excerpts here:

http://www.amazon.com/Highway-101-Greatest-Hits/dp/B000002LLU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0216189-1728075?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1176043790&sr=1-1

I think 20 would be defined as preserved, yes. It zigs and zags without a bypass in sight, dead through each city it comes to. I always thought it would be a wonderful way to see the upper U.S. coast to coast because of that.