The Legend of Mrs. Orcutts Driveway

In 1964, when Interstate 40 was being built through California's Mojave Desert to replace Route 66, construction of the interstate was set to cut right through Bonnie Margaret Orcutt's driveway.
This construction would have cut her house off from Route 66, and every other road.
But Mrs. Orcutt wasn't going down without a fight.
She wrote letters to everyone, even to the President of the United States.
Finally it was decided that the government will build Mrs. Orcutt a road to connect her to the nearest onramp to I-40, four miles away.
The road was well maintained, flat, and perfectly straight.
And since it only had one house on it, there was very little traffic.
In the early 1970s someone from Car and Driver Magazine found it and realized it would be a great place to speed test cars.
With a number of magazine articles and cars hitting over 200 miles-per-hour on the road, Mrs. Orcutt's Driveway became legendary.
After Mrs. Orcutt died, the road fell into disrepair and it’s no longer possible to hit the incredible speeds that were achieved on the road in the past…
But the road still remains…
An empty four mile road-to-nowhere on the edge of Newberry Springs, California in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

#idrivea55 #the55 #55chevy #56chevy #57chevy #trifive #tri5 #tri5es #1955 #1955chevy #chevy #trifivechevy #hotrod #musclecar #classiccar #protouring #classicsdaily #ClassicsFeature #goDRIVEit #roadtrip #notanomad #wanderlust #travel #signjousting #signgeeks #carart #wilwood #KNfilters #americanracing #route66 #tmi

[papatangoable]

Can only imagine the life of Mrs Orcutt, the lady who wanted a driveway, in AZ. Thanks for the story & house & driveway tour!!

[charlesberg-nhbc]

Her very own asphalt flats! How cool is that!
Keep up the good work Jeff!

[johnserou]

How great would it be to live out there! Thanks Jeff

[milt]

I have driven on the Interstate many times and never knew it was there until they started doing these little vids about it.

[The_Mace]

Really interesting story! It's a dang shame the driveway and the house fell into such disrepair. It seems like it should have been preserved.

[stephenlea]

You’re going to have to do a nut & bolt check after that! Thanks Jeff.

[larrybaugher]

Thanks Jeff for the ride you are the Luckiest Guy I kinda know :}

[jeffmiddleton]

I think I've sen this before by amother content creator but can't recall which one. I enjoyed your tour.