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Rolling down the streets of the sleepy little town of Odell, IL it is hard to believe that the Route was so busy that it required a tunnel to be constructed. Across the street from St. Paul Catholic Church lies the underground subway.
The traffic along the Route was so congrested at the time, that for the safety of church-goers and schoolchildren, a tunnel was constructed in 1937 for everyone’s safe passage.
By 1947, the main road bypassed Odell and the tunnel no longer was needed. The tunnel was then filled in. In 2006, the Route 66 Association of Illinois restored the first few steps and erected a sign detailing the tunnel’s importance to the city.
