What's the significance of highway 66?

Highway 66 was the first highway to cross a good deal of the country. On this highway the migrants, including the Joads, encounter cruelty, discrimination and the odd act of kindness. The highway symbolizes hope for a better future. Oh, I don't think the fight, I can’t recall the exact one, caused every migrant to become bitter; there were thousands of them. Hope and optimism are much too strong to let a mere fight destroy them.

Highway 66 or "Route 66" has certainly been romantisied , gotten a lot hype and sort of symbol, but it wasn't the first highway to cross the country. As a matter of fact there were many other routes that crossed the entire United States that preceded it. Route 66 also just crosses the midwest to southwest parts of the United States. Many other routes were true "Atlantic to Pacific Routes." Highway 66 was just one of many numbered routes created in 1926.