In Pixar’s Cars, which real highway is described as bypassing Radiator Springs?

In Pixar’s Cars, Interstate 40 is described as bypassing Radiator Springs.

The town’s decline is explained through a road-history lesson: Radiator Springs once benefited from traffic on U.S. Route 66, but Interstate 40 diverted travelers away from the community. That change left the town quieter and economically diminished before Lightning McQueen arrives.

U.S. Route 66 is the historic road running through Radiator Springs, so it is a common wrong answer. Route 66 is the road the town wants travelers to rediscover; Interstate 40 is the newer highway blamed for bypassing it. The two roads are connected in the film’s historical setting but are not interchangeable.

This detail mirrors the real experience of many Route 66 towns after modern interstates redirected long-distance traffic. Pixar used that history to give Radiator Springs a believable social and economic past, while the film’s ending suggests renewed interest in the old route.