How a new Route 66 documentary can help America rekindle its authenticity

Filmmaker John Paget is touring the country with his follow-up documentary, “Route 66: The Main Street of America,” screened in connection with Route 66’s 100th anniversary. Paget first fell in love with the highway in his youth, and in 1994 he produced “Route 66: An American Odyssey,” capturing how interstate freeways reshaped hundreds of small towns. In interviews, Paget argued that when interstates were built, downtown traffic plunged—from roughly 1,000 cars an hour to near nothing—leaving some communities to fade while others tried to revive themselves. His new film revisits what became of those places and spotlights distinctive local businesses threatened by large hotel and fast-food chains.