ODELL - Four unearthed stairs and a railing provide a glimpse into a piece of Route 66 history. On Saturday, members of the Route 66 Association of Illinois dug up a portion of a pedestrian tunnel that was under the roadway in Odell. The tunnel was first built in 1934, a few years after Route 66 cut the town in half.

Although many towns, including Pontiac, had tunnels, association member John Weiss said this is the only one that has been unearthed.

"Small towns along Route 66 are a curiosity to travelers," he said. "Not many towns have something like this. The only place you can see a tunnel is in Odell, Illinois. It's a cool story."

About 30 volunteers from the association and town members helped to dig up the first four steps and put up a railing.

When the tunnel was built, Route 66 was nearly impossible to cross because of the large amounts of traffic. School children who lived on the east side of town but attended St. Paul's School on the west side used the tunnel. The tunnel was blocked and the stairs covered in the 1940s, when Route 66 moved to the west side of town.

Life-long Odell resident Marvine Hoke said she remembers using the tunnel.

"I remember going in and out of the tunnel," she said. "It was a safe way to cross the street. Now, it is something we can look at and remember."

Weiss said several people, including Hoke, stopped by the work site and shared stories.

While digging up the dirt, Ike Widner of Morris found a marble sitting on the second step. The marble will be saved and placed in the historic gas station in Odell that was also preserved by the association.

"It was just sitting there on the step," he said. "It is a piece of history, too."

A picture that ran in a 1934 edition of the Pantagraph showed school children using the tunnel. The article referred to the passage as a subway. Weiss used the photo to find a matching railing and connectors.

The railing will go around three sides of the space that was dug up, and chains will block people from going down into the three feet that was unearthed.

A sign, which previously marked the tunnel, will be replaced. Weiss said two cracks in the road show where the tunnel was underground. He also plans on painting a small marker on the road to show the tunnel.