Iowa Highways: 70 to 79

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60-69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80-89

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Iowa 70 (I)

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: November 14, 1966
Original western terminus: Macksburg
Original eastern terminus: IA 15 (later IA 16, then US 169). It was extended along part of old 16 in 1928 after its relocation and was straightened in 1932.
Counties: Madison
Paving history: There were no paved segments, and the road was gravel until 1968 (after its decommissioning).
Replaced by: County Road G41

	Iowa 70
	Length: 24 miles/39 kilometers Northern terminus: US 6 in West Liberty Southern terminus: IA 92 in Columbus Junction Terminus photos Counties: Muscatine, Louisa Cities along route: West Liberty, Nichols, Conesville, Columbus Junction NHS: From US 6 in West Liberty to the northern split with IA 22 Multiplexes: 3 miles with IA 22, to the east of Nichols
	History
	Designated: January 1, 1969, replacing IA 76 (I) Paving history: The entire road was paved at the time of designation except for the short segment between Columbus Junction and Columbus City, which had a bituminous surface at the time of its decommissioning. Major alignment changes: December 2, 1994: 2-mile segment from downtown Columbus Junction to Columbus City was decommissioned after an east bypass of CJ opened to create a direct connection with IA 92 (before it was built, 92 passed over 70, and traffic from 92 had to use two blocks of city streets to access 70). The old segment became unsigned IA 947, but from December 1, 1997, until July 1, 2003, only the 0.7-mile segment between CJ's south city limits and 70's former south terminus carried that designation. It is now under local control.

Iowa 71

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: October 16, 1926
Original northern terminus: IA 3 (now IA 2) in eastern Appanoose County
Original southern terminus: Moulton
Paving history: There were no paved segments.
Replaced by: IA 142 (I); the number has since been used for US 71.

Iowa 72

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: April 1, 1986 (see note)
Original western terminus: IA 15 (later US 69) in eastern Wright County. Between 1928 and 1933 it was shifted to a point west of Galt, but the straight east-west alignment was restored after IA 262 was designated as the spur to Galt on May 9, 1933.
Original eastern terminus: Dows; it was extended eastward to I-35 (exit #159) on July 1, 1980.
Counties: Wright, Franklin
Paving history: There were no paved segments at designation. The segment from IA 15 (US 69) to Dows was paved in 1933, and the 1980 extension was entirely paved.
Replaced by: County Road C54 west of Dows and C47 east of Dows
Note: Wright and Franklin counties took over their shares of IA 72 on April 1, 1986, but the city of Dows took over its piece on November 1, 1985. The segment from Dows to I-35 did not appear on the 1986 state transportation map.
Former terminus photos

Iowa 73 (I)

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: September 15, 1934
Original western terminus: IA 6 (later US 30) at Belle Plaine. It was extended northward to IA 8 at Dysart on December 5, 1933, replacing the original IA 212.
Original eastern terminus: IA 7 (later US 32, then US 6) at Marengo
Counties: Tama (1933-1934), Benton, Iowa
Paving history: Unpaved at designation, the segment from Belle Plaine to the Benton/Iowa county line was paved in 1921.
Replaced by: IA 212.
Note: The June 1, 1934, state highway map shows IA 212 in the former IA 73's place, but Jeff Morrison found out through newspaper research that the original IA 73's signs were not taken down until mid-September. This means that two IA 73's existed for a few months in 1934 as the second IA 73 (see below) was designated in April and signed in June.

Iowa 73 (II)

Designated: June 25, 1934 (number approved March 28)
Decommissioned: February 15, 1935
Original northern terminus: Minnesota state line south of Worthington, MN
Original southern terminus: Missouri state line south of Shenandoah
Counties: Osceola, O'Brien, Cherokee, Ida, Crawford, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont, Page
Paving history: The only paved segments were from Sanborn to the split with IA 10 north of Calumet and from Denison to Avoca.
Major alignment changes: IA 73 was realigned one mile west of its original alignment between Larrabee and Cherokee on October 31, 1934, resulting in the decommissioning of IA 110 (I) in the process. The remaining segment of the old alignment is still called "Old 21 Road" after its predecessor, IA 21 (I).
Replaced by: US 59. It replaced IA 21 (I) north of Denison and IA 4 (I) south of there.
After a coalition to get this corridor onto the US highway system met in Harlan on March 23, 1934, the states of Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri agreed to create a common state highway 73 in April 1934 as an attempt to convince the American Association of State Highway Officials to extend US 73 from Atchison, KS. While the number fit perfectly into the numbering grid between US 71 and US 75, US 73 had already been designated in Nebraska by June of that year. In December 1934, US 59 was designated in its place instead, with signs being taken down by mid-February.

Iowa 73 (III)

Designated: January 8, 1936
Decommissioned: April 12, 1972
Original northern terminus: IA 141 in Coon Rapids
Original southern terminus: IA 64 (later IA 44)
Counties: Carroll, Guthrie
Paving history: There were no paved segments at designation, and the road remained gravel until it was paved after decommissioning.
Replaced by: County Road N46

Iowa 74 (I)

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: September 4, 1941
Original western terminus: IA 7 in Iowa City; it was truncated at Tipton on October 16, 1926
Original eastern terminus: IA 20 (later US 61) in Davenport
Counties: Johnson (1920-1926), Cedar, Scott
Paving history: There were no paved segments at designation.

1921: Paved from a county road (now Y52) east of Maysville to Davenport

1922: Paved from a point west of Maysville to the county road

1923: Paved from the Cedar/Scott county line near New Liberty to a point west of Maysville

1936: Paved from Tipton to Cedar County Road H (now Y14) north of Bennett

1940: Last segment, from County Road H to the Cedar/Scott county line, paved

Replaced by:

IA 139 (I) (between Iowa City and IA 38 in 1926)

IA 38 (duplicated segment south of Tipton in 1926)

IA 150 (at decommissioning)

For city street alignments in Davenport, see the Highways of Davenport and Bettendorf page.
For a map of its estimated street alignment in Iowa City, see the Highways of Iowa City page.

Iowa 74 (II)

Designated: April 1, 1943
Decommissioned: November 9, 1966
Original northwestern terminus: Palo
Original southeastern terminus: US 151 in downtown Cedar Rapids
Counties: Linn
Paving history: There were no paved segments at designation, and the road remained gravel until it was paved in 1956. (The road was realigned to run west of Palo as part of the paving, creating IA 399 to serve Palo.)
Replaced by: IA 94 (II); the renumbering was necessary to make room for I-74.
For city street alignments in Cedar Rapids, see the Highways of Cedar Rapids page.

Iowa 75

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: October 16, 1926
Original northern terminus: Marcus
Original southern terminus: IA 5
Counties: Cherokee
Paving history: There were no paved segments.
Replaced by: IA 143; number has since been used for US 75

Iowa 76 (I)

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: January 1, 1969
Original northern terminus: IA 7 (later US 32, then US 6) in West Liberty
Original southern terminus: IA 20 (later US 61) in Wapello; it was truncated south of Columbus City on January 17, 1933
Counties: Muscatine, Louisa
Paving history: There were no paved segments at designation. The segment from West Liberty to Columbus Junction was paved in 1955; the segment between Columbus Junction and Columbus City had a bituminous surface at decommissioning.
Replaced by: County roads, now numbered X37 and G62 (south of Columbus City in 1933); IA 70 (at decommissioning)

	Iowa 76
	Length: 49 miles/79 kilometers Northern terminus: Minnesota state line south of Eitzen, MN; continuation of MN 76 Southern terminus: US 18 west of McGregor Terminus photos Counties: Allamakee, Clayton Cities along route: Waukon, Marquette, McGregor NHS: From US 18 to 3rd Street in McGregor Multiplexes: 2 miles with IA 9 south of Waukon
	History
	Designated: January 1, 1969, to a former segment of IA 13 from the Minnesota state line to Marquette Paving history: The entire road was paved at the time of designation except for the segment between IA 364 and Marquette, which had a bituminous surface until it was paved in 1971. Major alignment changes: November 16, 1989: Extended southward and westward along four miles of old US 18 to connect with the west end of the US 18 bypass around Marquette and McGregor. (This segment was originally signed only as Business US 18, with IA 76 shields appearing only above the mile markers. However, IA 76 is now fully signed along this segment.)

Iowa 77

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: July 1, 2003
Original northern terminus: Keota. It was truncated to the relocated IA 2 on August 22, 1922, but re-extended to Keota on April 21, 1924.
Original southern terminus: IA 8 (I), now US 34, in Fairfield; it was truncated at IA 11 (later IA 1) near Richland on January 6, 1925. By January 23, 1963, it was truncated at IA 78 (the legal description approved on that date did not mention any segments south of Richland; Highway Commission county maps from 1955 and 1957 showed a multiplex of IA 77 and IA 78 west of IA 1, but this multiplex did not appear on state maps. It was truncated at IA 92 in eastern Keokuk County on July 29, 1980 (the city of Richland took over its share of the road on August 8).
Counties: Keokuk, Jefferson (1920-1941)
Paving history: There were no paved segments at designation.

1961: Paved from IA 92 to IA 78 at Richland

1968: Last segment, from Keota to IA 92, upgraded from bituminous to paved

Replaced by:

IA 11 (duplicated segment north of Fairfield in 1925)

County Road W15 (segment between IA 92 and IA 78 in 1980, and the north-south segment north of IA 92 at decommissioning)

Local road (Broadway Avenue in Keota, for the east-west segment at decommissioning)

Terminus photos

	Iowa 78
	Length: 59 miles/95 kilometers Western terminus: IA 149 east of Martinsburg Eastern terminus: US 61 east of Morning Sun Terminus photos Counties: Keokuk, Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Louisa Cities along route: Richland, Brighton, Coppock, Wayland, Olds, Winfield, Morning Sun NHS: The multiplexed segment with IA 1 Multiplexes: 7½ miles with IA 1, from east of Richland to Brighton
	History
	Designated: July 1, 1920, as a spur from IA 40 (now US 218) in Henry County into Winfield. Paving history: There were no paved segments at designation. 1930: Paved segment co-signed with US 161 through Olds added 1953: Paved from IA 249 south of Winfield to Morning Sun 1955: Paved from IA 1 at Brighton to IA 249 and from Morning Sun to US 61 1966: Last segment, from IA 149 to IA 1, upgraded from bituminous to paved Major alignment changes: March 19, 1930: Extended eastward from south of Winfield to US 61 (the short spur to Winfield would become IA 249 in 1931) December 1, 1930: Extended westward from US 161 to Wayland, creating a concurrency through Olds that lasted until 161's successor, US 218, was rerouted in mid-1999. November 9, 1948: Extended westward from Wayland to IA 149, following part of IA 77 and replacing part of IA 304. (Per the legal descriptions, the state assumed maintenance on the section between IA 149 and IA 1 on June 25, 1948. The segment east of the IA 1 split was completed on November 9.)
	Notes
	IA 78 between its west end and the junction with the Avenue of the Saints near Olds is also known as the Ding Darling Highway in honor of newspaper cartoonist and conservationist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling. The naming coincided with the rededication of Lake Darling State Park on September 17, 2014.

Iowa 79 (I)

Designated: July 1, 1920
Decommissioned: July 28, 1980 (the city of Bonaparte took over its piece on August 1)
Original northern terminus: Bonaparte
Original southern terminus: IA 3 (later IA 2) northwest of Farmington
Counties: Van Buren
Paving history: Unpaved at designation, the road was paved in 1930.
Replaced by: County Road W40
Note: The state took over jurisdiction of the second IA 79 in Des Moines County on July 1, 1980, meaning that two IA 79's may have existed for a brief period.

Iowa 79 (II)

Designated: July 1, 1980
Decommissioned: July 1, 2003
Original western terminus: Geode State Park
Original eastern terminus: US 34 in Middletown; this road also served the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant
Counties: Des Moines
Paving history: The entire road was paved at the time of designation.
Replaced by: County Road J20, its pre-1980 designation. For the first two years after IA 79 was decommissioned, Des Moines County kept the state highway numbers for all of its former state highways rather than assimilate them into the alphanumeric county road system; thus IA 79 became County Road 79. Pentagon County Road 79 markers were placed at the junction with US 34 by December 2004, but they were replaced by J20 markers in October 2005.
Terminus photos

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