Highway Page Updates — 2007 (January-June)
June 22:
- US 75 opened to four lanes southwest of Le Mars yesterday, completing the bypass.
- Mark Odor pointed out a signage change at I-80 exit 211 that I also spotted en route to Cedar Rapids last weekend. While at it I also made some minor updates to the I-380 and US 151 lists.
June 10: The exit ramp to I-235 east from I-35/80 eastbound at Exit 137 has reopened. (I also listed that interchange as Exit 138 for some reason; this has been corrected.)
May 28:
- Photo Gallery updates:
- I added three photos and replaced one photo on the I-235 page.
- I added one photo from Jeff Morrison to the Cedar Rapids page.
- I moved the Council Bluffs page from the iowahwypix2 site to the iowahwypix site because of space reasons, and added two new photos to that page plus one photo that Jeff Morrison sent two years ago but I forgot to add until now.
- I added three photos from Jeff Morrison to the Avenue of the Saints page.
- I also added three Fremont County photos and one Page County photo to the Western Iowa Odds & Ends page, one Decatur County photo from J.D. Adams to the Central Iowa page, and two Lee County photos from Jeff Morrison to the Eastern Iowa page.
- Mike Ehret informed me that Business US 75 in Le Mars indeed exists, with signage confirmed along US 75. He also mentioned that a Business IA 60 now exists in Sheldon, following part of the old IA 60 and part of US 18.
- Mike Gillson mentioned that there is now a traffic signal at US 151 and IA 100 in Marion while some speed limits have changed in the area, so I updated the exit list.
May 20:
- In its latest meeting, AASHTO has approved a Business US 63 in Ottumwa that will likely be signed after the bypass opens. They have also approved a change to Business US 34 so that it would turn onto Quincy Avenue from Albia Road to US 34 instead of following Albia all the way to US 34; however, it is unknown when signage will change. While at it, I also added Business US 75 in Le Mars that was approved by AASHTO last year, but again, I am not sure if signs are up considering that work on US 75 in the Le Mars area is still going on. (Anyone in Ottumwa or Le Mars, please keep me informed!)
- Jeff Morrison pointed out that Exits 148 and 149 on southbound I-29 have been combined into one exit after recent construction. I also added a link to the Yamamoto Experience's exit list for I-29 in North and South Dakota.
May 6: According to a recent blog entry on AARoads.com, I-129 shields were replaced by text during the late 1990s because drivers were confusing I-129 with I-29. I updated the listing and first Sioux City photo gallery caption to reflect this.
April 29:
- County maps from 2006 are now available at iowadotmaps.com. A few things to note: IA 296 (II) in Norwalk still exists, two small pieces of IA 368 (II) (formerly IA 5) near Hartford still exist, and the IA 404 (II) designation was added to former IA 60 segments that do not appear as black lines on the 2007 state map.
- Jeff Morrison did some research at Iowa State University's library recently and found the DOT's 2003 Mileage Table, which listed paving dates for each segment of active highways at that point. Some paving dates that were previously unknown have been found, including:
- IA 10 (now 3) near Colesburg
- The US 34 four-laning between Middletown and West Burlington
- IA 68
- The IA 163 four-laning west of Prairie City
April 15:
- Mark Odor contacted the DOT and found out the numbers for two former US 34 segments in southeast Iowa: the segment from Ottumwa through Agency is now IA 334, and the segment through Danville and Middletown is IA 434. Meanwhile, according to the 2007 map, IA 431 through Le Grand appears to have been turned over.
- More items from Jeff Morrison's research:
- IA 84 was truncated in Cedar Rapids on the day that the relocated US 218 opened. (The new routing was documented in the Commission's meeting notes on December 12, 1956, but I would think that the signs were removed before then.) The Cedar Rapids page has also been updated to reflect this.
- IA 281, according to Highway Commission notes, was extended to US 63 after US 20 was relocated in 1958. It was truncated to end at East 7th and Franklin Streets at an unknown date.
- IA 401 was originally designated to an old IA 141 segment north of I-35/80 when the freeway opened; it was not extended to US 6 until IA 64 was relocated. Updates were also made to the Des Moines page to note this
- IA 415's numbering date has also been added.
- I also added a link to his I-380 terminus photo page from the route listing.
March 25:
- The I-235 exit list has been updated to reflect the closing of the eastbound East 6th Street off-ramp.
- According to the Le Mars Sentinel, part of US 75 near the south end of the Le Mars bypass is still open to only two lanes and isn't expected to open to four lanes until around June 1.
- Jeff Morrison looked through Highway Commission notes from the late 1950s this time:
- Decommissioning dates were added for IA 194 and IA 350, and designation dates were added for IA 400, 401, the never-signed 402, 404, 405, 408, and 411. (Dates for 403 and 406 through 410 were not available.) In the case of 400, 401, 404, and 405, the numbers were assigned before the roads were signed in the field. Then there was the case of IA 412, which was originally supposed to be part of a relocation of US 20 that never happened.
- Dates were also added for the truncation of IA 122 (I)'s 2nd Street segment in Davenport and IA 222's truncation at Livermore. In addition, US 77 was relocated in Sioux City in 1949, and the first four-lane segment of US 52/61/151 in Dubuque opened in 1957.
- I added a link to Steve Alpert's photo gallery, which contains some Iowa highway sign photos from 20-30 years ago, from the Photo Gallery's index page.
March 4:
- I have now caught up with my Photo Gallery backlog:
- Three photos from the Combination Bridge's demolition in 1981, photographed by B.J. Verley and submitted by Mike Murphy, have been added to the Sioux City page.
- A new page for Ottumwa has been created, with five existing photos and nine new or replaced photos.
- I also added or replaced ten photos on the Waterloo/Cedar Falls page, added one photo by Jeff Morrison to the County Road Markers and Western Iowa Odds 'n' Ends pages, and added one photo from Nathan Bush and added or replaced four photos on the Central Iowa page. I also added one photo to the Eastern Iowa page of an unusual, to say the least, gore sign practice that has recently shown up along I-380 between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids.
- Research findings from Jeff Morrison:
- Designation dates were added for IA 88 (II), IA 371, and IA 372.
- Realignment dates were also added for US 59 and IA 184 (II) south of Imogene, US 20 in Dubuque (mentioned in conjunction with the Julien Dubuque Bridge's opening three years later), US 69 north of Lake Mills (mentioned in the paving history), and IA 17 (I) northwest of Rippey.
- In 1940, Illinois extended US 150 to the foot of the Centennial Bridge in Rock Island, which explains why IA 150 was originally designated all the way to the bridge.
February 25:
- This weekend's blizzard gave me some time for some major Photo Gallery updates:
- Since my Tripod pages were full, I created a new account for the Photo Gallery on Mediacom (iowahwypix.home.mchsi.com) and moved the index page and the Des Moines section from Tripod to the Mediacom server. (The old pages are still up as placeholders.) While at it I added or replaced a total of 24 photos from the past year to the Des Moines pages, moving all I-235 photos onto its own page.
- After clearing some space on Tripod, I also made these Gallery updates:
- Added one photo and replaced one photo on the Ames page
- Added one photo by Jeff Morrison to the Council Bluffs page
- Added or replaced three photos (including one by Jeff Morrison) on the Iowa City page
- Added or replaced seven photos on the Mason City page
- Added two and replaced three photos on the Mississippi River Bridges page
- Added or replaced three photos on the Quad Cities page
- Follow-up on IA 422, based on Jeff's recent research: the 1979 route log listed it as IA 422 but the 1980 log listed it as IA 969. Also, route logs stated that IA 77 ended at IA 1 until at least 1965.
February 21: Even more research findings from Jeff Morrison:
- Designation dates were added for IA 366, IA 367, IA 369 (I) (which served a coal mine in Marion County), and IA 370 (I).
- The cross-state extension of IA 64 was approved by the Highway Commission on June 20, 1939, even though signage was not completed until July 22. Also, three highways were extended on June 7, 1939: IA 107 was extended southward from Meservey, replacing IA 297 (I); IA 21 was extended southward, replacing part of IA 85; and IA 333 was extended westward to US 275.
- IA 91 (II), IA 250, IA 358, IA 408, and IA 422 were accepted by Kossuth County supervisors on May 2, 1980 (Kossuth County Advance), while the county took IA 226 on July 29, 1980 (Algona Upper Des Moines). In addition, IA 27 (III), IA 167, and IA 178 in Lyon County were decommissioned on August 12, 1980 (Lyon County Reporter).
February 8: More research findings from Jeff Morrison:
- Several highways were truncated on January 6, 1925, removing redundant multiplexes with other highways in cities: IA 3 (I) in Fort Madison, IA 21 (I) in Ida Grove, IA 38 in Muscatine, IA 48 in Red Oak, IA 53 (I) in Nora Springs, IA 65 in Lucas, IA 77 in Fairfield, IA 99 (I) in Clinton, and IA 114 (I) in Farmington. IA 11 was truncated north of Calmar two months later.
- Designation dates were also added for IA 130 (I) through 135, 161 (I), and 358 through 364.
- Dates were also added for:
- I also changed the URL of his Iowa Highway Ends Annex (formerly Iowa Geography Page) from the Links page.
January 28:
- Jeff Morrison did some more research at the Iowa DOT library recently, and I updated several listings:
- Designation dates were added for IA 108 through IA 129 (except for IA 120, which was unavailable).
- The relocated IA 20 west of Davenport was originally numbered as IA 200 and confined to Scott County, but within two months the road was extended to Muscatine and renumbered.
- Several highways were truncated on November 3, 1924, in a move to eliminate unnecessary multiplexes: IA 3 (I), 12, 22 (I), 31, 35 (I), 39 (I), 56, 57, 58, 63, 65, 90 (I), 94 (I), 101, 104, and 106.
- In addition, US 151's south end was at 1st Avenue W instead of 10th Avenue E.
- I also updated the US 65/IA 5 exit list after spotting a signage change.
January 15: I added entrance/terminus photo links for I-80N, I-280, I-680, and US 32.
January 3:
- Jeff Morrison found out that the US 275/IA 2 bypass of Sidney opened in September.
- I also added entrance photo links to I-80 and I-74.
Past updates:
Back to the Iowa Highways Page
Back to Freeway Junctions of the Heartland
© 2007 by Jason Hancock