Site updates

Highway page updates — 2018

December 19:

Another project that was planned for more than half a century and held up around the turn of the millennium is finally completed. The extension of IA 100 opened on Wednesday, December 12, to complete the 16-mile route. (News coverage: KCRG, KGAN, KWWL.) In addition to updating the IA 100 listing, I have updated the Highways of Cedar Rapids page by adding a 2002 map and replacing the 2017 map with a 2019 map.
Exit list updates:

IA 100 and US 30 east have been updated based on signing plans from the Iowa DOT's Highway Plans Collection. If the signs in the field look different, please let me know.
US 20 east: Per this YouTube video from the city of Dubuque, the frontage road intersection in front of Menards has permanently closed. Access is now through the new Westside Drive, which intersects US 20 at Old Highway Road.

November 11:

Jeff Morrison let me know that there was a slight change in the alignment of Business US 169, as construction of a roundabout entering downtown Fort Dodge caused its route to shift a block to the north. More details are here.
The eastern half of I-35/80 exit 128 (100th Street) in Urbandale opened November 7, completing the interchange.

October 21: Updates relating to highway openings this week:

After six decades, US 20 is now (mostly) a four-lane divided highway between Sioux City and Dubuque after the last expressway segment between Correctionville and Holstein opened October 17. A dedication ceremony was held in Holstein on October 19. (News coverage: Fort Dodge Messenger, Sioux City Journal, KTIV) In the meantime, the Historic US 20 Association has undergone an effort to sign US 20's 1926 alignment as Historic US 20, similar to what was done with US 6.
Meanwhile, the western half of the I-35/80 interchange with 100th Street in Urbandale (Exit 128) opened October 15. (News coverage: Des Moines Register, WHO-TV). The eastern half is expected to open in November.
Also, an interchange connecting US 65, IA 117, IA 330, and County Road F17 northwest of Mingo opened October 19. (News coverage: WHO-TV) The new interchange slightly extended IA 117 and slightly realigned US 65 in the vicinity of the interchange.

October 12:

According to KTIV and the Iowa DOT's US 20 page, the US 20 expressway segment between US 59 and US 71 opened October 4. This leaves the segment between Correctionville and Holstein as the only one that is not open to four lanes yet.
Exit list updates:

The Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville is now signed at US 20 exit 292.
I added the under-construction interchange at Forevergreen Road interchange to the I-380 exit list. Signing information came from the Iowa DOT's October letting document page.

September 21: According to this blog post by Jeff Morrison and this story from KSCJ radio, a four-lane segment of US 20 in Woodbury County opened on Monday to complete the expressway segment between Sioux City and Correctionville.

September 2: The US 52/IA 64 overflow bridge north of Sabula has reopened as of August 31, per this Quad-City Times article.

August 24:

I added an image of the new Covered Bridges Scenic Byway marker to the Scenic and Historic Routes page.
Exit list updates:

I-235: The East Village is now signed at Exit 8B.
I-29 south and I-80 west: Per this Iowa DOT press release, exits along the I-29/80 multiplex in Council Bluffs were renumbered to follow I-29's numbers instead of I-80's, just like they briefly were in the fall of 2014 when the signs were first posted. This is because I-29 will be co-signed with I-80 along the "local" lanes of the dual divided freeway. While the I-29 list shows I-29's exit numbers regardless of direction, the I-80 list notes that the exits are still signed as Exit 1A eastbound and 3 westbound, since the respective exit ramps (for the time being) are located before I-29 merges into I-80.

July 30:

I added a link to Jeff Morrison's new Dubuque highway chronology page from the main page as well as the highway listings for US 20, US 52, US 55, US 61, US 67, US 151, IA 3, and IA 10 (I).
Per the Keokuk Daily Gate City, US 136 was signed through Keokuk on February 22, 1951; this matches the timeframe when it was signed through Illinois and Missouri, per various articles on newspapers.com.
Exit list updates:

I-35 central: The southbound weigh station south of Ames has closed.
I-74 Quad Cities: Kaplan University is no longer signed at Exit 2.
I-280: Nahant March Education Center is now signed at Exit 8.

June 10:

The Iowa DOT now has its own construction site related to news about the US 52/IA 64 bridge construction project that has closed the highway through September.
I also cleaned up the general links and Photo Gallery links pages.

May 20:

Unforeseen delays in constructing a replacement overflow bridge have caused the new US 52/IA 64 bridge to remain closed until September. Traffic is being detoured onto US 67, IA/IL 136, and IL 84, but in the meantime, a car ferry between Sabula and Savanna is being considered. (KCRG-TV story)
Signs for IA 192 have been taken down on or around May 17, per the 511ia.org traffic cameras at 8th & Kanesville. The transfer of jurisdiction was approved by the Iowa Transportation Commission last December 12.
Some research findings from the Cedar Rapids Newspaper Archive:

US 30: I wasn't able to find an exact opening date for the relocated 16th Avenue SW in 1938. The Gazette reported that paving was completed on July 12, but the road would not open "for two to three weeks" to finish work. It would have been between August 4 (the Gazette reported that the unopened road was going to be used for a soapbox derby later that month) and September 13 (report of the first accident on the road).
The Gazette also reported on July 1, 1940, that relocation of US 30 along the 8th Avenue Bridge was finished that day. The same article mentioned that IA 64 was unchanged but made no mention of US 151 or 218. A follow-up article on July 2 noted that relocation of US 218 was in the works, but I was unable to find any further sources stating that the relocation of US 151 and 218 coincided with that of US 30, so I am leaving those highways as being relocated in July.
IA 11: Its relocation onto Center Point Road (then known as 13th Street) likely coincided with the paving of IA 11 toward Center Point and Walker, which was completed in September 1930; a May 24 Gazette and Republican article reminded drivers that IA 11 was being detoured along 1st Avenue into Marion. The 1931 state map did not show the change, but the 1932 map — which followed a change in cartography — did.
The designation of IA 74 (II) took effect April 1, 1943, per a Gazette article from March 17.
The commissioning of IA 381 (I) coincided with that of IA 84 (II) in 1943.

Jeff Morrison discovered that the 1927 paving of US 30 bypassed a paved segment through Mechanicsville, and that the short four-lane segment of US 151 near the Dubuque Airport opened along with the US 61/151 interchange on December 10, 1971, per the Telegraph-Herald.
Exit list updates:

I-380: Jeff Morrison reported that "Sunset Street" was added to the signs at Exit 41 in Urbana.

April 8:

Jeff Morrison found that the north end of IA 110 originally ended in the Storm Lake business district; it was moved to its present route on November 3, 1967, per the Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune.
A few research findings of my own from the Des Moines Register/Tribune archives on newspapers.com:

IA 132: Decommissioned May 29, 1963, per a Register article from July 18, 1965.
IA 158: Decommissioned effective January 1, 1962, per a Tribune article from September 20, 1961.
IA 160: The original diagonal segment south of Ankeny opened sometime in July 1947, per a Register article from August 6.

Exit list updates:

IA 100: Per the 511ia.org traffic cameras, the interchange with I-380 is now signed as Exit 9, with Iowa City as the destination for southbound I-380.
I-74 Illinois, I-180 Illinois, and I-474/IL 6: Made some minor updates to these lists thanks to Google Street View.

March 30:

While the three new state scenic byways (Covered Bridges, Jefferson Highway, and the White Pole Road) aren't signed yet, maps of their routes now appear on the Iowa DOT's byways page, so I added listings for each of them to the Scenic and Historic Routes page.
Even more research findings from Jeff Morrison, sorted by route:

US 18 and US 218: The Charles City bypass opened July 31, 2000, and the segment between Rudd and the split in Floyd opened August 30 of that year. (Waterloo Courier)
US 20: The first freeway segment between US 69 and I-35 opened December 11, 1968 (Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City)
US 30: A segment of the old Lincoln Highway crossing the Iowa River near the Meskwaki Settlement was not paved until November 1930 (the old segment is still gravel today and is marked as a loop on the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway). Also, the relocated segments in Tama County opened in August 1931 instead of July, with the new segment in Tama opening August 10 (Waterloo Courier).
US 52: The bypass of Decorah opened June 16, 1964 (Waterloo Courier)
US 63: The relocated segment from Hudson to San Marnan Drive in Waterloo opened July 29, 1962 (Traer Star-Clipper). The 1968 relocation of the highway in Waterloo occurred December 16 but northbound traffic in the downtown area stayed on its old alignment until October 9, 1969. (Waterloo Courier)
US 151, IA 64, and IA 428 (I): The Anamosa bypass opened November 12, 1965 (Cedar Valley Daily Times and Cedar Rapids Gazette)
US 161: The 1926 paving south of Cedar Rapids ended at the Linn/Johnson county line, with paving from there to Iowa City having been finished in 1927. (Daily Iowan)
US 218: The segment through Janesville was paved in 1930, on a new alignment that opened July 24. (Waterloo Courier)
IA 1 and IA 139 (I): Although the announcement of IA 1's extension east of Iowa City and IA 139's decommissioning was made in December 1929, signs were not changed until March 1930. (West Branch Times)
IA 5 (I): The paved segment between Cedar Falls and Waterloo opened June 10, 1920, just before designation. He also confirmed that it and IA 40 (I) did not switch routes prior to the 1926 designation of US 20 and US 218. (Waterloo Courier)
IA 9: The Black Hawk Bridge opened June 17, 1931 (Waterloo Courier, and the paved segment into South Dakota opened that September (Lyon County Reporter).
IA 21: The last segment from Waterloo to Dysart opened August 11, 1969 (Waterloo Courier)
IA 25: The segment between US 6 and Greenfield opened sometime in the fall of 1952 (Adair County Free Press, September 25)
IA 58: The first expressway segment in Cedar Falls opened November 19, 1993. (Waterloo Courier)
IA 127 was straightened between US 75 and a point west of Magnolia in 1940 (Iowa DOT document library)
IA 137: The new bridge and realigned segment to US 63 in Eddyville opened December 22, 2005. (Eddyville Tribune)
IA 144: The diagonal segment between Rippey and Perry opened in the fall of 1942, no later than December 3 (Jefferson Herald)
Jeff has also updated his Waterloo/Cedar Falls Highway Chronology page with some additional findings, including the shift of US 63 in the downtown area in 1968 and 1969 that actually took two years to complete, not one.

And some research findings of my own:

Articles in the Davenport Democrat and Leader and the Iowa City Press-Citizen stated that the replacement of signs along US 32 with US 6 began December 1, 1931, so I will recognize that as US 6's designation date in Iowa.
The US 61 freeway between Davenport and De Witt actually opened in two segments: from I-80 to County Road F45 in Eldridge opened on October 19, 1982, with the remaining segment opening on December 1. (Quad-City Times, Davenport)
I also went through the Times' online archive on Newspapers.com and made a few updates to the Highways of Davenport and Bettendorf page, particularly on findings related to US 61, IA 74, and IA 99.
The IA 9 south bypass of Decorah, which ran up to a mile south of the old alignment, opened by January 5, 1970 (Waterloo Courier, which mentioned no specific date)
IA 412 opened in September 1960; the dedication was held September 13 but I was unable to find an actual opening date (Waterloo Courier).

Exit list update: the Iowa State University Research Park is now signed at US 30 Exit 146.

February 24:

More research findings from Jeff Morrison:

A very short IA 903 in Mahaska County appears on some Iowa DOT maps but not on others. Jeff confirmed with the Iowa DOT that this former IA 163 segment has been on the books since December 31, 2011, and is a likely candidate for a future transfer of jurisdiction.
The US highways designated in December 1934 were not signed right away — except for US 52, signing of which was completed January 31, 1935, per the Postville Herald, signing of US 59 (Cherokee Chief), US 63 (New Hampton Tribune), US 67 (Davenport Daily Times - a finding of mine), US 69 south of Des Moines, and US 163 were completed on February 15, 1935. The changeover of IA 67 to IA 55 was done that same day per the Seymour Herald.
Signing of IA 73 (II) was completed on June 25, 1934, per the Cherokee Daily Times.
IA 110 (I) in Larrabee was decommissioned on October 31, 1934, after the realigned IA 73 (I), later US 59, opened, per the Cherokee Chief.
IA 150 (II) from 1930 was a paper highway after all that was never signed, per articles in the Denison Bulletin and Schleswig Leader.
IA 161 (II) in Keokuk was designated in 1944 after all, per the Highway Commission's 1944 map of Lee County.
The extension of IA 13 in Cedar Rapids was built as a two-lane road with aspirations for becoming a four-lane highway (which didn't become reality until the 1990s), and the interchange with US 30 was there from day one. (Neither of us were able to find an opening date for the IA 13 segment between US 151 and Mount Vernon Road.)

And some research findings of my own:

Lots of changes were made to the Highways of Iowa City page based on research I did recently. The original routings of US 32, US 161, IA 1, and IA 139 were documented in the Iowa City Press-Citizen of September 4, 1926.
In Cedar Rapids, it turns out that the routing of IA 149 found in a 1934 Gousha map (Wilson Avenue and Rockford Road leaving town) may not have been signed after all. Based on construction plans in the Iowa DOT's document library and articles in the Cedar Rapids Newspaper Archives, the route built followed Williams Boulevard and 1st Avenue. Also, the relocated IA 13 opened November 13, 1930, and US 30 was rerouted onto the A Avenue viaduct on July 6, 1931.

I have also added legal description links, where available, to the Highways of Des Moines and Highways of Davenport and Bettendorf pages.

February 4:

IA 98 is no more as of December 28, per this story in the Marshalltown Times-Republican that quoted the Van Buren County Register.
Jeff Morrison provided me with a few research findings:

It turns out US 18 was not signed west of US 75 when signage of the US highway system was completed. As late as October 4, 1926, the Highway Commission declined to join South Dakota in requesting that it be extended westward, and it wasn't until the AASHO meeting on November 11 — the official birthdate of the US highway system — that US 18 was extended westward (confirmed in the Sioux County Index of Hull, November 26); I have recognized November 11 as the date of its westward extension and decommissioning of IA 19 (I) even though signing may not have been completed until later.
As for IA 19 (II) to Backbone State Park, it was not added to the state highway system until May 3, 1927.
The original paving of IA 2 (I) between Columbus Junction and Fredonia dated back to 1914 and ran closer to the railroad tracks; it was superseded by a new paved segment along IA 92's present route in 1937 (per the Iowa DOT's document library). This is mentioned in the paving history, as the realignment itself wasn't very long.
IA 3 was extended across the Big Sioux River on July 5, 1949, per the legal description and confirmed via an article in the Akron Register-Tribune on July 28.
IA 101 was paved in Vinton in 1912 — the Vinton Eagle on August 20 heralded it as "The First Concrete Roadway in the State of Iowa" — and moved to the alignment IA 150 follows today on April 2, 1941, per the legal description.
IA 136 was extended into Illinois based on the 1967 Illinois map dated January 1 of that year. Coupled with the Iowa DOT's legal description, I will recognize December 7, 1966, as the decommissioning date of the eastern US 30A despite its presence on the back of the 1967 Iowa map.
IA 146 was straightened north of Grinnell on January 10, 1951, per the legal description in Tama County.
IA 149 was diagonalized and paved southwest of Cedar Rapids in 1934. The Des Moines Register on October 7 pointed out that the road opened the day before.

A research finding of my own: IA 188 was turned over to Butler County in October 1964, creating IA 122 (II) as a stub to Clarksville, after an agreement was reached between the state and Butler County in June 1963 (sources: Waterloo Daily Courier, June 28, 1963, and the Des Moines Register, November 1, 1964); the timing of the agreement may explain the changes being made on the 1964 state map. But traffic counts turned out to be higher than expected, thus voiding the agreement between the state and county (source: Waterloo Daily Courier, November 16, 1965); the date of recommissioning is from the IA 188 legal description.

January 1:

It was 20 years ago on January 8 when I, a student of the University of Iowa at the time, launched the Iowa Highways Page. A lot has changed since then:

This site itself has changed web servers multiple times, adopting the iowahighways.org domain as a redirect in 2004 and as a permanent URL in 2014, while my original photos are now on Flickr.
Online mapping was relatively new in 1998 while online aerial photos were hard to find until the Iowa Geographical Map Server came along.
Newsgroups like misc.transport.road have given way to message boards like the AARoads Forum and social media like Facebook (the Mid-America Roads group includes Iowa highway discussion).
Iowa's highway system has changed a lot in the last 20 years as well — four-lane corridors like the Avenue of the Saints (signed as IA 27 since 2001) and the Des Moines-Burlington Expressway (signed as IA 163 since 2009) were under construction 20 years ago, and a four-lane US 20 from Sioux City to Dubuque, which was unfunded west of Fort Dodge in 1998, will finally be reality by the end of this year.
When I started this site, research on historic highway alignments was limited to looking at the map collection at the UI Main Library and looking at old newspapers on microfilm. Now, thanks to the efforts of contributors like Jeff Morrison, who's contributed more material to this site than anyone by far, and the increased availability of newspaper archives online (many of which require subscriptions) and historical material from the Iowa DOT's website (including every highway map ever published, going back nearly 100 years), research has become a lot easier.

Speaking of US 20, Jeff Morrison confirmed from the Iowa DOT that a 3½-mile expressway segment between County Road L25 and the five-lane segment in Correctionville opened last November 22.
According to the Iowa Transportation Commission meeting notes from December 12, the remainder of IA 192 will be turned over to the city of Council Bluffs in the near future. The listing will be updated once I receive confirmation that signs have been taken down, but I did remove IA 192 from the I-80 west exit list.
Other exit list updates:

I-35 south: I added the new interchange with NW 100th Street in Urbandale that is currently under construction.
I-80 central: Marshalltown has replaced Altoona as a destination at Exit 142, per this story in the Marshalltown Times-Republican.
I-80 east: Minor signing update at Exit 295A in Davenport.
IA 141 is now six lanes through Grimes.

Past updates:

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