Length: 64 miles/103 kilometers
Western terminus: US 151 in Anamosa
Eastern terminus: Illinois state line (Mississippi River) at Sabula with US 52;
continues as IL 64.
Terminus photos
IA 64 and IA 48 are the only two
routes in Iowa where the rounded length of the route (in miles) is the same as that of the
highway number.
Counties: Jones, Jackson
Cities along route: Anamosa, Wyoming, Monmouth, Baldwin, Maquoketa,
Preston, Miles, Sabula
NHS: Segments through Anamosa and Maquoketa
Multiplexes:
2 miles with IA 38 in southern Jones County
1 mile with IA 136 through Wyoming
½ mile with US 67 west of Sabula
3½ miles with US 52, from the north end of US 67 to the
Illinois state line; they stay together for an additional 28 miles in Illinois.
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Designated: December 11, 1936 (number approved November 25), replacing the former IA 117 (I) and following part of US 161 (later US 151) in order to create a continuously-numbered road between Cedar Rapids and Chicago
Paving history: At the time of designation, the segment from Cedar Rapids to Maquoketa and the multiplex with US 52 were paved.
1937: Paved from Maquoketa to a county road (now Y60) north of Delmar
1938: Paved from the county road north of Delmar to Preston
1939: Paved from Preston to Miles; the extension to Council Bluffs was entirely paved.
1940: Last segment, from Miles to US 52, was paved.
Major alignment changes:
July 22, 1939 (routing approved June 20): IA 64 was re-routed from one end of the state to the other, connecting US 6 in Council Bluffs with Illinois' route 64 at Savanna via Des Moines,
Marshalltown, and Cedar Rapids. Along the way it had taken the route of IA 7 (I) between Des Moines and Council Bluffs, and the diagonal IA 88 between Des Moines and Marshalltown.
This approximately 350-mile route was the longest in the state at the time. It involved a
lot of multiplexing with US highways, though: IA 64 ran 12 miles with US
59 between Avoca and Harlan, 10 miles with US
6 through Des Moines, 17 miles with US 65
northeast of Des Moines (including about five miles with US 6), and 70 miles
with US 30 from near Marshalltown to Cedar
Rapids in addition to the existing 27 miles with US 151 between Cedar Rapids and Anamosa.
December 1947: Route straightened through Marshall County (with US 30), with part of the old
highway becoming IA 330.
September 25, 1954: Rerouted between Le Grand and Tama on a new alignment (with US 30), engulfing
IA 135 (I) and creating IA 135 (II)
into Montour. The old segments are now parts of IA 146 and County Road E49.
November 19, 1958: Realigned around Des Moines after relocated IA 141 and the
first segment of I-35/I-80 were completed. IA 64 followed IA 60 (I)
and IA 141 south of Grimes and I-35/80 to the Merle
Hay Road exit. (Part of old IA 64, along Merle Hay Road, had been redesignated
as IA 401 and is now IA 28.)
August 12, 1959: Re-routed along part of IA 191
between Neola and Portsmouth and IA 39 (I) between
Portsmouth and Harlan. IA 83 replaced the old IA 64 segment between Neola and Avoca.
November 17, 1960: Moved onto the newly-completed segment of I-80 between Merle Hay Road and US 65 near Altoona; an extension of IA 401 replaced the old segment along Merle Hay Road.
November 12, 1965: Two-lane bypass around Anamosa, with US 151, opens;
the old segment into Anamosa became IA 428 (I).
January 1, 1969: Truncated west of Anamosa, eliminating all duplexes except the
one with US 52 into Illinois and removing the highway from Pottawattamie, Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Guthrie, Dallas, Polk, Jasper, Story, Marshall, Tama, Benton, and Linn counties. The other standalone
segments became IA 191 (from Council Bluffs
to Portsmouth), IA 44 (from Portsmouth to
Grimes), and IA 330 (from US 65 to US 30).
The link with IL 64, which runs through north-central Illinois before ending
at Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, was retained.
For street alignments in Council Bluffs, see Jeff Morrison's Council Bluffs/Omaha Highway Chronology page.
For street alignments in the Des Moines area, see the Highways of Des Moines page.
For street alignments in the Cedar Rapids area, see the Highways of Cedar Rapids page.
Upgrades:
November 17, 2017: The Dale Gardner Veterans Memorial Bridge opens between Sabula and Savanna, IL, with US 52, replacing the old Sabula-Savanna Bridge that dated back from 1932. The bridge is named after NASA astronaut Dale Gardner (1948-2014), who grew up in the area. (Iowa then replaced the "overflow" bridge between the island of Sabula and the causeway, causing closure of the new bridge from February 27 through August 31, 2018.)
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