Highway Page Updates — 2016
December 16: After years of delays due to budget and environmental concerns, the first segment of the IA 100 extension, running from Edgewood Road in Cedar Rapids westward to County Road W36 near unincorporated Covington, opened yesterday. (News coverage: The Gazette, KCRG, KGAN). In addition to updating the highway listing, I also updated the Highways of Cedar Rapids page, replacing the 2006 map that was previously there with a 2017 map, and created an exit list based on information I have gathered from the Iowa DOT's document library and news coverage. (Signage plans for the unbuilt segment between W36 and US 30/218, which is tentatively scheduled for completion in fall 2018, are not available on the Iowa DOT's site but the list will be updated once they are.)
November 27: The interchange of US 20 and County Road X49 in Dyersville (exit #292) opened on November 15. (News coverage: KCRG, KWWL)
November 13: Jeff Morrison has let me know that unsigned IA 934 is no longer a state highway as of August 9, when the Iowa Transportation Commission approved the transfer of the remaining 2.8-mile segment to the city of Waterloo. (News article from the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier here, commission meeting notes here.)
November 7:
- Three new scenic byways are coming, as the Iowa DOT and Gov. Branstad announced the creation of the Bridges Byway, the Jefferson Highway Heritage Byway, and the White Pole Road Byway, along with improvements to the Great River Road and additions to the Driftless Area and Historic Hills byways, on October 31 (DOT news release). Signing is expected to be completed by the summer of 2018. For now, the new byways are listed under "Future Scenic Byways" on the Scenic and Historic Routes page; I plan to add full listings once they are signed.
- I added legal description links for the the 900 series listings that are on this site. Of note:
- I have recognized March 9, 1976, as the date of designation for some highways even though the highways that previously followed those routes were relocated long before that: IA 930, IA 947, IA 948, IA 949, IA 956, and IA 963. In all cases, this was the date that the 900-series number was officially added to the state highway system; it's possible that these segments had different temporary designations before then, but most of them are not specified in the legal descriptions. (The exception is IA 930, which was previously classified as Alternate US 30 before 1976. But unlike the ones in Clinton and Council Bluffs, this highway was never signed as such so I have not added a separate listing for that highway to the US 30 page.)
- No online legal description is available for IA 964 in Marion County.
- IA 979: The legal description for Cedar County listed an approval date of December 21, 1948, but I have a feeling it may have been for the previous incarnation of IA 1 that ran through West Branch, given the date.
- IA 988: Despite the Mormon Bridge Road itself existing since 1952 as an unsigned extension of NE 36, the IA 988 designation only existed from 1975 to 2003.
October 16:
September 18:
- For navigation purposes, considering that there are a lot more unsigned 400-series numbers than there were when this site began, I have split the former Iowa 400-478 page into two pages — Iowa 400-419 and Iowa 420-478 — while updating listings and adding legal description links on both pages. Items of note:
- IA 417: There is no legal description available; its fate was mentioned in the legal description for its unsigned successor outside of Bettendorf, IA 984.
- IA 422 was demoted to unsigned IA 969 in 1976 before being turned over to local control.
- IA 432: There is a legal description for a short-lived designation from 1966 that intended to replace US 20 and IA 17 (then IA 60) through Webster City but never existed.
- No legal descriptions are available for IA 450, IA 463, or the new IA 471.
- I rarely mention detours in the route listings because of their temporary nature, but the current detour along US 20 west of Correctionville merits a mention because it uses part of US 20's pre-1958 alignment.
- Exit list updates:
- I-29 north: Since the remaining work left in the Sioux City reconstruction project is in the downtown area, I moved the construction alert to a point just before the Floyd River crossing. Also, southbound Exit 147B has permanently closed and new signage is up at Exit 149.
- US 20 west: Gowrie has been added as a secondary destination at Exit 116.
- I-480 and US 75 North Freeway: Dan Drackley pointed out that the only way to access NE 64 from eastbound I-480 or southbound US 75 is via I-480 exit 2B. On top of that, after reviewing aerial photos and Google Street View images, the off-ramp from westbound I-480 merges into northbound US 75 after the exit ramp from NE 64, so I noted that on the US 75 list. (Dan also reported that there have been no changes to US 6 or IA 192 in Council Bluffs as of September 1.)
August 21:
- Legal descriptions have been added, and dates updated where available, for state highways 300 through 399. Of note:
- IA 330: Per the Polk County legal description, the extension to Altoona in 2012 was made at the request of the city of Marshalltown and Iowa DOT District 1.
- IA 362 (I) was turned over to Pottawattamie County after the state took over IA 362 (II) — and both versions even appeared on the 1981 state transportation map.
- IA 370 (II) was deleted from the state highway system when Pottawattamie County took over its share of the road on October 6, 1980, with the whole segment in Mills County becoming IA 935. However, the segment west of I-29 in Mills County was officially renamed IA 370 "to maintain continuity in the Iowa route numbering system with the State of Nebraska" on February 17, 1983, and remained that way until the new US 34 opened in 2014.
- IA 375: The legal description gave an approval date of July 1, 1941 — and it was decommissioned exactly 30 years later. Since it was created from a former segment of US 275, I have recognized that date as when US 275 was rerouted along the former IA 367 (I).
- IA 394 (I) was turned over to local control after the state took control of IA 394 (II) per the legal descriptions.
- IA 397: No transfer of jurisdiction date was mentioned in the legal description.
August 6:
- Legal descriptions have been added, and dates updated where available, for state highways 200 through 299. Of note:
- IA 203: The legal description notes that the realignment as a north-south spur from IA 9 to Terril instead of a mostly east-west spur from US 71 "opened for primary road traffic August 28, 1951"; the 1951 map was the first to show this change.
- IA 205: The legal description noted that the city of Milo took over its share of the road on August 1, 1980. Given previous research and the fact that the 1987 legal description still has it ending in Milo, this may be a typo; I have recognized that date in 1990 as the truncation date.
- IA 238: From April 10, 1981, to August 26, 1987, IA 238 was officially decommissioned and did not appear on the 1983 or 1986 state transportation maps. However, the decommissioning was voided due to a state law that is documented in the legal description. (Of course, legislation decommissioned IA 238 for good two decades later.)
- IA 281: Per the legal description in Black Hawk County, the transfers of jurisdiction in 1984 that temporarily rerouted IA 281 to run due southward from Dunkerton to US 20 were voided by the DOT in 1988, restoring the "hanging end" at the east city limits of Waterloo.
- IA 287 (III): Despite the second incarnation of IA 287 and IA 280 (the third IA 287's original number) appearing on the 1966 state highway map, the legal description for the third incarnation lists a designation date of November 23, 1965, which I have recognized. There is no available legal description for IA 287 (II), so the decommissioning date for that highway cannot be verified.
- I have removed AIB College of Business, which closed recently, from the I-235 (exit 7A) and IA 5 (exit 97) exit lists.
August 1: Some quick exit list updates following a recent trip to the Quad Cities:
- I-74: The new Rhythm City Casino is signed at Exit 1.
- I-80 east: The Eastern Iowa Industrial Center is now signed at Exit 292, and Port Byron is now a secondary destination at Exit 1 in Illinois (although there is only signage westbound due to lack of space eastbound).
July 19:
- Legal description links have been added for state highways 100 through 199, and dates have been updated where available. Of note:
- IA 131: Despite signage being removed from the east-west segment by the end of 2001, the city of Belle Plaine and Benton County did not officially take control until June 2002.
- IA 149: A legal description is not available for Mahaska County.
- IA 153 (III): The legal description effective date of October 16, 1988 is likely a typo; I have recognized that date in 1968 as the date of decommissioning.
- IA 154: Both IA 154 and IA 187 appeared on the 1981 state transportation map. I have used the meeting date from the legal description (November 25, 1980) as its decommissioning date.
- IA 162 (I): The reason for renumbering was interesting, as described in the legal description for its successor, IA 322 (that listing will be updated later).
- IA 192: Per the legal description, it was briefly decommissioned between 1975 and 1980, explaining its absence from late-1970s maps.
- On the subject of IA 192, the Iowa DOT approved transferring Broadway (US 6) from 6th Street westward to I-480 and North 16th Street (IA 192) to the city of Council Bluffs on April 12 (source) so that the city can reconstruct West Broadway. AASHTO's Special Committee on US Route Numbering subsequently approved the proposal to reroute US 6 onto I-29 and I-80 in its semi-annual meeting in Des Moines on May 24 (source; jump to page 87). This will decommission IA 192 for the second time in its history, with the remaining portions of old US 6 and IA 192 obtaining an unsigned highway designation. The reroute of US 6 was supposed to take effect July 1 per the AASHTO documentation, but I have not received any reports about signs being taken down for either highway. If you confirm that signage in Council Bluffs has changed, please let me know.
June 30:
- Legal description links have been added for state highways 50 through 99, and dates have been updated where available. Of note:
- IA 70: There is no available legal description for Muscatine County.
- IA 79 (I): The legal description in Van Buren County notes that the county took over the road on July 28, 1980... but Des Moines County took over IA 79 (II) on July 1, so there may have been two IA 79's for a brief time in 1980.
- IA 83 and US 6: The legal description for US 6 in Cass County mentioned that the relocation onto I-80 took effect January 1, 1973. The previous segment was unsigned IA 973 originally (it appears as an "unmarked primary" road on the 1973 state highway map), but the Highway Commission routed IA 83 along that old segment on March 7, 1973.
- IA 86: According to the legal description, the state took over the segment between MN 86 at the state line and IA 9 on July 1, 1980, but IA 32 was not officially replaced until January 6, 1981, with signs changing in February per earlier newspaper research. (The old county road designation was not clear; the 1976 map called it County Road M46 but the 1977 through 1979 maps called it A18.)
- IA 95 was deleted from the primary road system in 1980 per the legal description, but Adams County refused to take jurisdiction of its share of the road, resulting in the unsigned IA 951 designation that lasted until 1993.
- Back in December, Richard Stimmel forwarded me some correspondence from the Iowa DOT regarding the new Savanna-Sabula Bridge for US 52/IA 64. The new bridge is a "tied-arch" bridge that Illinois is the lead agency for constructing; Iowa is replacing the "overflow" bridge between the island of Sabula and the causeway in 2018. I have linked to the Illinois DOT's project page from the IA 64 listing. Richard also informed me that the dedication plaque for the bridge has been removed from its original site due to the construction and is now on display at the Jackson County Historical Society in Maquoketa.
June 26:
- Legal description links have been added for state highways 1 through 49. Transfer of jurisdiction dates that were noted in the legal descriptions have been added to listings where appropriate. Some other changes that were made to the highway listings as a result:
- IA 2: A bypass of Bedford opened May 18, 1979. IA 49 was truncated as a result.
- IA 7 (III): The segment in Sioux City was unsigned IA 985 from 1969 until 1973.
- IA 10: Maps from 1945 through the 1960s do not show a multiplex with IA 17 (now IA 4), and the legal description in Pocahontas County shows that the current routing there was approved on September 11, 1963.
- IA 16:
- The highway was rerouted through Eldon in 1984 (no specific opening date was mentioned). The old segment was unsigned IA 918 until 2003, and as of last year there are still street signs in the area referring to "Highway 918".
- Also, the segment in Lee County east of US 218, which was part of Senate File 451 that transferred many state highways to local jurisdictions on July 1, 2003, was given back to the state on September 19, 2003.
- IA 19 (II): The renumbering of IA 19 to IA 410 was approved October 4, 1957, with signs changing March 12, 1958; I will recognize the latter as the decommissioning date.
- IA 21: IA 412 was decommissioned on October 1, 1983, causing IA 21's north end to move to the US 20 freeway.
- IA 22 and IA 38: The relocation of IA 22 onto the US 61 bypass and extension of IA 38 were approved on June 3, 1986, so I will recognize those as the relocation dates even though old IA 22 was not transferred to the city of Muscatine until July. An old segment of IA 22 outside the Muscatine city limits was unsigned IA 917 until July 1, 2003.
- IA 28: The legal description listing dated August 23, 1961, makes no mention of Army Post Road, so I will recognize that as the date that the removal of the redundant multiplex with what was then IA 60 took effect. The description also mentions that its extension between IA 5 and US 6 took effect August 21, 1980, but I was unable to find an opening date for the relocation that occurred in 1995 that is mentioned on the Des Moines page.
- On that note, based on the legal description for IA 401, the city of Johnston took over its piece on July 5, 1990... but IA 28 was not extended right away, as a Des Moines Register article from August 1 stated that the IA 401 designation would remain intact south of I-35/80. This was backed up by a Register article on November 14, 1990, which stated that "Merle Hay Road also [was] Iowa Highway 401". Given that, and given how the IA 401 legal description uses future tense when referring to the extension of IA 28, I will recognize March 12, 1991, as the date of decommissioning for IA 401 and extension of IA 28.
- IA 37: Despite its absence from the 1981 state transportation map, the segment from US 59 to Irwin was not turned over to local control until August 16, 1982.
- I also added terminus photo links for Business US 30 in Tama/Toledo and the unsigned IA 450 in Sioux County.
- Exit list update: The World Food Prize museum in downtown Des Moines has filled the empty space where the Convention Complex used to be on the secondary signs at I-235 exit 8A.
June 21:
- IA 196 is no more. Jeff Morrison pointed out that the Iowa DOT project page for the recent reconstruction of IA 196 mentions that "The contractor opened the roadway renamed U.S. 71 at noon June 14, 2016, to traffic." The reroute of US 71 over the former IA 196 was approved by AASHTO at its semi-annual meeting in Chicago on September 24. There is almost no difference in length, but a new four-lane multiplex with US 20 was added while part of the multiplex with IA 175 was removed. As for the old segment of US 71 between US 20 at Early and IA 175, it has a new number: IA 471, the first new signed state highway since the current IA 27 was designated 15 years ago. The new highways are in the 2017 Rand McNally Road Atlas.
- One item I overlooked while doing the legal description updates for US highways: per the legal description in Scott County, US 61 was rerouted in Davenport and unsigned IA 461 was designated on May 28, 2010, even though signs weren't changed for over a year.
- Aside from IA 196 and IA 461, no new legal description links have been added yet, but they will be added later. While not all highway listings have linked legal descriptions, I have updated the About This Site page to reflect this.
- Exit list updates:
- While I have yet to field-check the reroute of US 71, I have updated the US 20 west exit list based on signing plans posted in the Iowa DOT's document library.
- A small update: The former South 35th Street in West Des Moines is now signed as SE 35th Street along IA 5, as apparently all WDM streets south of the Raccoon River now have the "SE" designation.
June 9: Legal description links have been added for all US highway listings. Some updates to note:
- US 6: Per the legal description in Cass County, the relocation of US 6 onto I-80 between US 71 and Adair took effect on January 1, 1973. It briefly became IA 973 before IA 83 was extended (that will be updated when I get around to it). However, the legal descriptions did not mention effective dates for the 1980 relocations onto I-80 when they were updated on April 28, 1981.
- On a side note, US 6 between the US 65 bypass and I-80 in Altoona was relocated onto I-80 because the segment through Altoona was briefly turned over to the city until the state agreed to resume control on August 19, 1996. This is noted on the Highways of Des Moines page.
- US 30A: The legal descriptions in Harrison and Pottawattamie counties listed an effective removal date of November 19, 1969, so I will recognize that as the date of decommissioning.
- US 67: Per the legal descriptions in Dubuque and Jackson counties, the truncation of US 67 between Dubuque and Sabula was approved by the Highway Commission on January 24, 1968. Also, per the legal description in Clinton County, the previously-unlisted Camanche bypass opened June 17, 1982.
- US 75: The relocation between Sioux City and Council Bluffs was approved by the DOT on December 5, 1984, but at this point I have been unable to verify when signs were removed along I-29.
- US 77: Likewise, the former multiplex along I-29 was not deleted until December 15, 1982, but signs may have been removed before then.
- US 136: The legal description lists an approval date of November 9, 1950. Despite its absence from the 1951 Iowa map, the Illinois map from 1951 does show US 136, so I will recognize the date in the legal description as the commissioning date.
- US 151: The legal description in Linn County mentions that the segment of US 151 between IA 100 and IA 13 was transferred to the cities of Cedar Rapids and Marion on July 7, 1989, so I have recognized that as the date when US 151 was rerouted onto US 30 and IA 13.
- US 169: As of now, there is no online legal description for Kossuth County.
June 8: During the spring I discovered that the Iowa DOT's Office of Research and Analytics has posted legal descriptions, organized by county, of state-maintained highways that covers all current highways plus many highways that have been decommissioned since about 1969. While relocations and decommissionings since 2012 (for example, the decommissionings of IA 152 and IA 370) have not been documented on that site yet, this site contains lots of of information that will affect the listings on this site. If a transfer of jurisdiction date is mentioned in the legal description, I will recognize that date as the decommissioning date.
As of now, I have updated all Interstate highway listings to link to each county's legal description from the list of counties each highway goes through. The only significant update is that the legal description for I-80 in Pottawattamie County mentions that the removal of I-80N took effect after a resolution was passed by the then-Highway Commission on January 9, 1974, so I will recognize that date as when I-80N was replaced by I-680. As time permits, keeping in mind how busy my personal life has been lately, I will update each of the US highway listings next, followed by state highways, the local highway pages, and the About This Site page. Counties will also be added to decommissioned highway listings.
April 9:
- After signing up for a free trial at newspapers.com, which has nearly every Des Moines Register back issue going back over 100 years, I confirmed that the August 5, 1942, issue noted that the relocated Southeast 14th Street in Des Moines between Indianola Avenue and Army Post Road — plus the extension of Army Post Road — opened that month. (The article did not mention a specific opening date, but no followups were noted so I will acknowledge this as the month it opened.) The Highways of Des Moines, IA 28 and IA 46 (II) listings have been updated to reflect this.
- The same site also had Ames Tribune back issues, and following up on research that Jeff Morrison did earlier, I confirmed that most of the US 30 bypass of Ames opened December 4, 1972 — the interchange with Lincoln Way opened sometime in 1973 but I was unable to pin down an opening date for that.
March 26:
- A widened US 20 quietly opened to five lanes through Correctionville last November; this segment will connect with future expressway segments to the east and west. IA 31 was also rerouted along the west edge of Correctionville as a result, creating a quarter-mile concurrency with US 20 before resuming its old route. Also, the Iowa DOT launched a new website last fall with more details on the US 20 widening project.
- Partly as a result of the IA 31 relocation, and partly because online mapping has improved since I started this site 18 years ago, I have decided to drop the one-mile minimum and list all multiplexes on each highway, regardless of length. (Concurrencies with business highways are generally not included unless the business route designation is tied to an unsigned state highway, as is the case with US 67 and Business US 61 — officially IA 461 — in Davenport.)
Past updates:
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