Highway Page Updates — 2022
This is a list of updates to all of my highway pages so everyone can see what is new or what has changed since they last visited. The most recent updates are listed first.
December 22:
- Based on snow plow camera images from the area at 511ia.org and the Iowa DOT's construction project page, US 61 north of Burlington has not opened to four lanes and likely won't do so until the summer of 2023.
- I also hadn't touched the Links page for a while, so I fixed some of the broken links there.
December 20: According to this story from WHO-TV, the relocated IA 17 east of Boone opened December 12.
December 14: Some big news out of Nebraska: the Lincoln South Beltway opened earlier today (news coverage: Lincoln Journal-Star). As this area is within the scope of Freeway Junctions of the Heartland, I have created a new exit list for NE/IA 2 between US 77 and I-29 using information from online videos and Street View. I also used Street View to update the US 77 in Lincoln list, which hadn't been updated in ten years.
November 27: A 3-mile expressway segment of US 30 between X Avenue in Tama County and 11th Street in Benton County opened November 14, as mentioned by this blog post by Jim Magdefrau (linked from Jeff Morrison's blog) and confirmed in the field by Richard Stimmel. The IA 21 interchange remains under construction and will not open until the fall of 2023, as noted on the exit list.
November 20:
- According to this Iowa DOT press release, I-29 southbound in the vicinity of I-480 has closed while the on-ramp from I-480 to I-29 north opened within the past week. This means that through traffic on both directions of I-29 is now being detoured onto I-880 and I-80 west through the fall of 2023, with local traffic now following frontage roads and the southbound Exit 53A permanently closing. All affected exit lists have been updated.
- This is jumping the gun by two days, but the interchange of US 18/IA 27 at US 218 north is opening to eastbound/southbound traffic on Tuesday, November 22, per this Iowa DOT press release. The westbound/northbound lanes and ramps will be reconstructed in 2023.
- Another exit list update for I-74 in Illinois: According to Street View, the US 150 exit in Normal is now signed as Rivian Motorway.
November 3: The new exit ramp from southbound I-380 to westbound I-80 opened this morning (coverage: The Gazette). I have updated the I-380 exit list with that information.
October 27:
- Owen McCormick mentioned that the 1930 paving of US 32 was on a new alignment around Moscow and Wilton. (Side note: the old bridge was removed in 1942 but its piers remain standing today.)
- While updating that page, I also mentioned that the mile markers of US 136 start at 100 instead of 0 to avoid confusion with IA 136.
- After reviewing 511ia.org and new Street View images in Council Bluffs, I've updated the I-29 south and I-480 exit lists to reflect recent changes in signing, even though reconstruction of the interchange is still underway.
August 27:
- According to the latest Street View images from July, the new route of Business US 151 in Cascade that AASHTO approved last fall (following US 136 and old US 151 east of there) is signed along mainline US 151, but not along the route itself. The US 151 exit list was also updated.
- I also added a speed limit change along the US 52 Southwest Arterial just north of the US 61/151 interchange that I spotted on Street View.
- On that note, Business US 30 in Mount Vernon/Lisbon remains unsigned aside from street signing, per Street View images from June.
- Just in time for Hawkeye football season, the second flyover ramp at the I-80/380 interchange (southbound I-380 to eastbound I-80) opened on August 19 (story: The Gazette). Permanent signage won't likely go up until the new ramp to westbound I-80 opens, but as it stands now, exit 0A comes before Exit 0B heading south, so I changed the order of exits on the I-380 exit list.
July 25: Three exit list updates:
- I-74 Quad Cities: Hamilton Technical College is no longer signed at Exit 1.
- US 30 central Iowa: The Freedom Rock of Boone County is now signed at the four-way stop in Boone.
- US 61 north: The July 2022 plan for statewide sign replacements project NHSN-000-T(236)--2R-00 (found on the Iowa DOT Bid Documents page) gives exit numbers to the remaining exits along US 61/151 in Dubuque. While it will be a while before these changes are reflected in the field, I have placed the future exit numbers in parentheses on the list. Once I receive confirmation that the exit numbers are signed, I will remove the parentheses.
June 26:
- Jeff Morrison did some newspaper research that involved updates to the Highways of Cedar Rapids page, namely to US 30 and US 161. Despite what Highway Commission maps of the era showed, US 30 and 161 followed 2nd Avenue through the downtown area until 1931 per multiple newspaper articles. Also, US 161 followed a different route through Marion prior to 1929. I also linked to two essays that Jeff did about the history of the Lincoln Highway in Cedar Rapids and Marion.
- Several updates relating to the 2023-2027 transportation plan that was approved by the Transportation Commission earlier this month:
- Widening of I-35/I-80 through Urbandale and Clive will continue through 2027.
- Reconstruction of I-80 at the Madison Avenue exit in Council Bluffs is programmed for 2023 and 2024.
- Widening of I-380 between US 30 and County Road F12 is now programmed for 2026.
- The US 30 bypass of Missouri Valley has been pushed back to after 2027.
- Paving of the US 61 bypass of Wapello has been pushed back to beyond 2027.
- The US 63 bypass of Oskaloosa is programmed for 2026.
- An interchange between IA 27/58 and Greenhill Road is programmed for 2027.
- Dan Drackley mentioned that the Prairie Land Trail is now signed at I-35 exit 182.
June 12: The Harold "Pie" Keller Memorial in Brooklyn, which was dedicated yesterday, is now signed at I-80 Exit 197.
May 16: I added a link to the I-80 Mississippi River Bridge Study to the I-80 route listing in the wake of recent news about the identification of seven possible alternatives for a new I-80 bridge — four of which would involve new alignments for the I-80 bridge, allowing for possible repurposing of the old bridge as a "Bison Bridge". (story: KWQC-TV).
April 29:
- Jeff Morrison let me know that the 1932 paving of IA 149 between North and South English was missing from the paving history, and that the pavings of IA 325 and IA 364 involved alignment changes.
- According to this report from KIMT, temporary traffic signals are being put up at the northern split of US 18 and 218 in Floyd while work is underway on a new interchange due to open in the fall of 2023. This is noted on the Avenue of the Saints north exit list.
- Also, the Iowa DOT's application to relocate Business US 151 in Cascade along IA 136 instead of old US 151 was approved by AASHTO during their fall 2021 meeting, but signing had not changed as of March 13. Please let me know if signing has changed in the area.
March 15: According to an Iowa DOT press release, the intersection of US 30 and IA 21 is closing on March 28 to build an interchange as part of the four-laning of that stretch of US 30. I changed the intersection with IA 21 to an interchange under construction on the US 30 east exit list.
March 14: Observations from another weekend road trip, this time to eastern/northeast Iowa:
March 6: Some updates from a road trip to the Quad Cities area this past weekend:
- The destinations on westbound I-74 at exit 2 in Moline are all signed eastbound at Exit 1A, which makes more sense than having the TaxSlayer Center and John Deere Pavilion signed along eastbound IL 92 despite being west of I-74.
- New permanent signs at I-380 exit 2 list Coralville as the destination instead of North Liberty; I put the latter in parentheses on the exit list.
- IA 927 may have been decommissioned nearly two decades ago, but Cedar and Muscatine counties still call the road "Highway 927" according to street signs.
- On the subject of Historic US 6, I mentioned the routes Historic US 6 follows through Davenport and Iowa City on their respective pages.
- Also, I have neglected to mention the 2015 film River to River, a historic look at old US 6, on the US 6 listing; it's there now.
February 28: Now that work has started on the last four-lane segment of US 30 in Tama and Benton counties, I have extended the US 30 east exit list westward to the interchange with US 63, truncating the US 30 central list to that same interchange. While the exit number for IA 21 won't be posted until the interchange is opened, I have added it to the list based on the Iowa DOT's signing plan for that interchange.
January 13: Two exit list updates:
- I-74 Quad Cities: Traffic cameras on 511ia.org earlier today showed all lanes open on the new stretch of I-74, so I have added lane configurations to the exit list.
- US 20 east: Both Google Maps and OpenStreetMap show the US 20/Swiss Valley Road interchange as open, so I have updated the list.
Past updates:
Back to the Iowa Highways Page
Back to Freeway Junctions of the Heartland
© 2022 by Jason Hancock