Highway Page Updates

December 15:

• The Iowa Highways Flickr photostream now has over 1,500 photos from Iowa and the Midwest! This includes new sets for Boone and Le Mars, along with numerous new road trip sets. Because the gallery has gotten so large, I removed the individual set links from the Photo Gallery index page; instead, I put a link to the page on Flickr that shows all the sets.
• The IA 175 bridge from Decatur, NE, to Monona County is no longer a toll bridge. According to this story from the Sioux City Journal, the Burt County (NE) Bridge Commission transferred jurisdiction of the bridge to the Iowa DOT and Nebraska Department of Roads. As a result, tolls were dropped on December 1.
• Per the DOT's map of Jefferson County dated January 1, 2013, IA 904 is no longer a state highway. I removed the listing from the 900-series page as it did not fit the criteria I established for inclusion on that page, but it continues to be mentioned under the US 34 listing.
• Exit list updates:
• I-35 southern Iowa:
• New signs are going up at Exit 68; the Des Moines Airport has replaced West Des Moines and Norwalk as the primary destinations for IA 5, while Norwalk has been demoted to a secondary destination along with Carlisle.
• Exits 69A and 69B for Grand Avenue in West Des Moines are now one combined Exit 69 for southbound traffic. The northbound exits will be combined sometime in 2014, as the former cloverleaf interchange is being reconstructed into a diamond as part of the widening of I-35 through West Des Moines.
• I-35 central Iowa: I added the rest area between exits 96 and 102 that is under construction; completion is scheduled by the fall of 2014.
• I-80 eastern Nebraska: The six-laning of I-80 between Lincoln and Omaha has been completed, per this story from WOWT in Omaha.

November 3: More quick exit list updates:

• I-80 western Iowa, spotted by Mike Ehret: Exit 83 at Casey is no longer signed as Antique Country Drive.
• I-80 eastern Nebraska, spotted by Dan Drackley: The World War II Museum has closed and is no longer signed at Exit 420, and the tourist information center at Exit 432 has moved to Exit 439.
• I-180 eastern Nebraska, spotted by Dan Drackley: Pinnacle Bank Arena is now signed at Exit 2.

October 21: Two quick exit list updates:

• I-29 north: County Road G12 is signed at exit 72, but for southbound traffic only.
• I-235: The Des Moines Botanical Center is now the Botanical Garden, and signage at Exit 8B has been updated to reflect that.

September 15:

• Dave Darby, the executive director of the Iowa US Route 6 Tourist Association, has informed me that they plan to mark the entire original US 6 route by the end of 2014. In addition to the segment from Wilton to Davenport that was signed in last year, signs have been posted in Anita, west of Newton, from Grinnell through Ladora, and through Iowa City, among other places.
• Exit list updates:
• Due to the length of the list and the fact that I-74 exits from itself twice in the Quad Cities area, I have split the I-74 list up to make navigation easier. The stretch from I-80 in Davenport to I-280 in Moline is now here, and the stretch from I-80 in Colona, IL, through Peoria is now here. (The multiplex with I-280 is now exclusively on the I-280 page.)
• I have also updated the I-74 Illinois and I-474 lists to reflect the recent rerouting of US 24 and IL 29 in the Peoria area, among other signage changes.
• The Wapello County Fairgrounds is now signed at US 34 exit 199.
• In addition to fixing the exit list link on the I-74 page, I also fixed the link to the Iowa DOT's I-74 Corridor Study page as the previous link was broken.

August 11:

• On August 9, the city of Dubuque and the Iowa DOT signed an agreement where the state will build the Southwest Arterial and reroute US 52 onto it. (News coverage: KWWL, KCRG.) US 52 will then follow US 20 and IA 136, like it did during the mid-1960s. The agreement also means that IA 3 in the Dubuque city limits and IA 32 will be decommissioned in the future, although there have been no confirmed timeframes as to when that will happen. (If any readers in the Dubuque area spot changes in highway signage, please let me know.)
• There is one more Lincoln Highway loop that was not previously documented: it follows US 30 westward from Missouri Valley into Nebraska.
• Exit list updates from a western Iowa trip last week:
• I-480: the Exit 0 that Jeff Morrison spotted earlier was for Dodge Park, but is now signed as "Riverfront". Also, I-29 is no longer signed as Exits 1A-B.
• I-29 south: "Riverboat Casino" at Exit 53A is now just "Casino", as Harrah's Casino is now land-based.
• I-29 north: County Road G14 east of I-29 is now signed as G12, so I removed G14 from Exit 72.
• I-80 west: The South Raccoon River crossing had been mis-signed as the Middle Raccoon River crossing, even though the Middle Raccoon does not start until a point near Redfield. But the DOT recently corrected that error, and I have done the same on the exit list.

July 28: Minor exit list updates that I overlooked last week:

• I-129 and US 20/75 at I-29: the Sioux Gateway Airport is now spelled out instead of listed as just "Airport".
• I-35 north: the proper "SOUTH" banner is now listed for IA 27 at Exit 190.

July 21:

• The IA 141 expressway between Perry and Grimes is now signed as the George Soumas Memorial Highway.
• Two updates to the Scenic and Historic Routes page courtesy of Jeff Morrison: the Lincoln Highway follows Grove Street in Calamus instead of Main Street, and part of the Dragoon Trail alternate route in Boone County has been abandoned after the Wagon Wheel Bridge (north of the Kate Shelley High Bridge) over the Des Moines River was closed to vehicles in mid-2010.
• Exit list updates from recent travels:
• I-29: Bridgeport Industrial Park is now signed at Exit 143. (As of late June, signs have only been placed heading south due to ongoing construction along I-29 in the Sioux City area.)
• IA 141: The High Trestle Trail is now signed at Exit 138, and Granger is now signed with Luther at Exit 146.

June 29:

• Jeff Morrison drove the western part of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway recently — the part that I had yet to field-check since the signs were put up two years ago — and I have updated that listing to reflect his observations.
• Updates related to the 2014-2018 transportation plan which was approved by the Transportation Commission earlier this month:
• Construction of the new I-74 bridge in the Quad Cities is scheduled to start in fiscal 2018.
• Paving for the 11.5-mile expressway segment of US 20 between Moville and Correctionville has been programmed for 2016 and again in 2018. The segment through Correctionville will be paved in 2015. There is still no scheduled completion date for the remaining segments between Correctionville and Early.
• Paving of a US 30 expressway segment between IA 21 and US 218 is programmed for 2018.
• The paving schedule for the IA 100 extension in Cedar Rapids has been set: from Edgewood Road to County Road W36 (old IA 94) in 2016, and from W36 to US 30/218 in 2018.
• Grading and paving of the Southwest Arterial in Dubuque is programmed for 2015, 2017, and 2018. I listed that under IA 32, but what number it has upon completion has yet to be seen (see April 13 update below).
• Exit list updates:
• The Des Moines International Airport is now depicted by airplane symbol signs attached to the BGS at I-80 exit 123B eastbound and exit 141 westbound. (This is why I placed "Des Moines International" in parentheses for both listings). The airport is also mentioned in a distance sign on IA 163 at US 65 south.
• Per Jeff Morrison, the Dodge Park exit on I-480 is now labeled as Exit 0 for some reason.

May 12:

• Jeff Morrison pointed out that the 1951 paving of US 169 between Adel and De Soto was on a straighter alignment that involved a new Raccoon River bridge, and US 63 was realigned between Waterloo and Hudson in 1962. (Also, upon reviewing the DOT's historical map archives, the first map to show the present route of US 63 was the 1969 map, implying that the shift to Sergeant Road north of San Marnan happened in 1968.)
• Exit list updates:
• A new visitor information center in Newton is signed on I-80 exit 164 westbound and 168 eastbound.
• Other exits with minor signage updates: I-35 exit 89 and US 65 exit 73.

April 13:

• News from Dubuque: At the Iowa Transportation Commission meeting in Coralville on April 9, the city of Dubuque proposed a transfer involving the future Southwest Arterial freeway. Under the city's plan, the DOT would assume construction of the Southwest Arterial. US 52 would be rerouted along IA 136 and US 20, much like it was in the mid-1960s, and then routed along the new Southwest Arterial. Meanwhile, the city would assume jurisdiction of IA 32 and US 52/IA 3 within the city limits. The plan has yet to be approved by the Transportation Commission, and there is currently no scheduled completion date for the Southwest Arterial. More details are on the city of Dubuque's webpage.
• The online 2013 state transportation map went live April 1. The new map shows that the remainder of US 63 was added to the state's Commercial & Industrial Network last year, but the latest National Highway System map from the FHWA does not show that piece of US 63 as being part of the NHS. I added that note to the US 63 listing.
• I also added a few new links, including one to the DOT's Historical Map Collection which has every published state highway/transportation map going back to 1919.

February 24:

• According to the DOT's new PDF state highway map dated January 1, the segment of Business US 61 in Fort Madison that does not follow IA 2 is designated as IA 961. (The map also shows unsigned highways 470 near Merrill and 903 in Mahaska County, but I have held off on adding either highway until I get more information about them, since they do not appear on county or city maps.)
• Exit list updates:
• I-29 south: The Council Bluffs Riverfront is now signed at Exit 53A.
• I-35 central: The High Trestle Trail is now signed at Exit 92.
• Avenue of the Saints north: The North Iowa Fairgrounds at Exit 183 is now the North Iowa Events Center.

February 2: As a way to simplify the listings, I've updated several listings that had multiple terminus photo links (IA 9, 163, and 330, to name a few) to link to only one page instead. Each of the terminus photo pages that I have linked to have internal links to other terminus photos of that highway, so if the link provided on this page shows photos of the highway's west end, a link to photos of its east end is provided on that page.

Past updates:

• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007 (second half)
• 2007 (first half)
• 2006 (second half)
• 2006 (first half)
• 2005 (second half)
• 2005 (first half)
• 2004 (second half)
• 2004 (first half)
• 2003 (second half)
• 2003 (first half)
• 2002 (second half)
• 2002 (first half)
• 2001
• 2000

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