Highway Page Updates

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.

October 16: A long-awaited link between central and eastern Iowa has been completed. Jeff Morrison reported that the last segment of US 30 in Benton County opened to four lanes yesterday to complete a continous four-lane highway between Ogden and Lisbon. Also, per this Iowa DOT news release, the new interchange at County Road R70 opened on October 14. The highway and both exit listings have been updated.

August 25: There hasn't been a lot to update this summer, but after driving through western Iowa and eastern Nebraska yesterday, here are a few exit list updates:

• I-29 south: Exit 53B for northbound traffic (I-480) is just exit 53 for southbound traffic.
• I-35 south: The Easter Seals Camp at I-35/80 exits 135 and 136 is now signed as "Easterseals Camp Sunnyside".
• I-80 west: The Brenton Arboretum is now signed at Exit 113 (although the westbound sign had not been replaced yet).
• US 77 Lincoln, NE: I have updated several exits and junctions based on how they are currently signed.

June 27: Updates based on the Iowa DOT's newly-approved 2025-2029 state transportation plan:

• Widening of I-80 between Grand Prairie Parkway and Jordan Creek Parkway will continue through 2026, while the widening of I-80 between I-35/235 and US 65 is expected to wrap up by the end of 2027.
• Paving of the US 30 bypass of Missouri Valley is programmed for 2029.
• Paving of the US 61 bypass of Wapello is now programmed for 2029 as well.
• Completion of the new US 218/IA 27 interchange has been pushed back to 2026.

June 6:

• Brian Schaeffer let me know that US 30 between County Road V44 and 22nd Avenue in Benton County opened to four lanes earlier today. This means that the last two-lane segment between Ames and Cedar Rapids is the five-mile segment between 11th Avenue and V44 that is currently being worked on.
• While driving to and from Kansas City last weekend, secondary signs at I-35 Exit 12 now list Decatur City as just "Decatur". According to its Wikipedia article, Decatur officially dropped "City" from its name in a referendum last November to eliminate confusion about its name. In addition to the I-35 south exit list, I also updated references to Decatur in the I-35 and IA 2 highway listings.

May 27:

• Jeff Morrison did some research on IA 3 in Cherokee and confirmed that when the bypass opened in November 1961, IA 5 (I) was not rerouted while IA 3 was. IA 5 was truncated west of US 59 in Cherokee effective January 3, 1962 (source: Sioux City Journal, January 4, 1962), a change reflected on the 1962 and 1963 state highway maps. IA 5 was truncated even further to the current west end of IA 7 two years later, creating IA 977.
• Jeff also mentioned that the loop of the Jefferson Highway Heritage Byway east of Van Wert is part of 240th Street rather than 250th Street, despite what Google Maps and the Iowa DOT's map of Decatur County show. In addition, a four-digit County Road R24J designation exists in northwestern Decatur and southwestern Clarke counties per the aforementioned county maps, but Street View does not cover this road and there is no confirmation as to whether it is actually signed.
• According to Mark Odor, the first destination for westbound I-880 at I-80 exit 27 was in the process of being changed from North Omaha to simply Omaha as of May 10. (No word yet if the destination for westbound I-680 at I-29 has also changed.)

April 15: After reviewing the Iowa DOT's new Des Moines Area Interstate Projects page, I updated the I-35, I-80, and I-235 highway listings to show what work is being done from now through 2028. As for the last left-hand exit from I-80 west to I-235 west, it is part of the preliminary "full-build conceptual layout" released by the Iowa DOT in 2017 which is now linked from these listings, but is currently not funded.

March 27: Two updates regarding US 30:

• Gary Stevenson pointed out that the four-lane segment that opened in 1964 did not end at the Boone/Story county line as previously listed. Maps and aerial photos from that era showed it ending at what is now 230th Street, with the rest of the four-lane segment opening with the Ames bypass in 1972.
• I have also added the new interchange under construction with County Road R70 east of I-35 to the US 30 central exit list.

February 25:

• Earlier this week, Justin Moore mentioned that County Road F22 markers were recently placed near I-35 earlier this year. While it is well known that Polk County generally doesn't sign its county roads with pentagon markers, I did not mention anything about it on the County Roads of Iowa page until now.
• According to the Nebraska DOT project page for the Lincoln South Beltway, the last two interchanges along NE 2 south of Lincoln opened last fall.

January 7:

• After more than two decades, I have decided to replace the photo on the front page with not one, but two highway scenes: one of a rural highway and one of an urban Interstate. Both of those photos were taken during the summer of 2023.
• I have also reviewed and updated the External Links page, along with any external links on the Freeway Junctions and Photo Gallery index pages.

Past updates:

• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 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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