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Dubuque - SW Arterial (Future US-52)

Started by edwaleni, March 03, 2020, 04:09:47 PM

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edwaleni

Does anyone have anything current on the new SW Arterial IDOT is building around Dubuque?

I heard the bridge over US-151/US-61 is done and is very unique in design, or at least unique as most DOT's go.

It currently ends at Old Davenport Road for now.

But I also heard they are down to English Mill Road and have the North Cascade Road overpass started.


edwaleni

For once Google Earth was updated.  Here is the progress on the SW Arterial (US-20).

Here is the unique overpass over US-151/US-61.



Here is where it will terminate at the east end for now at Old Davenport Road (former US-61)



The look towards the south on US-151/US-61 with Old Davenport on the left, the overpass and the new exit ramps on the right.



The bridges over Military Road (former US-151), North Cascade and English Mill Roads.









Here is the overpass all the way back at the current US-20 west of Dubuque.



It will then connect with the current Sieppel Road (2 lane) on the west end and take traffic to Julien.

In sometime beyond my lifetime, this connector is supposed to line up with a future Mississippi River Bridge south of Spanish Mines at Shawondasse and meet up with the IDOT route of US-20.  IDOT owns the ROW to the river.

With IDOT ignoring the US-20 corridor right now between Freeport and East Dubuque, it may be a very long time before Iowa DOT takes it to US-52 and finally the long planned bridge. Housing is starting to encroach down US-52. If they don't protect the ROW over the next 25-30 years, we may never see it ever.






The Ghostbuster

Will this SW Arterial have any interchanges along its route? I've seen overpasses but no signs of interchange ramps.

edwaleni

Quote from: The Ghostbuster on March 04, 2020, 03:58:58 PM
Will this SW Arterial have any interchanges along its route? I've seen overpasses but no signs of interchange ramps.

None between US-20 and US-151/US-61. 

Military Road has a gravel service entrance at the bridge for construction traffic, but it is not for an exit ramp.

And I want to correct myself on a key item. Iowa DOT considers the SW Arterial the new US-52 Bypass of downtown Dubuque.

US-52 will be redirected to a new route west of Dubuque to its current ROW near Luxumburg.

https://www.cityofdubuque.org/1225/Southwest-Arterial-Project

https://www.transportationmatters.iowadot.gov/2019/12/us-52-dubuques-sw-arterial-they-said-it-couldnt-be-built.html

https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/SW-Arterial-in-Dubuque-set-to-be-open-to-drivers-next-summer-557908201.html

Highway63

Quote from: edwaleni on March 03, 2020, 10:55:12 PM
In sometime beyond my lifetime, this connector is supposed to line up with a future Mississippi River Bridge south of Spanish Mines at Shawondasse and meet up with the IDOT route of US-20.  IDOT owns the ROW to the river.
Um, what? This is not true. The only land the state of Iowa owns in that area is for the Mines of Spain Recreation Area, and they're absolutely not putting a bridge through that.

The state drew a line east of Peosta in 1968. It will never be anything other than a line.

pianocello

Quote from: Highway63 on March 06, 2020, 01:09:22 AM
Quote from: edwaleni on March 03, 2020, 10:55:12 PM
In sometime beyond my lifetime, this connector is supposed to line up with a future Mississippi River Bridge south of Spanish Mines at Shawondasse and meet up with the IDOT route of US-20.  IDOT owns the ROW to the river.
Um, what? This is not true. The only land the state of Iowa owns in that area is for the Mines of Spain Recreation Area, and they're absolutely not putting a bridge through that.

The state drew a line east of Peosta in 1968. It will never be anything other than a line.

IDOT's in Illinois. Iowa's side refers to itself as Iowa DOT (took me a second to figure it out too).

If this was really on Iowa DOT's radar, I'd think they would have tried to make the interchanges free-flowing with US 20 and US 61/151. I agree they should buy ROW up to the river, but I don't think it's a real consideration at this point.
Davenport, IA -> Valparaiso, IN -> Ames, IA -> Orlando, FL -> Gainesville, FL -> Evansville, IN

CtrlAltDel

It bothers me more than it should that the Southwest Arterial isn't going to line up with the northwest Arterial.
Interstates clinched: 4, 57, 275 (IN-KY-OH), 465 (IN), 640 (TN), 985
State Interstates clinched: I-26 (TN), I-75 (GA), I-75 (KY), I-75 (TN), I-81 (WV), I-95 (NH)

iowahighways

Quote from: edwaleni on March 04, 2020, 05:19:21 PM
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on March 04, 2020, 03:58:58 PM
Will this SW Arterial have any interchanges along its route? I've seen overpasses but no signs of interchange ramps.

None between US-20 and US-151/US-61. 

Military Road has a gravel service entrance at the bridge for construction traffic, but it is not for an exit ramp.

There's going to be a diamond interchange serving North Cascade Road/English Mill Road.

The city of Dubuque's YouTube channel posted frequent updates during construction season, and the Telegraph-Herald and NBC affiliate KWWL have posted more recent videos.

The Iowa Highways Page: Now exclusively at www.iowahighways.org
The Iowa Highways Photo Gallery: www.flickr.com/photos/iowahighways/

midwesternroadguy

I was expecting a concrete roadway and not bituminous.  Did the shale substrata drive that decision?

iowahighways

Southwest Arterial opened today:
https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/breaking/article_4d5f17ca-2bdf-531c-8199-6859e6d0be09.html

No word yet on whether signs for IA 32 or IA 3 within the Dubuque city limits have been removed.
The Iowa Highways Page: Now exclusively at www.iowahighways.org
The Iowa Highways Photo Gallery: www.flickr.com/photos/iowahighways/

rte66man

Quote from: iowahighways on August 17, 2020, 08:03:23 PM
Southwest Arterial opened today:
https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/breaking/article_4d5f17ca-2bdf-531c-8199-6859e6d0be09.html

No word yet on whether signs for IA 32 or IA 3 within the Dubuque city limits have been removed.

I saw a 55 MPH speed limit sign in the video. Surely that isn't the case for the entire route?
When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra

The Ghostbuster

Google Maps presently shows the interchange configurations of the two terminuses, and the relocation of English Mill Rd. Other than that, there is no indication on the map of the Southwest Arterial's construction: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4504761,-90.7154084,7230m/data=!3m1!1e3.

captkirk_4

#12
As a kid they took us on a Saturday field trip to Dubuque and Galena in the early 80s and I remember they took us to this "old people" restaurant in Dubuque that had this huge sign that said "Now Serving Smorgastable" out front. "Smorgastable" must be old people food, I looked on Google Maps but can't seem to find this place anymore, is it still around?

Mapmikey

Quote from: captkirk_4 on August 19, 2020, 08:43:34 AM
As a kid they took us on a Saturday field trip to Dubuque and Galena in the early 80s and I remember they took us to this "old people" restaurant in Dubuque that had this huge sign that said "Now Serving Smorgastable" out front. "Smorgastable" must be old people food, I looked on Google Maps but can't seem to find this place anymore, is it still around?

https://www.facebook.com/ykyguidiiyr/posts/roberts-smorgastable-dubuque/398259670229429/
http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=ROBERT%27S_SMORGASTABLE_AND_RESTAURANT

Per Historic Aerials it sat where this link in GMSV lands - https://goo.gl/maps/Z44mMNrGmqS3rEpd7 - in the middle of the intersection now (Locust St used to be lined up entirely with the frontage piece of Locust St across from this intersection).

sparker

I'd take an educated guess that "Smorgastable" referred to "smorgasbord" -- essentially a cafeteria-style configuration -- but with table service for people who didn't want to have to repeatedly walk to the food source (and some elderly would probably fit into this category).  With COVID and the ad hoc effective truncation of self-serve, it's probably rotated right back into relevance! 

iowahighways

Back to the SW Arterial, I was in the area Saturday and:

  • No changes yet to IA 3 in downtown Dubuque or IA 32.
  • For that matter, US 52 is still signed in downtown Dubuque on its old route. No BGS on US 20 or 61/151 have changed.
  • However, US 52 is signed along US 20 between Dyersville and the SW Arterial and BGS on that stretch of 20 have been changed accordingly. It is also signed along IA 136 north of Dyersville. (136 was not truncated to avoid the need of changing rural addresses.)
The Iowa Highways Page: Now exclusively at www.iowahighways.org
The Iowa Highways Photo Gallery: www.flickr.com/photos/iowahighways/

edwaleni

Quote from: iowahighways on September 07, 2020, 09:17:43 PM
Back to the SW Arterial, I was in the area Saturday and:

  • No changes yet to IA 3 in downtown Dubuque or IA 32.
  • For that matter, US 52 is still signed in downtown Dubuque on its old route. No BGS on US 20 or 61/151 have changed.
  • However, US 52 is signed along US 20 between Dyersville and the SW Arterial and BGS on that stretch of 20 have been changed accordingly. It is also signed along IA 136 north of Dyersville. (136 was not truncated to avoid the need of changing rural addresses.)

I noticed that Google Maps has already moved US-52 over to the new arterial, though that isn't always accurate, simply what AASHTO has approved.

edwaleni

Any ideas how they will change the flashing red's in Luxemburg?

IowaDOT built a kind of small bypass just for US-52 to help avoid the flashing red at IA-3.

With US-52 going to Dyersburg now, I wonder if they will deprecate the light on IA-3 to a basic stop sign and convert US-52 to a flashing yellow so traffic can pass through?


rte66man

Quote from: edwaleni on September 08, 2020, 03:17:12 PM
Any ideas how they will change the flashing red's in Luxemburg?

IowaDOT built a kind of small bypass just for US-52 to help avoid the flashing red at IA-3.

With US-52 going to Dyersburg now, I wonder if they will deprecate the light on IA-3 to a basic stop sign and convert US-52 to a flashing yellow so traffic can pass through?


Dyersburg?? Did it move from Tennessee?
When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra

thspfc

US-52 in Dubuque now has one of the most bizarre and inefficent routings of any highway in any city in the country. From south to north, it junctions with US-61/151, heads south, heads back northwest on the SW Arterial, heads east on US-20, then finally turns back northward. That's four distinct changes of direction, each with multiple miles in between. From a roadgeek standpoint, it also creates a wrong-way concurrency.

sparker

Quote from: thspfc on September 08, 2020, 09:10:01 PM
US-52 in Dubuque now has one of the most bizarre and inefficent routings of any highway in any city in the country. From south to north, it junctions with US-61/151, heads south, heads back northwest on the SW Arterial, heads east on US-20, then finally turns back northward. That's four distinct changes of direction, each with multiple miles in between. From a roadgeek standpoint, it also creates a wrong-way concurrency.

From what's described above re the US 52 rerouting, the current route of US 52 turns west on US 20 to Dyersville, then north concurent with IA 136, regaining its original alignment at Luxemburg.  The previous US 52, which apparently still carries that signage (hopefully temporarily) concurrent with IA 3, is in the process of reverting back to IA 3 alone, which will terminate in downtown Dubuque.  US 52 actually used this particular routing for a while back in the '70's. 

edwaleni

Quote from: rte66man on September 08, 2020, 08:44:35 PM
Quote from: edwaleni on September 08, 2020, 03:17:12 PM
Any ideas how they will change the flashing red's in Luxemburg?

IowaDOT built a kind of small bypass just for US-52 to help avoid the flashing red at IA-3.

With US-52 going to Dyersburg now, I wonder if they will deprecate the light on IA-3 to a basic stop sign and convert US-52 to a flashing yellow so traffic can pass through?


Dyersburg?? Did it move from Tennessee?

OK, so its Dyersville. My error.

edwaleni

Quote from: thspfc on September 08, 2020, 09:10:01 PM
US-52 in Dubuque now has one of the most bizarre and inefficent routings of any highway in any city in the country. From south to north, it junctions with US-61/151, heads south, heads back northwest on the SW Arterial, heads east on US-20, then finally turns back northward. That's four distinct changes of direction, each with multiple miles in between. From a roadgeek standpoint, it also creates a wrong-way concurrency.

My understanding was that eventually the SW Arterial will continue on east to the current US 52 in the future causing the current route up to US-61 to be obsolete.

SSOWorld

Quote from: edwaleni on September 08, 2020, 03:17:12 PM
Any ideas how they will change the flashing red's in Luxemburg?

4-way stop now.

This bypass is useless now.  Besides, 3 is closed for construction (The road is not there)
Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.

SSOWorld

Between the city and state, contractors have messed up signage in multiple locations.  There is an EAST 52 sign on  61 north at the interchange.  (:ded:)
Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.



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