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[paulthemapguy]

I was surprised not to have found any Iowa-based threads for organizing all the one-off threads into one "macro-thread" (word I made up).  I have a small question that doesn't warrant its own thread, but I'm making a new thread anyway (HYPOCRITE ALERT  ) for the sake of tidiness.   Post all your quick inquiries/minor updates regarding Iowa in this thread.  Maybe this will catch on... 

I wanted to ask if there are any I-129 cutout shields standing in the wild, anywhere in the state of Iowa.  I'm asking because I have a collection of Iowa highway numbers, where I photograph the signs.  I need a photo of a sign for every state, US, and Interstate highway within Iowa's border...but if there aren't any I-129 signs around, how do I complete my collection? 

[pianocello]

For a while I didn't think there were any I-129 shields at all in Iowa, but it looks like there's one on the new BGS leading up to the interchange on I-29 (it used to spell out "I-129"). I think that's your best bet if you're sticking to signs on Iowa soil, since I-129 is omitted from the westbound pull-through reassurance sign at the interchange. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, though, since I've never been on the road.

Also, while I'm here and the thread exists now, here's some construction updates I've driven past recently:

The flyover at the I-35/US 30 interchange in Ames is well underway and looks as though it should be complete by the end of the construction season. All of the columns are in place (or extremely close), the approaches are poured, and the signage is updated and covered where necessary on I-35.

The I-74 bridge in Bettendorf is also on schedule as far as I can tell, many of the piers on the Iowa side are complete, as well as the footings for the piers in the river (I think), and grading and retaining walls on the Illinois side. This supplements the work that has been done previously on River Drive in Moline and Grant St/State St/US 67 in Bettendorf.

Finally, I was driving US 30 between Ames and Cedar Rapids and I noticed that significant tree clearing and culvert work was being done east of Tama. It looks as though they are going to extend the 4-lane section eastward another 10 or so miles. Does anyone know anything about that?

[iowahighways]

Finally, I was driving US 30 between Ames and Cedar Rapids and I noticed that significant tree clearing and culvert work was being done east of Tama. It looks as though they are going to extend the 4-lane section eastward another 10 or so miles. Does anyone know anything about that?

They're going to close the four-lane gap between Tama and US 218, starting with the stretch in Tama County. (Story)

[froggie]

^^ Which movement at 35/30 is getting the flyover?

[MNHighwayMan]

I could swear I saw a picture of a stand-alone Iowa I-129 shield on this forum somewhere, but I have no idea which thread that was in or where the sign was.

[Jardine]

Iowa DOT is floating a plan to route US30 north along I-29 to Modale, exit there and head east to Logan via county road (IIRC) F-50 and rejoining the current US30 just south of Logan Iowa.

The locals I've talked to think it's a little awkward and contrived way to do a bypass around Missouri Valley.

Would be cheaper however . . .

[Highway63]

1. There is no macro-thread because Jason Hancock and I have our own websites. I'm not here all that often (there are only so many rabbit holes I can fall through at once). I have a blog with daily posts about Iowa-related things, but not always about highways.

2. The flyover ramp is NB 35 to WB 30, which was a loop in the cloverleaf but is the most heavily traveled movement.

3. The one standalone Iowa I-129 shield was "End 129" approaching I-29; I took a picture of it in 2014 but GMSV in July 2015 shows it disappeared.

[iowahighways]

This article from The Des Moines Register summarizes the major Iowa road projects for 2018:

• Completing the last US 20 expressway segment between Early and Moville
• Reconstructing the I-35/1st Street interchange in Ankeny to the second DDI in Iowa
• Completion of the aforementioned flyover ramp from I-35 north to US 30 west in Ames
• Completing an interchange of IA 330, US 65, and IA 117 about halfway between Altoona and Marshalltown
• Grading two new lanes for US 30 between Tama/Toledo and a point west of IA 21 (an interchange will be built there later)
• Grading the Southwest Arterial in Dubuque
• Grading for two new lanes of US 61 between Mediapolis and Burlington (article says Wapello, but Wapello is more than 10 miles from Burlington)
• Reconstructing the I-35/IA 175 interchange
• Reconstructing US 63 north of downtown Waterloo
• The ongoing reconstruction of I-29/80 in Council Bluffs and I-29 in Sioux City, and the new I-74 bridge in the Quad Cities

[MNHighwayMan]

This article from The Des Moines Register summarizes the major Iowa road projects for 2018:

• Completing an interchange of IA 330, US 65, and IA 117 about halfway between Altoona and Marshalltown

I'm glad they're doing something about that one, as that is one dangerous intersection as it currently is.

[triplemultiplex]

US 20 is such a pleasant drive across Iowa, if one has the time to go out of their way a bit. The hell with I-80 and all its trucks.
Easy for me to say with an origin in Wisconsin, though.
Anyway, once the expressway is done, that trip will get even nicer.

[bugo]

Iowa DOT is floating a plan to route US30 north along I-29 to Modale, exit there and head east to Logan via county road (IIRC) F-50 and rejoining the current US30 just south of Logan Iowa.

The locals I've talked to think it's a little awkward and contrived way to do a bypass around Missouri Valley.

Would be cheaper however . . .

That's a ghetto bypass. It looks like it would be better to build a bypass beginning near US 30 and Loomis Avenue due west to I-29 at around 305th Street and following I-29 south to the current alignment where it would head west.

[MNHighwayMan]

Iowa DOT is floating a plan to route US30 north along I-29 to Modale, exit there and head east to Logan via county road (IIRC) F-50 and rejoining the current US30 just south of Logan Iowa.

The locals I've talked to think it's a little awkward and contrived way to do a bypass around Missouri Valley.

Would be cheaper however . . .

That's a ghetto bypass. It looks like it would be better to build a bypass beginning near US 30 and Loomis Avenue due west to I-29 at around 305th Street and following I-29 south to the current alignment where it would head west.

That cuts through some rather hilly terrain, though. Would just be easier if US-30 followed Canal Street from I-29 east, along the southern edge of Missouri Valley, and then on a new alignment north/northeast to its current alignment.

[pianocello]

That cuts through some rather hilly terrain, though. Would just be easier if US-30 followed Canal Street from I-29 east, along the southern edge of Missouri Valley, and then on a new alignment north/northeast to its current alignment.

FWIW, the Iowa DOT's linear referencing system shapefiles have this route mapped out and called IA 530, meaning there was at least at one point in time a serious proposal to build this bypass. I don't think the project is alive in the foreseeable future, though.

[MNHighwayMan]

That cuts through some rather hilly terrain, though. Would just be easier if US-30 followed Canal Street from I-29 east, along the southern edge of Missouri Valley, and then on a new alignment north/northeast to its current alignment.

FWIW, the Iowa DOT's linear referencing system shapefiles have this route mapped out and called IA 530, meaning there was at least at one point in time a serious proposal to build this bypass. I don't think the project is alive in the foreseeable future, though.

Is this hypothetical IA-530 referencing bugo's proposal or mine?

[pianocello]

^Yours, the southern bypass. Like I said, though, this is likely just a remnant of what was once a serious proposal. It looks like there was a public meeting last month that discusses both bugo's the initially-mentioned northern bypass from Logan and your alternative for a potential bypass project that is currently unfunded.

Edited: I misattributed the routing of the northern bypass that's considered by the DOT to bugo.

[bugo]

I have been through there on I-29 but I know very little about the topography of the area. I was just drawing a line on the map when I suggested a northern bypass.

[pianocello]

^Yours, the southern bypass. Like I said, though, this is likely just a remnant of what was once a serious proposal. It looks like there was a public meeting last month that discusses both bugo's and your alternatives for a potential bypass project that is currently unfunded.

I have been through there on I-29 but I know very little about the topography of the area. I was just drawing a line on the map when I suggested a northern bypass.

I now realize I mistook bugo's idea (which you're right; the topography isn't very forgiving for that idea) for the northern bypass that was originally mentioned. I'm gonna fix that.

[mvak36]

Iowa DOT will have a public meeting next week for the I-80/I-380 interchange: http://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Iowa-DOT-to-hold-public-information-meeting-on-I-80I-380-interchange-project-479157803.html

Here's the link to the project site: https://www.iowadot.gov/I80-I380

The goal of the project is to make the I-80/I-380 interchange into a turbine interchange. According to this staging map, construction will probably go till about 2024.

[triplemultiplex]

The new I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River sort of fell off my radar a few years ago, but I see it's well underway.



Seems like a pretty standard look for a modern arch bridge.
This means in a couple years, we will see the demolition of not one, but two suspension bridges.  That will be very unusual and might be worth seeing.

Has there ever been a demolition of a significant (ie not a footbridge) suspension bridge before in the US?

[Revive 755]

Has there ever been a demolition of a significant (ie not a footbridge) suspension bridge before in the US?

* Waldo Hancock Bridge in Maine
* US 18 Mississippi River bridges (east and west channels)
* The "twin" to the Silver Bridge?
* Think there was another one across the Ohio between Ohio and West Virginia
* Paseo Bridge in KC (I-29/I-35 over the Missouri River)

I don't believe there have been any with a span over a 1,000 feet yet.

(And before someone else suggest it, I am not counting any that collapsed and then had the debris and any parts still standing removed such as the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge)

[mvak36]

Here are the links to some of the major projects in Iowa.

http://councilbluffsinterstate.iowadot.gov/
https://iowadot.gov/i29
https://iowadot.gov/I74corridor
https://iowadot.gov/I80-I380
http://www.iowadot.gov/us20/

The US 20 widening should be done by the end of the year and the I-29 project in Sioux City will be done in 2019. The other projects will continue into the next decade.

[Plutonic Panda]

That I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River will be pretty cool!

[DandyDan]

As far as local projects go, IA 122 is getting rebuilt in Mason City http://www.kimt.com/content/news/Iowa-DOT-reveal-Highway-122-project-478235423.html

[skluth]

Has there ever been a demolition of a significant (ie not a footbridge) suspension bridge before in the US?

Does the self-demolition of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge count?

[froggie]

* Think there was another one across the Ohio between Ohio and West Virginia

Fort Steuben Bridge (US 22), though as with the others, a main span less than 1,000ft.