
U.S. 61 travels 195 miles from Keokuk in the southeastern corner of Iowa northward to Fort Madison, Burlington, Muscatine, the Quad Cities, Maquoketa and Dubuque. Most of the highway carries four lanes with expressway and freeway segments through Muscatine County, Blue Grass and from Davenport north to Dubuque. Interchanges along U.S. 61 are given exit numbers, which is common for most freeways in the Hawkeye State.
U.S. 61 Iowa Guides
North
The freeway leading north from Interstate 80 at Davenport to DeWitt opened to traffic on December 1, 1982. Upgrades to the rest of the U.S. 61 corridor north to Dubuque occurred between 1996 and 1999.1
U.S. 61 was formally relocated onto the 3.53 mile long freeway bypass of both Blue Grass and the 14.60 mile long freeway around Maquoketa per requests to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) on December 8, 2000.
A request to relocate U.S. 61 onto a combination of I-280 and I-80 to bypass Davenport was approved at the May 20, 2010 meeting of AASHTO. Sign changes were not implemented until September 2011 and the move created a new business loop for U.S. 61 through the Quad Cities.
A new four lane section of U.S. 61 opened to traffic from west of Grandview north to the Muscatine County line on November 30, 2017. Completion of this six mile section is part of the long term goal to upgrade all of U.S. 61 from Burlington to Muscatine into a four lane corridor.2
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The entrance ramp for U.S. 61 southbound from Scott County Route F41 (267th Street) near Long Grove. Installed in 1980, these signs were replaced with conventional shield assemblies soon after these photos were shot. 05/23/08 |
- US 61 - Iowa Highways (Jason Hancock).
- "US 61 4-lane expansion near Grandview should open Thursday, weather permitting." The Hawk Eye (Burlington, IA), November 29, 2017.
Photo Credits:
05/23/08 by AARoads
Connect with:
Interstate 80
Interstate 280 Quad Cities
U.S. 20
U.S. 30
U.S. 34
U.S. 52
U.S. 136
U.S. 151
U.S. 218
Highway 22
Highway 64
Highway 92
Highway 136
Highway 946 - Locust Street
Page Updated 12-16-2019.