It was an early three hours for me to get to Early. I got to the pullout on new US 20 just east of the US 71 interchange — what’s that for, anyway? — just in time to see the ribbon cutting and hear the announcement that the speeches would be at the church instead. It ended up being a good thing, because the speeches lasted for quite a while. See previous post.
US 71 is Exit 71? How convenient.
All the signs at the new interchanges are the new freeway style: All one-panels, with no mileages given, in Clearview. The 20 shield after the interchange was not the standard size, but the larger size like those on some older US 6 shields with I-80 in Jasper County.
End of the four-lane west of US 71. Turn around and there aren’t any stoplights or 55-mph limits until Dubuque. Mileage: Holstein 20, Correctionville 32, Sioux City 65.
After the reception, it was time for me to travel the new route. First, I drove west to the end of the four-lane, about a mile past US 71. All traces of the previous junction have been obliterated save for one lonely “Jct” pole on southbound 71 right where the new concrete begins. After reaching the new west end of four-lane 20, I turned around and started heading east — after eating at the same Casey’s. (This was important because new 20 lacks rest stops.) Some of the new signs weren’t up, including mile markers, making it impossible to tell at the time where any jump in numbers would be.
The BGSs for the IA 196 exit (#82) lacked directional tags, which was disappointing, but nothing compared to what I saw when I got off 20:
A rectangular state-route shield? What is this, Mississippi?
Wide shields. Wide IA 196 shields as far as the eye could see, in the wide-numeral Series D, at least seven of them. Collins & Hermann was the contractor, according to the backs. This is not what signs for state routes in Iowa are supposed to look like. Bad contractor. (The IA 163 shields put up last year along US 34 were square, making me think this is not a MUTCD requirement.)
The intersection with old 20 has been converted to a four-way stop. Right now, old 20 has no shields on it, signifying the interim step between US highway and county road.
At the Calhoun County line, the dates of the new concrete are marked: 11/8/11 and 4/11/12. The county-line sign was in all-caps — the only non-Clearview sign on the entire post-2010 section.
The road was lightly traveled, but that’s expected on the first week.
All in all, new 20 is a smooth ride. The older four-lane sections that have been under construction in Hamilton County, though, are a reminder that the work is never really done.