April 18, 2006: This part of 9th Street in Dubuque is now two-way.
Remember this story from a while back about Dubuque getting rid of some one-way streets? That happened Aug. 25.
That conversion of east-west streets affected US 52 and IA 3 from the one-way pair of Central and White streets to the US 61/151 freeway. Now IA 3’s east end and west beginning are both on 9th Street — with a catch. The freeway ramps don’t change, reflecting the old one-way pair with the southbound exit/northbound entrance at 11th Street and the northbound exit/southbound entrance at 9th Street. A transfer of jurisdiction with Dubuque was passed earlier this week, but because of the split locations of the ramps, the state is turning over only one lane (the new eastbound lane) of 11th Street between White and US 61, and only one lane of 9th (the new westbound lane) between White and Central. The state will take over both lanes of the two blocks of White between 9th and 11th.
In the end, this will be a temporary change for both routes. The entire city-street portion of US 52 in Dubuque will be turned over to the city, and IA 3 truncated to around the IA 32/former IA 386 junction, when the Southwest Arterial is completed.
Lane miles are very important measurements, and the very refined nature of this transaction shows that, however weird it may be. (Just another reason to get rid of one-way streets!)