September 2, 2008: North end of IA 32 in Sageville.
The Iowa Transportation Commission approved the transfer of jurisdiction of all of IA 32 and the part of US 52/IA 3 inside the city of Dubuque at its meeting in Ames last week. I asked the DOT back in October — when the transfer was inadvertently included and then removed from the agenda — if anything was going to change before the Southwest Arterial opened. I was told at the time that there would not be any change in signs until that happened, which won’t be until 2019 or 2020. In addition, Iowa will have to apply to the AASHTO Special Committee on US Route Numbering to reroute US 52 along IA 136 and US 20 and the not-yet-built arterial.
So, unless and until signs are down in the field, IA 32 is a “dead highway walking” but is not a decommissioned route.