A “preferred alternative” for a northwest Oskaloosa bypass of US 63 has been selected and many preliminary studies have been completed. A meeting Nov. 2 at the Oskaloosa library Middle School, the first in nearly three years, will have information about the bypass. The PDF is already online.
Under the bypass plan, US 63 would follow existing IA 163 around the southwest side of Oskaloosa, then northwest on 163 to a new interchange northwest of what was the end of IA 432. A two-lane road would angle northeast to just south of the Skunk River. This will eliminate 63 through Oskaloosa, creating an open route (save for the new interchange ramps) from US 34 to New Sharon.
The bypass would also mark the westernmost point of US 63 north of the Arkansas-Louisiana line. The Louisiana portion of 63 (the existence of which I have ranted about before) hovers roughly along the same line of longitude as the Eddyville-to-New-Sharon segment in Iowa, but is just a bit more west at Junction City.