A DOT public meeting earlier this week (postponed from earlier because of bad weather) laid out two “study areas” for a US 30 bypass of Missouri Valley, and one of them is off the beaten path.
Like, way off.
Like, redirecting 30 from Logan westward to Modale off.
I can see why there’s an interest in moving 30 out of downtown Missouri Valley, but a bypass that far north would not help anyone. Assuming a new connection is not built southwestward from Modale, a LOT of drivers would choose to follow K45 to continue west, and that has quite a few curves on it. It simply does not make sense to divert 30 back southeast on I-29 to acquire the old route. Plus, that alignment would cut straight through part of the Loess Hills instead of following the Boyer River valley like 30 does today.
A southern bypass makes way, way more sense. It’s close enough to the existing corridor that it wouldn’t be out of the way. Most of it would be in a floodplain (which, admittedly, has its own issues) and wouldn’t require knocking down many hills. Any bypass there would include two new railroad bridges.
I think the blue route on this map (PDF) is the way to go. For historical preservation purposes, it pulls “new 30” off a couple more miles of the original Lincoln Highway, but it also takes some kinks out, and the integrity of the road heading into Missouri Valley would remain.