October 16, 2012: Until the Avenue of the Saints was designated IA 27, IA 38 was the only state highway to have a portion duplexed with an interstate highway — and get a rest area to boot.
The Iowa DOT had a meeting in Durant on Sept. 19 about rebuilding I-80’s west interchange with IA 38. This is the exit just east of the Cedar River, where bridges have already been built to accommodate three lanes in each direction. One option is a parclo ramp like the current configuration, sparing the southwest corner, and the other is a standard diamond, although modern diamonds have slightly curved ramps to allow 90-degree-angle stops.
But the two exit proposals have a surprise inside: The ULTIMATE LANE. The word’s intended connotation is “this can/would happen eventually”, but doesn’t it sound cooler when announced in all caps?
Based on the proposals, there may be an ultimate-er lane. Both drawings have a “4” on the I-80 mainline, indicating four lanes in each direction, around the exit ramps. There’s even a “5” right before each exit and after each entrance, allowing for short exit-only and acceleration-lane distances. That would be the highest number of lanes on a rural interstate in Iowa, but by the time of construction (no earlier than 2023) would not be the most in the state given the Council Bluffs Interstate System project.