November 12, 2008: Gov. Chet Culver addresses the crowd at the opening of the US 34 Fairfield bypass, completing the expressway between Des Moines and Burlington first proposed 40 years earlier (although, as originally planned, it used IA 92 to Oskaloosa).
On Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds will continue the streak of Iowa governors who get a major highway opening ceremony during their time in office. The gas tax increase that has enabled the completion of four-lane US 20 in Iowa was signed by her predecessor, but she will be the one on stage.*
Unlike many of these ceremonies, this one got good advance notice — not just because the date (Oct. 19) is significant to US 20, but because it’s the fall of an election year. Reynolds and Democratic candidate Fred Hubbell will have their second of three debates in Sioux City tomorrow night. Friday will be the US 20 party (and its attendant news coverage, although primarily in northwest Iowa). The final debate will be on the other side of the state at 8 AM on Sunday. (That is not a typo.)
There will be MANY other politicians there Friday, of course, and the director of the Iowa DOT. But on such occasions, politics gets put aside for speechifying and back-patting. As far as I know, only one person was in attendance at ribbon-cuttings for the US 34 Missouri River bridge in 2014, US 20 at Early in 2012, US 34 Fairfield bypass in 2008, the Avenue of the Saints completion in 2006, and US 20 in 2003, and that person isn’t running for office.
*UPDATE 10/21: Or, uh, not? Vice-presidential drop-ins on short notice take priority over the most anticipated infrastructure event in Iowa, I guess. There was a ribbon-cutting, but she wasn’t there. The streak gets an asterisk.