Dubuque Street in Johnson County might seem like an exception to the rule of city-named streets in rural areas going to the city in question. The first route between Iowa City and Dubuque, Dillon’s Furrow, is along the IA 1 corridor. However, if you think of it as Johnson County’s main road to Dubuque via Cedar Rapids, the name makes sense.
From the 1927 completion of paving for US 161 from Iowa City to the Linn County line until the 1957 reroute of US 218 south to Coralville, Dubuque Street through North Liberty was a straight arrow. (Before 1927, it’s possible or even probable the highway followed Main and Zeller streets.) Since then, though, the diagonal has lost some of its integrity.
The first change was immediate: A slight curve was built for the new US 218 (later IA 965) at Scales Bend Road to follow the new mainline. The second came in the 1990s, when the diagonal in town was cut off at Penn Street so the road to the north was continuous with Stewart Street.
The third change is happening right now. Last month, North Liberty started a construction project that will result in Dubuque Street north of Cherry Street flow into Front Street. The section west of Front will intersect it in a T. Long-term plans include a city hall in the space between the police station and Front.
It could be worse. The city could be putting in a monstrosity of a roundabout like the one now at Front and Penn.
Unrelated to the construction, but related to North Liberty and worth a note: The North Liberty Leader newspaper was shut down earlier this year.