Two developments in the Des Moines suburbs over the past year or so have done two very different things to the first highway that exited the state capital on Grand Avenue.
Val Lanes concrete, 1921-2021
The 1948 blueprint above shows a connection from Grand Avenue to Ashworth Road that no longer exists. The 18-foot concrete was in all likelihood paved in 1921, when Ashworth was paved west from here to the Polk/Dallas county line. It was primarily part of IA 2, but also carried IA 17 (and for a short time IA 7) in the original primary system. It was still around as recently as October 2020, when I photographed it, and it’s a good thing I did, because it’s now gone.
In the spring of 2021, a new building for Erik’s Bike Board Ski and its parking lot took out what was left of the concrete connection. The building came about in relation to West Des Moines expanding Grand Avenue in the area, from IA 28 to 4th Street last year and 4th to 14th this year. If any original paving on Grand was buried, it’s gone now.
The West Des Moines Oil Co. occupied a popular spot for a gas station; the space is now a Casey’s.