Author Archives: Jeff

May 06

Informational meeting on US 20 plans

The U.S. 20 Corridor Association met in Sac City (which is no longer directly on US 20), and the Fort Dodge Messenger has a report. The immediate next step in upgrading 20 to four lanes will be between Moville and … Continue reading

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May 05

I-74 project timeline presented

The Iowa DOT’s PIM site has put online the giant posters that were at an informational meeting last week. The file is a VERY large PDF. Everything through 2020 is laid out, but that includes nothing north of Middle Road … Continue reading

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on I-74 project timeline presented
May 04

Exira school building fire today

This school fire is a good one — Exira is planning a controlled burn of its original brick building. The AP article about it notes that it was closed not just because of declining enrollment, but because “The structure was … Continue reading

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May 01

Des Moines and Diagonal: Polar opposites with similarities

A quirky fact about Iowa school districts will expire this summer along with the Clearfield school district. The Des Moines school district by far has the largest student population in the state. Since the closure of Lineville-Clio, Diagonal has been … Continue reading

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Apr 30

University Avenue construction needed, but not wanted

KWWL has a(nother) story about the troublesome state of University Avenue — once US 218, now IA 934 — in Cedar Falls and Waterloo. A DOT employee says there are “negotiations” for transferring jurisdiction to the cities. At the same … Continue reading

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Apr 30

License Plate Letters — CIB

I should’ve updated with a CH or two, but never did.

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Apr 29

Arkansas replaced I-540 with I-49

August 7, 2010:  Every I-540 shield in northwestern Arkansas north of I-40 was removed last week and replaced with I-49. Although there is no connection yet to I-49 in Missouri, and any construction south of I-40 will likely take decades … Continue reading

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Apr 28

Google adds Street View time machine

This was sort of under the radar, but the Wall Street Journal and CNET picked up on it. Google added something I had wondered about recently: For places that have had the Street View camera go through multiple times, you … Continue reading

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Apr 26

The secret almost-histories of IA 401 and 412

The DOT’s document archive is a wealth of information, most of the dry engineering type, but also more about signs and construction maps. Through that, I discovered one thing I never knew and one I wondered about in Iowa’s 400-series … Continue reading

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Apr 25

Anyone want to buy a bridge?

Tama County is fast losing its few remaining Pratt truss bridges from the beginning of the 20th Century. The latest bridge to be on the chopping block is one locally known as the Chambers Ford bridge, across the Iowa River … Continue reading

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