Author Archives: Jeff

Dec 06

School timeline mega-update: IDOE building databases

Posted on Monday, December 6, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

October 1, 2015: The Pisgah school building, now a community center, was once part of the West Harrison district. Besides newspaper archives, there is another, more time-consuming method to find closures. The Iowa Department of Education has a yearly breakdown of … Continue reading →

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Dec 03

New I-74 bridge fully open; old fully closed

Posted on Friday, December 3, 2021, at 10:05 AM by Jeff

Thousands of people turned out for the grand opening of the I-74 bridge on Wednesday. (I, sadly, was not one of them.) The Illinois-bound span fully opened Thursday night, and the last lane in use on the 1959 bridge was … Continue reading →

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Dec 01

School timeline mega-update: 1960-65, in fragments

Posted on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In the early 1960s, my school timeline categories show some cracks. Here is the world of donut-hole schools and rump districts. Reorganization proposals get cobbled together, advanced or shot down by county boards of education (sometimes up to four of … Continue reading →

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Nov 29

License Plate Letters — LJF

Posted on Monday, November 29, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

I haven’t acknowledged Iowa’s 2012 license plate series going into the L’s and we’re already getting close to halfway through. It took the 1997 series until somewhere in late 2002 to get here — six years, vs. nine years this … Continue reading →

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Nov 24

I-74 bridge walk precedes final opening

Posted on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

June 19, 2021: Construction cranes tower over the “basket handles” of the new I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River, as seen from the Bettendorf side. The last expected completion date of the Illinois-bound (southbound/eastbound) span of the I-74 bridge was … Continue reading →

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Nov 22

I’ve been doing this for a while

Posted on Monday, November 22, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Since the 20th anniversary of Iowa Highway Ends and the 3000th post on this blog are converging, it’s convenient to look back a quarter-century… The project cover includes representations of how sign styles changed over time (not as direct-descendant-of). Created: … Continue reading →

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Nov 19

More roundabouts to be inflicted on Cedar Falls drivers

Posted on Friday, November 19, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Recently, Cedar Falls wrapped up a massive project to annoy anyone who’s still interested in shopping at College Square by placing FIVE roundabouts on University Avenue. (Technically, it’s three roundabouts plus two almost-roundabouts at the IA 58 on-ramps, but they’re … Continue reading →

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Nov 17

The Crimson Monkey: Endgame

Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, at 10:01 AM by Jeff

November 3, 2012: Iowa State’s Shontrelle Johnson (in pile) scores a Cyclone touchdown late against Oklahoma. ISU lost to the No. 12 Sooners 35-20. For a decade I have charted the Sisyphean task of Iowa State’s football team playing Oklahoma. … Continue reading →

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Nov 15

Iowa’s 1920 highway system: The Great Truncation

Posted on Monday, November 15, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

September 7, 2006: IA 128 in Clayton County is an orphan segment of IA 56 created in November 1924. In the 1920 highway system, only one non-spur route (IA 29 in Plymouth County) had an endpoint that was not in … Continue reading →

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Nov 10

Mainline northbound I-29 shutting down at I-480

Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Next week, for the first time since the interstate system was constructed, there will be a way to get from I-29 to eastbound Broadway in Council Bluffs. It just comes at the expense of everything else, including the interstate itself. … Continue reading →

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