August 15, 2005 / May 12, 2008: On US 34 approaching Mount Pleasant from the east, before and after the bypass north and west of Mount Pleasant opened. This is the fourth IA 27 in state history, and only the second new number in the state in the last 30 years.
The sign had to be redone again when IA 163 was extended from Oskaloosa to Burlington.
May 8, 2009: East end of US 26 in Ogallala, Nebraska. As Dale Sanderson says, “There aren’t many US highways with eastern ends that far west!” Much of US 26 follows Oregon Trail pathways; to the west of here, there is a place where old wagon ruts are still visible. Farther west in Nebraska is Chimney Rock.
The Fort Madison Daily Democrat and Iowa DOT both say new US 61 opened Monday afternoon. Old 61, or at least parts of it not overlapping with IA 2, will be repaved before being turned over to the city and county next year.
Combined with the rerouting around Davenport, US 61 is now four lanes from the south junction with US 218 in Keokuk to the north side of Burlington (although the Burlington section is developed) and from the Louisa/Muscatine county line to the Wisconsin border.
May 6, 2009: Colby, Kansas. That’s supposed to be Business Loop I-70. This is just east of where US 24 separates from I-70 after two long pairings in Colorado, and just west of where I-70 angles southeastward toward US 40.
The only team with a remote chance of passing Alabama at the 11th-hour is Oklahoma State should it beat 9-2 Oklahoma impressively this weekend, though it will take a near-universal about-face from the voters, who currently have the Cowboys fifth. (They’re third in the overall standings thanks to the computers.) Bring up this possibility to an Alabama fan, and he or she will of course laugh in your face, pointing out first and foremost that Mike Gundy’s team lost to Iowa State.
“Iowa State” is in italics in the original.
Oklahoma State lost on the road on a short week to a now-bowl-eligible team, and it’s not enough to stop a regular-season in-division rematch. We really did break the BCS.
I have not been against, if not explicitly for, the BCS. But that support is predicated on the idea that the season is the playoff. Rematches, especially one of a game that had zero touchdowns, do not figure into that. I wouldn’t mind a plus-one — in fact, I’d prefer it — but the temptation is too great to turn it into a plus-two or plus-three.
Iowa State is going to a bowl for the second time in three years, one failed two-point conversion in double overtime away from 3-for-3, and yet somehow I end up feeling guilty about that fact.
June 25, 2006: Southwest end of MN 23 at I-90, less than 10 miles from the Iowa border. The other end is in Duluth.
July 2, 2009: Pittsburgh area, during the short time I-279 and a newly extended I-376 were co-signed. I-279 was later removed, making a first-digit-odd route a giant loop and a first-digit-even route a spur.
Closed November 18. (Traer Star-Clipper) It’s the third in Tama County and the second in the North Tama school district to close in a year.
January 9, 2002: North end of IA 21 on the south side of Waterloo. I’ve covered this interchange many times in the early 2000s, when things were changing, but need to go back.
This is from the earliest digital camera used for the site. Unlike the others, this one is at full resolution.
December 30, 2009: After some cajoling, I got a trip to Tucson wedged into the Insight Bowl trip. I got one exit’s worth of I-19 to say I’ve been on it. This short interstate in southern Arizona is best known for its ill-fated experimentation with metric signage.
