Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

In 2016, I mentioned that Arkansas wrangled an exception into a federal highway bill that enabled a newly built four-lane road from Jonesboro to I-55 to be designated an interstate. The provision was to allow farm traffic to use a portion of the road since there was no easy alternate route. Immediately afterward, the road became I-555 and US 63 was eventually rerouted away from it.

(Much more recently, when it comes to highway designations, Arkansas has, as is its wont, again done something SO INCREDIBLY STUPID that it will have to be blogged about to be believed [at a future time]).

When the I-555 exception happened, I said that was the perfect thing for Iowa to do as well. Such an exemption is needed to get the Des Moines beltway designated an interstate with a unified number, ideally I-435. I-835 might also be an option (and a unique number in the country).

Last week, the Iowa House Commerce Committee approved a bill, House File 2145, now HF 2455. It specifically exempts farm equipment (“implements of husbandry”) from the minimum 40 mph speed limit for interstates on a specific road — US 65 around Des Moines — and allocates $250,000 from the general fund to study an alternative route for the farm equipment.

That would be one good thing to happen in the Statehouse this year.

Left turns are a big problem on the south side of State Center.

Last week, residents and the Iowa DOT had a meeting about the increase in accidents over the past 18 months. This is the second such meeting in that time frame; see this blog post from August. The main issue is eastbound traffic turning north, which involves crossing the westbound lanes.

In the more recent meeting, the Marshalltown Times-Republican reports, DOT engineer Willy Sorensen said lowering the speed limit in the area would only be a “feel good” solution.

The intersection has a narrow median. This is likely due to the fact that about a mile of US 30 was originally built as four lanes here in the early 1960s. Then the highway west to Colo and east to IA 330 was upgraded to four lanes in 2010-11.