The Iowa DOT has a “corridor preservation plan” out for a road northwest of Oskaloosa, running from IA 163 to US 63. This step in making a bypass seems, to me, like a relatively recent thing, but I could be wrong and\/or didn’t see notices years ago.<\/p>\n
The map (PDF)<\/a> shows a general southwest inclination starting a few miles north of Oskaloosa, but then the corridor takes a sharp turn west to a larger preservation area that would include a future interchange. This will mean that 63 will exit from the existing four-lane \u2014 exiting from itself, so to speak \u2014 in a weird way. It also raises the question of how mile-marking will change between this point and the current 63\/163 split south of Oskaloosa<\/a>, which just so happens<\/em> to be Exit 60 in both directions.<\/p>\n A look at the satellite view makes me wonder why they can’t put the interchange closer to Kirby Avenue, which would cut down the out-of-the-way-ness of that southernmost part of the bypass. That’s where 163 deviates from the original path into Oskaloosa straight south, making a seemingly ideal place for a trumpet interchange and a place where northbound 63 could go relatively “straight ahead”.<\/p>\n For what it’s worth, the bypass will create the westernmost point of US 63 north of the Arkansas\/Louisiana state line, replacing the current point, which is just north of where the bypass is expected to rejoin current 63.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Iowa DOT has a “corridor preservation plan” out for a road northwest of Oskaloosa, running from IA 163 to US 63. This step in making a bypass seems, to me, like a relatively recent thing, but I could be … Continue reading