Various pictures from May
	This is the semi-famous "Benton County Road K" sign as seen on V42 north of Keystone. Iowa went from lettered trunk roads like Wisconsin to the current alphanumeric system sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I'm not quite sure how or when it happened.
	The clock was ticking on IA 200 - and the rest of the spurs in Benton County - when I took a trip on May 20 to photograph them all. It was a wonderful day for pictures, making sure these highways were captured before 70-plus years of history disappeared.
	The only two-digit spur in Benton County is IA 82 to Blairstown, an original one from 1920. However, the road wasn't officially "paved" until the 1990s, having previously been a "dustless" road.
	Just a really good shot of county roads running north-south and east-west just west of Atkins.
	The Second Great Decommissioning also meant that some shields would be pried off of interstate signs. This one is on northbound I-380. I am standing in Benton County, while the BGS is in Buchanan County.
	This secret highway had been around a while before it was made non-secret. IA 939 runs right through the middle of Buchanan County, on a survey line that many other parts of US 20 followed before being moved to a four-lane highway south of the original road. On 20's very first route, the semi coming this direction would have turned right onto a short curve, then north through Jesup, and then west again. In 1958, a new route for 20 running east from this point to downtown Waterloo was opened.
	No, it's not a mother-and-child reunion, but a coincidental duplex of IA 25 and IA 925, a number given to one of three segments of US 6 in 1980. The two roads share two miles in southern Guthrie County between Casey and Menlo. When 6 was tacked onto I-80 in this area, it meant that 6 no longer entered Guthrie.
	This is the east end of one of those other segments of US 6, IA 927, the only state highway to ever end at I-280. (Not that there are many opportunities to do so.) To follow 6, get onto I-280 and then get over to the left lane so as to not head toward Chicago.
	I don't think Illinois really knows what it's doing with its county roads. In some places, I see them with numbers, in other places (like here) I see them with letters. This is one mile north of the Rock Island-Mercer county line near an intersection with US 67. (I should have gone a mile south to get Mercer, but I didn't, which was kind of silly since you can't drive into it from Iowa.)
	The toll bridge for US 67 had been free for less than a month when I crossed it on the Saturday before Memorial Day. The construction barricades were set up because they were still in the process of removing the toll booths and related items, such as the sign seen here. With this change, the only toll bridges on the Mississippi in Iowa are IA 92 at Muscatine and IA 2 at Fort Madison.
	This is the other end of IA 927, near Wilton. It's an interesting arrangement because the signs are held together horizontally by pieces of metal (that aren't regular brackets) while held up by two wooden posts. Muscatine, West Liberty, and Wilton are the destinations on the LGS in the background.
	This intersection west of Dexter has gone through so many versions in the past 50 years it's practically been turned inside out. The inset shows the sign on the westbound offramp. Before the interstates, US 6 faced south, like this picture, then turned right, while IA 90 went left. For a while in the 1960s, IA 90 was on 6's route while 6 used 90's. From 1980 to 2003, 6 went ahead while 925 went right. And now, County Road F60 is the north-south road while County Road F65 goes right.
June 1: Along Interstate 29
	Here's something you don't see every day: An "RRX" on an interstate. The Union Pacific tracks run so near the east edge of the I-29/680 interchange that the ramps on that side are compressed. The background gantry has a shield for IA 988, a secret route that was only signed along northbound I-29 and eastbound I-680.
	Pottawattamie County generally does a good job of signing its county roads, although the spacing of the letters may seem off at times. (The replacement shields for US 275 and IA 191 are particularly bad.) After July 1, 2003, the right sign is "Jct L20 <->", a little odd for a north-south county road to end at another one.
	Although it was hard to tell on the map, IA 362 ended at I-29 and did not continue to IA 183, most likely because of that one-lane bridge. At the time this picture was taken, the westbound LGS had fallen down. In the background of the large picture you can see IA 183 behind the bridge. Although there is a G14 shield here, Pottawattamie County inexplicably decided to call 362 G12.
	South of IA 127, IA 183 used to be US 75, and that history is evident in the layout of the road. Continuing north here is the dominant road. It then curves west toward Mondamin, where 183 goes north as the leg of a T intersection. Topographic maps make it exceedingly clear that IA 183 follows the demarcation between Missouri River valley and Loess Hills, flat to the west and hilly to the east.
	In this out-of-focus picture, IA 301 has just turned north behind the camera and it turning east again to go through what passes for the business district of Little Sioux. County Road F20 actually runs along Vine Street (the road 301 came into town on) while the last part of 301 is on Mulberry Street. Two blocks past 301's end, Mulberry runs into north-south Main Street, which F20 uses to exit town. After decommissioning, status of F20's route through town is unknown; it may have stayed the same or been reconfigured to match 301's old route.
	On IA 301 just east of I-29 is a stop sign at County Road K45, which used to be US 75 (hence the stop). This was the original west end of IA 301, here at unincorporated River Sioux. At the interchange, there is a building that used to be a Stuckey's.
	Leaving Onawa, there are still about 7 miles left of IA 175 in Iowa, but all the towns are in Nebraska. Norfolk is at the intersection of US 275 and US 81; I believe Norfolk is the farthest west town on an Iowa LGS. (Other possible contenders are towns on US 30 leaving Missouri Valley and US 18 leaving Rock Valley.) FYI: The last three-destination LGS the other direction, leaving Grundy Center, is "Morrison 4; Reinbeck 9; 63 7."
June 9: Pottawattamie County and I-29
	This sign assembly is interesting because one of the shields has a hyphen between the letter and numbers while one does not, and it has the "Emergency Detour" sign. Neither of the roads that allegedly join IA 191 here are co-signed along the route. After decommissioning, the road ahead would technically be a county road triplex: G30, L52, and G8L (old 191).
	This photo at the south end of IA 244 was taken for no real reason. It turns out, though, that this is the last full-body picture I took of my car, which was stolen in Omaha about a month later.
	This is the first shield on IA 244 facing south. The interchange at 244's south end is in the background. You can't see the interchange from the very beginning of 244 because a building is in the way, but once you cross the railroad tracks and get to this sign it's easy. There is now an L55 shield here.
	This intersection used to be somewhat important. The second important route from Council Bluffs to Des Moines, IA 7 (later IA 64), turned east to go to Avoca. From there it went north along present US 59 to Harlan, and then east on present IA 44 to the Des Moines area. After 1969 it was the west end of IA 83, although the old road pattern (and, to a lesser extent, signage, noting the 83 pole) was still visible. Today, it is merely the intersection of two county roads.
	Here's an interesting find along IA 83: Old green county signs. There are a few green square road shields around, but the corresponding "Jct" and direction arrows are even rarer.
	This is one of the rare graphical BGSs in Iowa. It might seem a little strange given the farmland all around, but I-680 is a cutoff for Sioux City traffic. I-680 is probably the least-traveled interstate in Iowa, despite its role as a bypass of downtown Omaha. Note the inclusion of "Nebr" instead of just a straight "Omaha".
	I-80 widens to three lanes as I-680 splits off. In the background is the I-680 interchange with IA 191.
	How little traffic uses I-680? Little enough that I was able to get this picture. This gantry is within walking distance of the off-ramp to IA 191.
	The interchange of IA 191 doesn't bother with people who want to travel west on I-80 or east on I-680. Because the end of 680 is right there, it assumes that if you go that way you want eastbound 80. (You will have to get in the left lane soon after merging, though; the 80-680 interchange does allow movement in all directions.) Since July 1, 2003, this interchange has been the south end of IA 191.
	There is a nice scenic lookout on I-680 between I-29 and I-80. Looking west, you can see the interchange, the floodplain, and over into Nebraska. (IA 183 is hidden near the edge of the trees.)
	To the north of the scenic lookout (top), Missouri Valley's water tower pokes out above the town. To the southwest (bottom), 18 miles away is Omaha's skyline. The First National Tower is the tallest building on the left, the Woodmen of the World Building just to its right.
	For IA 300, as with IA 244, one end is not visible from the very other end, but it's close. These railroad tracks are about a block away from the west end, and the east end can be seen because the road rises slightly to go over I-29. Both IA 300 and County Road F50 were signed on I-29, which may mean the F50 shield is still off-center today.
	It's not often that you come across an interchange-related sign on a gravel road. This is the first sign heading east on a road that becomes IA 127 (and paved) right at the southbound ramps. The first 127 shield is on the other side of the interchange.
	The interchange with IA 362 is so close to I-680 that it's a folded diamond. On the southbound approach, unincorporated Loveland shares a gantry with Council Bluffs, Omaha, and Des Moines. Farther south from here is a BGS that looks old enough and has shields spaced oddly enough that it might have also held a US 75 shield prior to 1984. (It has since been replaced.)
	This is, to the best of my knowledge, the only BGS set on an interstate in Iowa that gives distance in feet. It's a left-hand exit because, for quite a while, I-29 ended just up ahead and ran right into a road with at-grade intersections. This and US 65 northbound from I-80 eastbound are the only two left exits outside of Des Moines' east mixmaster. (Left exits on I-235 are being eliminated in the big construction project.) Usually "Business District" appears below the city name, not above.
	The former east end of IA 370 at what is now former US 275 has 275's mile marker and a Loess Hills Scenic Byway marker visible. The 275 has been replaced by L35, and the road between 275 and I-29 is now marked as H10.
	This intersection is near the Iowa School for the Deaf; US 275 is no longer here. Council Bluffs doesn't seem to know what type of highway it has on its hands; IA 275 shields pop up all over the place. The background gantry is for IA 92/US 275 approaching Interstate 29, with signs in button copy.
June 15: Omaha to Chariton (mainly US 34)
	Most likely a sign of convenience, although US 34 has been a four-lane here since the 1970s it doesn't have full BGSs. Since July 1, 2003, that hasn't mattered as much, because all three shield sets have been taken down. US 275 was attached to 34, IA 385 was turned over to Mills County, and Business 34 was apparently killed when IA 949 was - even though business routes elsewhere are local-jurisdiction roads. There was still a leaving-town LGS on Business 34 because it was a state route; it even listed Tabor.
	This is one of the last pictures I got with my digital camera on my trip across southern Iowa. The north end of IA 41 features, on US 34, an extra westbound lane and a curve for eastbound-southbound traffic. But for all that, there is no "End 41" sign.
	Psst...the DOT hasn't wanted anyone to know, but US 34 and US 71 don't meet at an at-grade intersection. In fact, 34 actually goes out to four lanes for a time at this full interchange. In addition, US 34 and US 59 don't meet at grade either, but there's only one two-way road connecting the two routes. (Interestingly enough, US 59 doesn't intersect old US 34 in Emerson at grade either, and there's no quick road connecting the two!)
	There were a lot of pieces of US 34 left behind after straightenings in Union County east of Creston. This is...uh, if I recall correctly...a tiny piece of 190th Street serving one house just east of the east 34/169 intersection, barely marked on the county map. (I think a new driveway to new 34 wasn't buit because of the grade involved.) An excellent aerial shot of the area is here. (Links to Iowa GIS) This piece of road is the far left piece in the photo.
	An abandoned barricade with matching hay bales block the way from further pavement exploration, but aerial photos clearly show tree-lined pavement angling southeast to the railroad tracks, stopping, then picking up again on the other side, becoming a working road after making a curve. I would really like to check this out someday, but that requires talking to the landowners first! Other realignments along US 34 were done in 1964 and 1965; it's probable that current 34 was also built around that time (making this "Road Closed" sign 40 years old).
	Unmarked on the county maps (but a thin line in the Iowa Atlas and Gazetteer), for the very good reason that it is closed, is one more "dip" in old 34's route right at the Union/Clarke County line. This is looking west into Union County and someone's field.
	Here's one of Iowa's two sequential US-interstate pairs, US 34 and I-35 (the other being US 30 and I-29). The northwesternmost one of these in the country is US 89/I-90 in Livingston, MT (US 91/I-90 at Butte is now gone), the southeasternmost US 19/I-20 in Atlanta. Other nearby ones: US 81/I-80 at York NE; US 36/I-35 at Cameron MO (south-southwest of this one!).
	Both the ends of IA 258 and 266 at US 69 were redone in late 2002 or early 2003. Each now has a sort-of-Y intersection, with "ramps" to either direction of 69 (but they're two-lane). I'm not sure why such a thing would be done, given their minor nature and the fact they'd be turned over to the county soon after. IA 258 used to go from 69 to Van Wert, and was later extended to I-35.
	Hello, temporary poles...right? I thought these were a sure sign of recent construction, but since this trip I have seen more and more shields on metal poles instead of wood. I don't know why. Anyway, the 266 shield was gone in a few weeks anyway. And by the way, 266 was an asphalt road. It was definitely not "dustless" as the maps showed it.
June 16: Chariton to Omaha (mainly IA 2)
	May the luck of the Irish be with you on IA 68 - or County Road S70, whatever the case may be.
	This mismatched directional pairing seems to indicate IA 142 was marked as an east-west highway crossing the northwest side of Lake Rathbun. Most likely, it was signed as east-west along the part that was J18, and north-south along the part that was S70; J18 wins the duplex pair across the lake. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers Web site, Lake Rathbun was dedicated July 31, 1971, with keynote speaker President Richard Nixon. Nine years later, the state took control of roads along the north and west sides, most likely for improvements; 23 years after that the roads became county routes again.
	The south end of IA 14 is offset from the street grid in Corydon by half a block, as streets go on either side of the Wayne County Courthouse. The courthouse has a distinct mid-20th-century feel to it, as you can see on the IA 14 page.
	Originally, IA 40 ran the height of the state, along a route that is now US 218 (or bypassed segments thereof). After the US highway system was commissioned in 1926, IA 40 and IA 55 were banished to southern Iowa to serve as spurs, 40 right away and 55 in 1934 when it replaced IA 67. The "BK" (back) on the mile marker is to correct the mileage after a realignment of IA 2 between this intersection and US 65.
	One of the larger number discrepancies of highway duplexes in Iowa; the US highway usually goes on the left, though. "Watch for horse-drawn vehicles" calls attention to a sizable Amish contingent in the area. The two routes share only two miles today, even though 169 will stay in Iowa longer than it needs to as it makes a turn toward Redding. It might have made sense to route 169 straight north from Redding along what today is P27 when it was rerouted around Delphos in 1931 or 1932, but that never happened.
	IA 49 was being turned over to Taylor County before legislation was finalized for the Second Great Decommissioning. In mid-June, the signs were still up on IA 2, but on IA 49 itself the signs were gone. (Signage on 2 remained most likely because Adams County still had 49, and new county shields were not up yet.) Today 49 is an assortment of county roads. "Old Hwy 49," a continuation of the diagonal toward an old alignment of IA 2, goes to the left.
	Somehow, the existence of Business US 71 and Business IA 2 remained under Iowa roadgeeks' radars until photographic evidence surfaced in the 21st century. The routes have been there for 30 years, and the condition of the signage is such that it may be original. Faded green "Business" tags were more common at one point but now are almost gone save for those in Clarinda. This photo is across the street from the northwest corner of the Page County Courthouse, in the business district. Business 2 goes a block north and then turns west again. Business 71 goes south to the present 71/2 intersection. The arrows themselves are slightly different from the current standard.
	When the two highways bypassed Clarinda, sections of road to the east were also rerouted so the infamous and nearly inevitable "curve" around a town that characterizes bypasses is somewhat mitigated. Shields for IA 2 abound here, not only in the left pole with assistance from the Department of Redundancy Department but straight ahead in a mistaken placement under a Business 71 shield.
	Braddyville is parked right on the Iowa side of the Missouri border. ("Welcome to Iowa" shows up on the north side of town.) To the left of the photo's position is a Philips 66, fully inside Missouri. Maybe the taxes were better or something. US 71 goes south from here and then east to Maryville (meeting the continuation of IA 148), then south to St.Joseph, piggybacking with I-29 to Kansas City.
	A mere 16 miles into Missouri, US 275 comes to an end. It originally continued to St. Joseph, Missouri, but I-29 has supplanted it as the main route between Omaha (Council Bluffs was its original north end) and Kansas City. With that in mind, and 275's recent rerouting along I-29 and US 34, I have wondered if perhaps this road should be decommissioned. Much of its central portion jumps from one duplex to another, and then it becomes a more east-west road for the last half of its section in Nebraska. An IA/MO 275 running south from US 34, with either an NE 275 or an assortment of other numbers, might be worth looking into.
	As the southwesternmost former spur in Iowa, IA 239 is closer to downtown Topeka (130 miles) and Kansas City (142) than Des Moines (158), despite the latter being in the southwest quadrant of the state. Its northeasternmost counterpart, IA 364, is closer to downtown Milwaukee (190) and St. Paul (195) than Des Moines (214).
	All three state highways touching US 275 south of Glenwood were affected in the Second Great Decommissioning. Two of them, IA 145 and 184, were completely decommissioned, while IA 333 was dropped east of 275 and its duplex removed. Now, the only state-maintained routes connecting north-south roads US 59, US 275, and I-29 are US 34 and IA 2 (with 333 connecting 29 and 275).
	This overhead assembly in downtown Omaha, facing south on 14th Street at Dodge Street, may be nearly 30 years old. The shield covered up is most likely US 73, which was decommissioned in nearly all of Nebraska after US 75 was shifted over from Iowa, which by the early 1980s was duplexed with I-29 from Sioux City to Council Bluffs. US 75 isn't here anymore either; it's moved west, onto a new freeway that then merges with I-480. A left turn will go into Iowa on the bridge that US 6 and I-480 currently share, a bridge that used to be 75's entry into Iowa.