September 8, 2010: South beginning of IA 98, in unincorporated Leando. Leando (pop. 115) and Douds (pop. 152) were granted Census Designated Place status for the 2010 census.
In the early 20th century, it was common for small-town newspapers to run items from other papers across the state telling of recent developments. It’s fitting, then, that I learned of the death of an original highway number in that way.
The Marshalltown Times-Republican carried a snippet from the Van Buren County Register — a paper so small it doesn’t appear to have a website — about the transfer of IA 98 to the county. According to the blurb, the DOT gave the county $2.31 million on Dec. 28. Transfer of the highway was agreed upon back in May 2014, when the state said it would build a new bridge across the Des Moines River. The bridge was the only reason 98 survived the Second Great Decommissioning.
IA 98 was born July 1, 1920, as a spur highway to Eldon, and it never strayed far from home. From World War II onward, it was merely a spur route from IA 16 to Douds (on the north side of the river) and Leando (on the south side, and also site of an elementary school).
IA 98 is survived by siblings IA 93 and IA 96, two other routes near in number that started as spurs but were extended later on.