Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

The companion piece to yesterday’s blog post was announced late last week: US 65 is closed at IA 330 for three weeks in order to build the connection to the new interchange bridge. That means that from Aug. 6-16, there will be no access to the diagonal in the area southwest of Rhodes from the west or north.

The press release says traffic will be detoured on F22, which according to the 2017 Jasper County map is gravel east of Farrar. Hmm.

Construction projects at either end of old IA 223 in Jasper County make any east-west excursion to Baxter somewhat difficult at the moment. Baxter is one of a handful of Iowa towns with a population above 1000 but without a state-maintained road within a mile of city limits. IA 223 became F17 in 1997 despite having average traffic above 1000 vehicles a day even 20 years later.

First, there is the biggie: The intersection that served as 223’s west end is permanently closed while the road is realigned to meet the new US 65/IA 117/IA 330 interchange. The interchange is between the existing intersections. The official detour, scheduled to last 10 more days, goes down to Bondurant, east on I-80, then back up on S52. I don’t know why it doesn’t use IA 117 and F24 — unless it’s precisely because “eastbound” drivers would have to turn left at the 65/117 intersection.

Then there’s a run-of-the-mill bridge project at the other end. The bridge over the North Skunk River, just west of IA 14, is being replaced. Given its age, Jasper County is replacing what had been a state bridge. The Newton Daily News says that started July 10 and will go until around Halloween.

That bridge isn’t the only one left over from state-control days. Two bridges on F48 between Colfax and Newton — US 6 until 1980 — are showing their age as well. The Jasper County board of supervisors approved federal-aid swap funding in last month’s meeting, the NDN reports, but that’s merely the first step in a long process to get them replaced.

So while I could see the interchange under construction for the first time in a year on the way to the Iowa State Fair (rather than passing by every other month as I would have living in Des Moines), the pre-1980 Baxter spur end will have to wait.

A big roadgeeking milestone will happen this year: Interstate 95, and the original layout of the interstate highway system, will become complete.

I-95 has been discontinuous between Pennsylvania and New Jersey since the system began. It’s New Jersey’s fault (video). But now we’re near the final stage of an interchange between I-95 and I-276 on the Pennsylvania side that will enable a continuous flow of I-95 from the Pennsylvania Turnpike across the Delaware River to the New Jersey Turnpike. The completion date is a vague “August” on websites.

The Atlantic covered this in a good story in January. Conversion of the northernmost part of I-95 in Pennsylvania to I-295 happened in March with old/new exit numbering.

The maligned I-35 flyover ramp to US 30 at Ames is so messed up it may not open until next year. The Iowa State Daily has the story on the DOT acknowledging the delay. A couple weeks ago news came out that the contractor had miscalculated on crucial steps and already-completed work would have to be redone.

Considering there is no good way to have construction going on during football weekends — and possibly also the first week of college — there’s some days knocked out there.

The Daily also reports the contractor will eat the additional costs — and didn’t return request for comment.

The shiny new Mississippi River bridge at Sabula will be lonely for a few more weeks as high waters have delayed construction at the overflow bridge again. The Iowa DOT says it won’t be done in time for Labor Day.

A report in early May that said the bridge wouldn’t be open until Thanksgiving was retracted/corrected to Labor Day. When the closure started, which was ahead of schedule because “an issue occurred during construction”, the original timeline was to be done by Memorial Day.

A story from KDTH Radio said the original plan was for a 40-day closure. The last Friday in September will be Day 224.