Radio Iowa (via KSCJ) reports that Woodbury County will be signing its original US 20 route. This is another step for the Historic Route 20 Association in getting the highway recognized across the country.
The only part of original 20 that overlaps with present 20 in Woodbury County is where the 1958 four-lane was built east of Moville, not counting the frontage road in Moville itself.
In the June letting is a signage project labeled “statewide” but is entirely in Polk County, in two locations: the west and northeast (or east) I-35/80/235 mixmasters. The signs that look like mile markers will say “Ramp” at the top instead of “Mile” and have separate codes for each traffic movement. The codes with comment are as follows:
West Mixmaster
Northeast Mixmaster
I-80 mile 137 is now used in all four directions even though certain ramps can and IMO should be keyed to I-35 (as Exit 87) and I-235 (as Exit 14). This means, for example, “Exit 137A” applies to not only 80’s exit to SB 235, but also NB 235 to EB 80 and SB 35 to EB 80. I-235 is labeled north/south below for travel direction.
The east mixmaster’s ramp signs will have a limited lifespan, if the re-engineering of its design begins in 2023 as scheduled.
Is this goodbye to make-your-own waffles? Coronavirus may end the hotel breakfast as we know it.
At the budget end of the price spectrum, if you’re a regular guest at Hilton’s Hampton Inns, Cordell said, “you’re used to making your waffle” in the hotel’s grab-and-go breakfast area. Going forward, the hotel will instead “curate” the six to eight most popular items and put them in sealed bags.
In the places I’ve stayed, in the places I’ve gone, the waffle was often literally the only hot breakfast in town. The only fast-food place may be in the opposite direction (and $6 out of my pocket) and the oatmeal options are weird.* Half the reason I might splurge on a Hampton** is for the smorgasbord of hot food that can keep me going to a late dinner.
Coronavirus: Killing everything you love, one waffle at a time.
Iowa, the only state with the crazy notion of playing summer sports in summer, gets to be the first state with high school sports reactivated this week.
Baseball and softball games started statewide yesterday, but North Tama starts this evening, with a JV/varsity softball doubleheader against South Tama.
The NT softball team is plenty busy this week, playing four games in four days: vs. South Tama in Traer, vs. GMG in Traer, vs. Union at La Porte City, and vs. Baxter at Baxter. Baseball plays Wednesday vs. GMG in Traer, Friday at Baxter, and Saturday vs. Lynnville-Sully in Traer.
Play ball!
From Decorah News: “Luther College is cancelling the in-person observance of Homecoming scheduled for October 9th, 10th and 11th.”
I’m posting this because this is the first fall event I know of — that is, not your typical summertime celebrations, and something connected to football season — to be called off in Iowa.
KTTN Radio in Trenton MO, on US 65 about halfway between the state line and US 36, has a little story from a press release.
Iowa construction project may delay Missouri drivers on I-35
It has a large photo with that little story. The photo bears an uncanny resemblance to this one, taken by yours truly in 2007 and on the I-35 state-line page.
At the time of this writing, the story had a “post view” count of 1, so this tsk-tsking will suffice.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
🙁
#BREAKING: The Iowa State Fair will not be held in 2020 because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The Iowa State Fair board made the decision in a live vote during Wednesday’s board meeting. https://t.co/PUKb7TYDo2
— Des Moines Register (@DMRegister) June 10, 2020
Close to a month late but: The Dubuque Telegraph Herald and KDTH Radio both reported that the US 20 Seippel Road exit, which will also be the the west end of the Southwest Arterial, opened May 19.
I have seen no information about when the arterial itself, and its related highway changes, will be open.
On the Transportation Commission agenda for tomorrow is this line item: Transfer of Jurisdiction – Portion of Virginia Street from Sioux City to Iowa DOT.
This has to refer to the newly built Virginia Street in the area of the I-29 reconstruction project. Google Maps (but not the satellite view, so it happened last year) shows Virginia coming down to end in a half-diverging-diamond interchange. The interchange itself spans a long area with what I’ll call “frontage ramps” much like the volleyball interchange with IA 100 and Blairs Ferry Road in Cedar Rapids. A traveler leaving downtown on Pierce Street wanting to get to southbound I-29 will not merge immediately, but pass by Virginia Street and Floyd Boulevard before finally getting on the mainline near the Floyd River.
Is the transfer for just the part under the interstate, or is it the 1/10 of a mile from the southbound ramps to Gordon Street? If the former, it could open the door to an official reroute of Business US 20, which currently continues west on Gordon Drive until it runs out of road and becomes an ramp to the US 77 interchange. In fact, for eastbound Business 20 to be a continuous route, it now has to exit at Virginia Street. However, Gordon Drive itself still exists west of there, and under state jurisdiction as an unsigned extension of IA 12.
If they give it a number, I hope it’s not a weird one. Just stick to the 900s, please.
I’ve added photos taken at the beginning and end of what were not Iowa-specific trips, but rather the start and end of longer ones, last summer. Here is a list of major and minor additions to pages in chronological order of visit — something in 15 counties. Many of these pages went without changes throughout the 2010s.
MAJOR
MINOR
