I-380 in Iowa is the 12th-longest 3-digit interstate in the country and 5th-longest 3-digit interstate west of the Mississippi River. No I-180 was ever proposed in Iowa, though that number exists in Nebraska and Illinois. (Kurumi calls Illinois' I-180, which is 128 miles from I-380, "a front-runner for the nation's least necessary interstate spur.") The only other I-380s are in California and Pennsylvania.
NORTH End: Stoplight, Mitchell Avenue, Waterloo, Black Hawk County
Facing north on 380
In fall 2006, this Clearview sign and a companion on the other side of the northbound lanes replaced the original signs put up here, by the bridge over San Marnan Drive.
Facing north on 380
This is the last new median tenth-mile marker on the interstate. The stoplight visible in the background is for La Porte Road at Mitchell Avenue. La Porte Road, old 218, parallels the freeway/expressway south of about Williston Avenue.
Facing north on 380
This stoplight marks the end of I-380. North of here, US 218 has some intersections before becoming a freeway again at US 63.
Facing south on 380 (2002 / 2007)
Just south of the stoplight is the first BGS for I-380. Right behind it is the fractional mile marker seen below.
Facing south on 380
At far right in the background is the regular side 73 mile marker.
Facing east on San Marnan Drive
Though I-380 technically continues a bit to the north, signage-wise it starts south of San Marnan Drive. (Even the shield on the southbound mainline right after the exit is only 218; there are no 380 shields until US 20.) For more pictures here see the IA 412 page.
Facing west on San Marnan Drive
Surrounding area information: US 20 interchange
Facing south on 218/380 (2005 / 2007)
The signs on southbound 380 were never updated for IA 27 - until about 90% of the BGSs along US 218 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls were replaced with Clearview signs in 2007. Going southbound, the right sign comes before the left. Notice that exit tabs have been added here, meaning that I-380 now exits from itself in both directions. (Also, the shields seem smaller than they should be compared to the size of the text.)
Facing south on 380
This gantry was one of the few that escaped replacement, and thus is still missing IA 27. Notice that the 380 mile markers follow the flyover ramp.
Facing east on 20
Facing east on 20
The tenth-mile markers installed in the median do not match up with US 20's regular mile markers; they're about five-hundredths of a mile off. (That is, "231" appears between 230.9 and 231.0 instead of aligned with 231.0.)
Facing east on 20
The "ahead" arrow on the far left sign is unique to interstates in Iowa. The bridge in the background is southbound 380.
Surrounding area information: US 63/218 interchange
Facing south on 63
This is a few miles northwest of 380's north end, but the interstate is marked here for southbound 63 traffic though it will have to go through a lot of stoplights to get to mainline 218. The road to the right is not technically a wrong-way multiplex; it's mainline 63 but merely the way for southbound 63 to get to northbound 218. (Notice the arrow arrangement on the stoplight.)
SOUTH End: I-80 exit 239, Coralville, Johnson County
Facing east on 80
This 3-mile sign before the Tiffin exit is relatively new.
Facing east on 80
Facing east on 80
It looks like a regular 27 shield has been placed on the right sign. The small shields were need because these signs predate IA 27.
Facing east on 80
To match the Clearview at the north end is Clearview at the south end's interchange.
Facing west on 80
Visible at left is the exit sign for old IA 965. The BGS at far right is the one that infamously read "Cedar Radids" when it was put up in November 2003. The gantry still has an incorrect sign; 218 south should be 1¼ miles away, not 1.
Facing west on 80
Notice the little pull-through sign at far left, rare for Iowa.
Facing west on 80
The mini-shields here indicate this sign predates IA 27 and wasn't replaced like the ones before it. According to official maps, the southbound lanes of 380/218 in this area mark the city limits between Coralville and Tiffin, so once you go under the bridge you're in Tiffin.
Facing north on 218/27
Based on the lack of the state name on the interstate shield and lack of the word "exits," I'm guessing that the 2-mile sign is of later vintage than the 1-mile, which may be original to the opening of new 218 in 1985.
Facing north on 218/27
Northbound 218 omits exit numbers at I-80. There are two options here: Use I-380's Exit 0, as it is signed southbound, or use 218's number (95 or 96). There isn't any mention of I-380 itself until the sign in the background.
Facing north on 380/218/27
?
A comparison of I-380 to two-digit interstates on the official mileage numbers:
| I-97 (Maryland) | 17.62 miles |
| I-86 (Idaho) | 62.85 miles |
| I-19 (Arizona) | 63.35 miles |
| I-380 | 73.05 miles |
| I-66 (Virginia/Wash. DC) | 76.28 miles |
| I-83 (Maryland/Pennsylvania) | 85.3 miles |
| I-12 (Louisiana) | 85.59 miles |
Since I-380 is right in there with some of the "big boys," it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to promote it to a 2-digit interstate. Extending that designation beyond Waterloo and Iowa City, though, would be a non-starter, since beyond those places the four-lane is mostly expressway instead of freeway. Also, you can't get through Waterloo/Cedar Falls on US 218 or IA 58 without hitting stoplights.
Pictures by me: First-third, 14th, 16th, and 17th, 11/20/06; fourth and sixth, 6/27/02; seventh and eighth, 11/29/01; ninth, tenth, twelfth, and fourteenth, 7/15/07; eleventh and thirteenth, 3/15/05; 18th, 9/7/06; 19th-28th, 3/12/07; fifth, 7/25/07
Page created 3/31/07; last updated 11/12/07