BUSINESS
WEST End: I-35/IA 27 exit 194, Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County
The pictures at this interchange have moved to a separate page.
Junction US 65
Facing north on 65 (8/4/15)
This arrow assembly is due to the one-way streets; you have to go "ahead" one block in order to go west on 122.
Facing north on 65, but heading west on Business 18 (5/28/06)
At this intersection, Business 18 and 122 join up, Business 18 coming up from the south. Just past the light 65 splits into one-ways. The mall is built right on top of where 65 used to run.
Facing north on 65 (8/4/15)
The white building in the above picture has been torn down.
EAST End: Interchange, US 18/IA 27 and US 65, Cerro Gordo County
Facing south on 65, but heading east on Business 18 (9/2/00)
Photo by Jason Hancock
While the DOT added "South" to all other IA 27 shields south of Charles City, while with US 18, 27 is often forced to act like an east-west highway. Compare the foreground and rear sign sets to the ones below.
Facing south on 65, but heading east on Business 18 (5/28/06)
Facing south on 65, but heading east on Business 18 (10/4/16)
It is a complete mystery why "To" tags were added to the on-ramp here. The change makes no sense.
Facing south on 65, but heading east on Business 18 / Closeup (3/22/03 and 10/4/16)
Facing south on 65, at WB/NB onramp and then EB/SB onramp (10/4/16)
Closeup of sign at right (10/4/16)
Facing west on 18
Photo by Jason Hancock
Old photo: Original sign on bypass
Jason says that in 2001, "Federal Ave." was replaced with "Downtown Mason City." The exact same thing happened with US 30's bypass of Marshalltown, where at the IA 14 interchange "S Center St." was replaced with "Marshalltown Business District." Compare to the eastbound picture below.
Facing east on 18 (3/22/03)
The right sign, perhaps more than any other, illuminates the difference between the DOT's standard font used on BGSs and a funky font that showed up along the US 18 bypass and occasionally other places. (This font has also been spotted on the IA 163 bypass of Pella and one BGS for IA 28 on I-35/80.)
The key to telling apart the two fonts on the right sign is in the letters O and W. In "Downtown Mason City," which has the standard font, the letters are taller than their counterparts in "Rockwell".
Facing west on 18 (5/28/06)
Before the exit there is now an assembly with lights and a sign "When Flashing 18 Closed 1/2 Mile." This is to divert traffic into the city in event of a blizzard.
Facing west on 18 (5/28/06)
Facing west on the offramp (5/28/06)
Facing north on 65 (7/9/18)
Facing north on 65 (7/9/18)
Facing north on 65 (7/9/18)
The bottom Clearview mileage paste-over reflects a change in US 18's route, but the Clear Lake one...?
Facing north on 65 (7/9/18)
Page created 12/16/02; last updated 1/14/19