|
US 61
|
Length in Iowa: 196 miles/315 kilometers
Northern terminus: Wisconsin state line (Mississippi River) at Dubuque with US 151
Southern terminus: Missouri state line
(Des Moines River) near Keokuk with US 136
Entrance photos
Counties: Dubuque, Jackson, Clinton, Scott, Muscatine, Louisa,
Des Moines, Lee
Cities along route: Dubuque, Zwingle, Maquoketa, Welton, De Witt,
Long Grove, Eldridge, Davenport, Blue Grass, Muscatine, Wapello, Mediapolis,
Burlington, Fort Madison, Keokuk
NHS: Entire route
Freeway segments:
2 miles, from the Wisconsin state line to US 52/IA 3 in Dubuque (with US 151)
6 miles, from IA 64 in Maquoketa to IA 136
20 miles, from County Road Y62 north of De Witt to I-80 (exit 295) in Davenport
Expressway segments:
31 miles, from US 52 through Dubuque to IA 64 near Maquoketa; this includes two interchanges in Dubuque and one where US 61 and 151 split
10 miles, between IA 136 and County Road Y62
32 miles, from I-280 west of Davenport to the Muscatine/Louisa county line (7½ miles
of this are shared with IA 92)
17 miles, from Burlington to the city limits of Fort Madison
15 miles, from southwest of the IA 2 western split near Fort Madison to the
southern split of US 61 and US 218 near Keokuk.
Exit lists:
Segment between I-80 and the Wisconsin state line
Multiplexes:
8 miles with US 151, from the Wisconsin state line to the
interchange north of the Dubuque Airport (the two routes join in Dickeyville, WI, before
entering Iowa). This includes a 3-mile triplex with US 52 in
Dubuque.
1 mile with US 30 west of De Witt
4 miles with IA 22 along the north edge of the Muscatine
bypass
10½ miles with IA 92, from the end of the Muscatine bypass to the western split with IA 92 west of Grandview
6 miles with IA 2 through Fort Madison
5½ miles with US 218 in Lee County, from outside of
Montrose to the outskirts of Keokuk
|
|
History
|
Designated: October 16, 1926, replacing IA
20 south of Dubuque (most of its northern leg became US
55).
Paving history: At the time of designation, the segment between De Witt and the Scott/Muscatine county line was the only paved segment.
1926: Paved from the junction with IA 136 to De Witt
1927: Paved from Mediapolis to a point northwest of Burlington and from Burlington to the Skunk River crossing
1928: Paved from Maquoketa to IA 136, from the Skunk River crossing to Fort Madison, and from Montrose to Keokuk
1929: Paved from Dubuque to Maquoketa and from the Scott/Muscatine county line to the city of Muscatine
1930: Paved from Muscatine to the Muscatine/Louisa county line, and the remaining paved segments in Des Moines County were paved
1932: Paved through Louisa County, including a new alignment between Grandview and Wapello (part of the old alignment
became IA 252, and the Iowa River crossing became part of IA 99 (II).)
1955: Last segment, from Fort Madison to Montrose, upgraded from a bituminous segment to a paved segment
Major alignment changes:
1956: Re-routed to follow Roosevelt Avenue on the west edge of Burlington.
It previously followed Sunnyside Avenue, Osborn Street, Central Avenue, Maple Street,
and Summer Street; south of Burlington it followed present-day County Road X62.
October 23, 1958: US 61 and IA 22 switch routes between Davenport and Muscatine; US 61 now follows the inland route while IA 22 follows the Mississippi. West River Drive in Davenport opened on November 14 to take US 61 off its old Rockingham Road alignment.
August 1959: Two-lane bypass to the west of Keokuk opened; the old segment was eventually signed as Business US 61.
September 1960: Realigned between Fort Madison and US 218 near Montrose; part of the old segment
leading to Montrose became IA 404.
December 11, 1967: Straightened between Zwingle and Maquoketa
May 14, 1969: US 61 and 151 rerouted to follow US 20 across the Julien Dubuque Bridge into Illinois after new weight limits were placed on the Eagle Point Bridge. The two highways ran about 3 miles through East Dubuque before
entering Wisconsin. (The Eagle Point Bridge would remain open to traffic until late 1982.)
August 21, 1982: The four-lane Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge opens, restoring the direct US 61/151 route between Iowa and Wisconsin. (The old route through Illinois is now
signed as IL 35.)
For other alignment changes in Davenport that are not listed here, see the Highways of Davenport and Bettendorf page.
Upgrades:
December 11, 1967: Expressway segment from the south edge of Dubuque to the Dubuque Regional Airport opens, adding to an existing four-lane segment south of Grandview Avenue that existed since 1957. A one-mile segment at the future interchange with US 151 would not open to four lanes until sometime in 1968.
1971: Interchange with relocated US 151 south of Dubuque opens
November 12, 1975: 4-mile freeway bypass of De Witt opens, part of a loop with US 30
December 1, 1982: 19-mile freeway segment between US 30 near De Witt and I-80 in Davenport opens
December 12, 1984: 7½-mile expressway bypass of Muscatine opens
January 28, 1991: 1½-mile expressway segment from Grandview Avenue to 4th Street in Dubuque opens (with US 52 and US 151)
December 26, 1991: 2-mile freeway segment from 11th Street to the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge opens to southbound traffic (with US 151); it would open to northbound traffic on August 25, 1992.
August 19, 1993: Last piece of the Dubuque freeway/expressway, the ½-mile segment from 4th Street to 11th Street, opens (with US 52 and US 151)
Also in 1993: 5½-mile expressway segment north of Keokuk (consisting of most of the duplex with US 218) opens
1994: 8-mile expressway segment from Wever (Lee County) to Fort Madison opens
1996: 4-mile expressway segment between I-280 and the outskirts of Blue Grass opens
August 1996: 4-mile freeway segment from South Main Street in Maquoketa to IA 136 opens
October or November 1996: 10-mile expressway segment from IA 136 to County Road Y62 north of De Witt opens
August 1997: 8-mile expressway segment from US 34 in Burlington to Wever opens
November 1997: 9-mile expressway segment from the Dubuque Airport to Zwingle opens
October 5, 1999: 18-mile segment between Maquoketa and Zwingle opens, completing the four-lane link between Dubuque and Davenport.
November 2000: 9½-mile segment between the Muscatine bypass and County Road Y36 west of Blue Grass opens
May 1, 2001: 3-mile bypass of Blue Grass opens, completing the four-lane link between Davenport and Muscatine. The old segment through Blue Grass became part of unsigned IA 421 until it was turned over in early 2003.
August 1, 2001: 9-mile expressway segment between Fort Madison and US 218 opens.
July 2002: 7½-mile expressway segment between the Louisa/Muscatine county
line and the split with IA 92 opens.
|
|
Notes
|
All of US 61 was designated as a priority route for development as
a four-lane highway on June 30, 1998, meaning that the rest of US 61 in
southeast Iowa will gradually become a four-lane expressway.
- A bypass to the north of Fort Madison received federal money as part of TEA-21
in 1998, and it was added to the plan in 1999 for completion in 2005, but budget woes
in late 2001 put a two-year delay on the project; the project was delayed by three more
years in late 2002. After receiving more federal funding from SAFETEA-LU in 2005, the bypass was put back on the state transportation plan and now has a scheduled completion date of 2011.
- An 18-mile expressway segment from north of Burlington to IA 78
in southern Louisa County was programmed for paving after 2006 but was cut
from the plan in November 2001. A possible 10-mile bypass to the west of
Burlington was also considered, but that project was put on hold in
September 2001. Neither project has been restored to the five-year plan.
One headache for truck drivers in Davenport is the infamous "truck-eating
bridge," which is a railroad overpasses with an 11'8" low-clearance
located right before entering downtown Davenport. Signs warning truckers
are placed as far north as Eldridge, some 8 miles away; through trucks
are encouraged to take I-80 and I-280 around town.
US 61 follows the Great River Road for about four miles through Davenport,
between Rockingham Road (IA 22) and Brady Street (where it turns northward
while the GRR continues along River Drive as US
67). It is also part of the Great River Road from County Road X62 south
of Burlington, through Fort Madison, to County Road X28 outside of Montrose.
|
|
Business US 61
|
|
Muscatine: Designated in 1984, after the Muscatine bypass opened;
it is always co-signed with IA
22, IA 38, or IA
92. The 6-mile route follows (from south to north) Grandview Avenue,
Mississippi Drive, Mulberry Avenue, 2nd Street, and Park Avenue.
(Terminus photos)
Keokuk: I'm not sure when this was designated, as US 61 bypassed Keokuk in 1959, but it was confirmed
via personal observations. The six-mile route is always co-signed with
US 136 (7th Street) and US 218 (Main Street). (Terminus
photos)
Maquoketa: In 1998 AASHTO approved a Business US 61 following IA 64 (Platt Street) and Main Street; however, this route is not signed aside from a few old-style "City Route 61" signs along Main Street. An example of one is in the Photo Gallery (about halfway down the page).
|