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Appanoose County
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This incorrect sign is heading west on County Road J3T in Moravia. Not only is this photo in Iowa instead of Connecticut, Massachusetts, or Vermont (the sign should be IA 5), but Appanoose County isn't served by any US highways. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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This sign in Unionville places the distance marker ahead of the IA 2 shield; it's usually the other way around. In addition, the destinations and markers are aligned to the right of the sign. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Although the Missouri border is five miles away, Cincinnati is the last town on IA 5, and the distance sign leaving town lists three Missouri cities. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Although IA 5 hasn't been IA 60 since the beginning of 1969, this motel in Centerville is still called "Motel 60." (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Bremer County
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The intersection of US 218 and IA 3 in downtown Waverly, looking northeastward — note that all four signs, facing two different directions, are on one metal pole with a ton of brackets supporting it. This photo was taken on August 30, 1998; a year later, after the bypass opened, "BUSINESS" markers had been placed above the US 218 signs.
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You're in for a long ride if you're heading on IA 3 west of Waverly; Cherokee is at the other end of the state. |
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This big green sign on US 63 near Denver is just plain weird. Not only does the County Road C50 pentagon
look different than usual, but the lower-case letters in "Denver" and "Janesville" are
smaller and more widely-spaced than usual. This was the only numbered exit on US 63 north of Waterloo until
the New Hampton bypass opened. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Two distance signs are present on southbound US 63 south of C50. An older sign lists Waterloo,
Hudson, and Oskaloosa in the normal style. But the sign in this photo lists two different cities after Waterloo and
is in the same strange font as the BGS in the previous photo. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Decatur County
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Lamoni is the last city on US 69 before entering Missouri, but since the state line doesn't
coincide with the city limits, the last distance sign on southbound US 69 lists three
Missouri cities.
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Heading south on US 69 just before the straight line, you'll see this sign assembly.
US 69 makes a turn to the right, straddling the Iowa-Missouri state line before making
a turn to the south. Go straight and you'll merge into southbound I-35; note the I-35
Missouri shield. But this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the mixture of Iowa
and Missouri signage goes...
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This is facing east, but heading north on the section of US 69 that straddles the state
line. This sign assembly features mostly Iowa signage — with Iowa DOT stickers on the
back of all signs except the I-35 Missouri shield — but the brackets are similar to what are found
in Missouri assemblies. (In Iowa, all three would be side-by-side-by-side, like in the
photo above.)
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This distance sign was likely made by Missouri, given its position south of the state
line and use of button-copy print.
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A close-up of the assembly in the above photo. A left turn puts you onto northbound
US 69 toward Lamoni, going straight leads you to the ramp for northbound I-35, and a
right turn puts you on to I-35 southbound into Missouri. Again, all signs are Iowa-style
except the I-35 Missouri shield — but the brackets and signpost are Missouri-style.
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After the ramp there is a low clearance warning sign for the I-35 overpass ahead, but
right after that is this unusual sign assembly. Yes, there's an I-35 Iowa shield, but
the digits are larger than Iowa-style shields — plus the arrow marker below the shield
is smaller than the type Iowa uses, and the directional banner features a larger first
letter. So it appears that MoDOT made an I-35 Iowa shield, which makes sense considering
that these signs are on the Missouri side of the state line. (Also note another
Missouri-style button-copy distance sign in the background: "<- DES MOINES 83".)
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This view is looking west from a point past the I-35 overpass. This distance sign, on
the Iowa side of the line, is Iowa-style, with another Iowa-style assembly present in the
background. Southbound US 69 is straight ahead after the intersection.
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This is the exit sign from southbound I-35. Note that there are no control cities, nor
is there an exit number (although the blue service signs mention Exit 114, which matches
Missouri's numbering). The next interchange to the north is also for US 69 (the Lamoni/Davis
City exit), but after that US 69 and I-35 only meet one more time at an interchange on the
north edge of Des Moines. Heading south, though, US 69 intersects I-35 six times between
here and Kansas City.
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The sign marking the Missouri state line is posted at the south end of the overpass,
and the exit ramp — with a sharp turn to the north — follows.
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This assembly is on the off-ramp from southbound I-35. Go straight from the stop sign
and you'll see the Iowa welcome sign for northbound US 69 travelers.
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The first advance sign for this interchange on northbound I-35 features the control city
of "Lamoni Ia"...
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...but the "Ia" was dropped at the exit sign. (By mid-2005 it was replaced with a sign that included the "Ia.")
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After the gore sign you can see the last Missouri mile marker and the Iowa welcome sign (as
the overpass begins).
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A finishing touch: This is an Iowa DOT-style No Parking sign, but the sign is posted
on a canopy pole at the Conoco gas station — which is on the Missouri side of the line.
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Distance signs with six destinations on one sign are uncommon, but Decatur County placed one at County Road J66 in Pleasanton. (Photographed by J.D. Adams)
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US 69 and IA 258 shields are present on a barn near the former IA 258's east end. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Hardin County
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This sign south of Union commemorates the 1865 Stage Road that once ran from Iowa Falls to Marshalltown.
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The south end of IA 299 in New Providence is at the intersection of Main and Main. If that's not confusing enough, the "N" on this sign is facing south and the "S" is facing north!
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A view of eastbound US 20 crossing the new Iowa River Bridge, taken one day after
its August 22, 2003, opening.
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This sign is on County Road S57 east of Ackley, at the intersection of IA 57. The sign dates back from IA 57's days as part of US 20, but when the US 20 freeway opened, a "57" was placed over the "20" while the "US" was left alone. One would have to go to Texas to access US 57. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Jasper County
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In this assembly along US 6 in Newton, the "TO" marker is in black text on an orange sign, as if it was in a construction zone, instead of the standard white text on a blue sign. There are still orange "TO" markers in Jasper County, though. This setup exists along US 6 in Newton...
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...and this orange "TO" sign is at the junction with IA 14.
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US 6 and IA 14 multiplex for a mile on the west edge of Newton. This assembly on
northbound IA 14 at the I-80 interchange seems to be lacking an arrow.
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Although US 6 has multiplexed with I-80 between Altoona and Newton since 1980, most
of the signs at the IA 14 interchange still do not include US 6, so the US highway is relegated
to a separate assembly.
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This sign on westbound I-80 is the only one at this interchange that shows US 6.
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Not only is the I-80 shield on this sign on East Beltline Drive leaving Newton green,
there's an "I-" before it.
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Another green I-80 shield, with preceding "I," exists at the junction of County Roads F62 and T22 west of Sully.
This photo is looking west. (Photographed by Mark Odor)
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Green I-80 shields must be the standard on green signs in Jasper County. This
one is approaching the US 6/IA 14 junction, heading east on County Road F48 (old
US 6) in Newton.
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Checkered flag emblems are present on street signs along Iowa Speedway Drive (the former Southeast Beltline Drive) and Rusty Wallace Drive (named after the Iowa Speedway's designer) in Newton.
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Madison County |
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First Street in Winterset bears the name of its most famous native
son, movie legend John Wayne. As an added touch, The Duke's likeness is
even featured on the signs! |
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This distance sign is west of Winterset on old IA 92. There's nothing really
unusual about it, except that (1) this is a DOT-style sign, and (2) IA 92 was
rerouted around Winterset in 1976 — meaning that this sign was at least 28 years
old in 2004. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Madison County, of course, is known for its covered bridges. Brown
signs along county roads, like these east of Winterset, act as
trailblazers to the bridges. |
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Mahaska County
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This junction sign in Oskaloosa — which is found after exiting
eastbound IA 163 near its east end en route to northbound US 63 — is black instead of the
usual green. |
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Old IA 163 became unsigned IA 432 in 1998 after the four-lane IA 163 west of Oskaloosa was completed, but it was turned over to local control in 2003. By the end of that year the intersection of old IA 163/432 and Pella Avenue was reconfigured into a roundabout, or traffic circle. While most signs call the road "OLD HWY 163," this street sign treats the road like it was still IA 432.
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This piece of old IA 92 is just west of the Des Moines River near the Marion County line. Since the bridge across the river was removed when the current IA 92 opened, traffic has to go through Marion County to go anywhere. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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This old truss bridge crosses the Des Moines River in western Mahaska County near the Marion County line, northeast of Tracy. Although it is no longer open to vehicular traffic, it was probably the first bridge to carry IA 92 and its predecessor, IA 2 (I), over the Des Moines River. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Marion County
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Street signs in Pella feature windmills on them.
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Some newer overhead street signs in Pella feature logos like this one near the town square.
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The south end of the Dragoon Trail is at the entrance to the Lake Red Rock Visitors
Center northeast of Knoxville. But from here, County Road T15 continues as an alternate
route for the Trail that runs through Knoxville.
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It's not very often that you see an overpass over a two-lane highway, but the original plan in the 1970s was to widen IA 92 between Knoxville and Oskaloosa to four lanes. Two lanes were built — with paved shoulders, a rarity on two-lane rural roads — but the other two weren't. The overpass carries IA 92's old alignment over its new one; there is a short access road just past the overpass that connects the old and new alignments. (More photos of this area can be found on Jeff Morrison's terminus photo page for Business IA 92 in Knoxville.)
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This view of old IA 92 is northwest of Tracy, facing west. There was a railroad bridge over the tracks west of Tracy, but in late 2004 that bridge was removed and old IA 92 now dead-ends in both directions from the railroad crossing. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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This DOT-standard distance sign is present facing north on the former IA 310 south of Harvey. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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A new bypass of IA 5 opened around Pleasantville in late 2003, and the street signs call the
old IA 5 a business route; however, there are no Business IA 5 signs in Pleasantville.
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Marshall County
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After the state of Iowa adopted its "Adopt-a-Highway" program in 1989, many counties and cities followed suit with their own litter removal programs. Marshall County's program, called "Healthy Heartland Highways," is marked with unique signs like these.
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This strange double arrow — pointing upward and slanting downward — is on County Road S75 southwest of Marshalltown. At this point it leaves the diagonal road it used to follow before 1989 (now County Road E41) and heads northward toward Albion. |
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This sign on Lincoln Way in Marshalltown lists the streets that can only be accessed via Belair Drive. (All three streets are named for places associated with Abraham Lincoln.)
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This sign at Center Street and Riverside Drive in Marshalltown points drivers toward IA 14. It features an old-style IA 14 marker. (Photographed by Mark Odor)
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Street signage in historic downtown Marshalltown.
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This example of a wayfinding sign, which points drivers to points of interest in Marshalltown, appears on Center Street approaching downtown.
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This set of street signs is on County Road E18 east of the junction with County Road S62, three miles west of Liscomb
and 1½ miles south of the Hardin/Marshall county line. Jeff Morrison, who photographed these signs, comments:
"To the best of my knowledge there is nothing of extraordinary importance on W Avenue. There are two gravel roads that connect to W Avenue from S62 in Hardin County, so it's not a case of this being the only way to get to it. In short, the existence of this 'To Hardin Co. W Ave.' baffles me."
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This large distance sign can be found at the off-ramp from westbound US 30 to
southwestbound IA 330; the original US 30 can be found in the background. After the four-laning
of IA 330 was completed in 2002, some modifications had to be made at this interchange because
too many southwestbound drivers were turning onto the northeastbound lanes, which carried two-way
traffic before the widening. In 2006, the overpass that carried northeastbound traffic was replaced so that both overpasses were of equal height. (Photographed by Mark Odor)
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A new green sign is present on northeastbound IA 330 approaching US 30. Note that the "WEST"
has a larger initial letter. (Photographed by Mark Odor)
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Tama County |
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This distance sign is on US 30 east of Tama. Yes, the next town is
Cedar Rapids, 47 miles away. |
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Signage for the split of the Hiawatha Pioneer Trail in Toledo,
approaching the junction of US 30 and US 63. The north and south routes of
this 1960s-vintage trail rejoined in Davenport, but that junction is no
longer signed. |
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Here's an interesting diamond sign west of Tama, where Meskwaki Road
splits off from westbound County Road E49. |
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Jeff Morrison photographed this sign in northwestern Tama County. This
sign might be more appropriate if it was on a freeway, but the "exits" in
question are really at-grade intersections. |
