Avenue of the Saints

Avenue of the Saints
High Priority Corridor 2
Route information
Length: 563 mi (906.06 km)
Existed: 1991 – present
Major junctions
South end: I-64 near St. Louis, MO
  I-70 at Wentzville, MO
I-72 at Hannibal, MO
US 34 / Iowa 163 at Mount Pleasant, IA
I-80 / I-380 at Coralville, IA
US 20 at Waterloo, IA
I-35 near Clear Lake, IA
I-90 at Albert Lea, MN
I-35W at Burnsville, MN
I-494 at Mendota Heights, MN
North end: I-94 at St. Paul, MN
Highway system

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act

← Iowa 26 Iowa 28 →
← Route 25 Route 28 →

The Avenue of the Saints is a 563-mile-long (906 km) highway in the Midwestern United States that connects St. Paul, Minnesota, and St. Louis, Missouri.

Contents

Route description

Missouri

Within Missouri, the Avenue of the Saints is Interstate 64, U.S. Route 61, and Missouri Route 27.

Iowa

In Iowa, the Avenue of the Saints is a 282-mile-long (454 km)[1] highway, which begins in Lee County where Missouri Route 27 crosses the Des Moines River and ends at the Minnesota state line in Worth County, concurrent with Interstate 35. Construction of the Avenue of the Saints corridor in Iowa was completed on May 23, 2006.

In 2001,[2] the Iowa Department of Transportation designated the Avenue of the Saints as Iowa Highway 27. Prior to its creation, motorists wanting to travel the Avenue through Iowa had to follow a lengthy list of directions: (heading north from Missouri) Iowa Highway 394,[3] U.S. Route 218, Interstate 380, U.S. Route 20, Iowa Highway 58,[4] US 218 (again), U.S. Route 18 and Interstate 35.

Minnesota

Main article: Interstate 35 in Minnesota

History

The Avenue of the Saints was the idea of Mount Pleasant, Iowa businessman Ernest Hayes, who envisioned a four-lane highway between St. Paul and St. Louis in the 1980s. The Iowa Department of Transportation decided to study the idea in 1988. Several politicians endorsed the idea, including Mount Pleasant mayor (and future Iowa governor) Tom Vilsack, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, and Congressmen David Nagle and Fred Grandy of Iowa and Dick Gephardt of Missouri.

By the end of 1989, four possible routes for the Avenue of the Saints were under consideration by the Federal Highway Administration. Two of the rejected routes would have followed U.S. Route 52 and U.S. Route 63 from St. Paul through Rochester, Minnesota, to Waterloo, Iowa. Another rejected route would have followed U.S. Route 61 from St. Paul through La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa, to Davenport, Iowa, and U.S. Route 67 from Davenport to St. Louis.

In 1990 the FHWA chose its route for the Avenue of the Saints: it would follow Interstate 35 from St. Paul to a point south of Clear Lake, Iowa; U.S. Route 18 to Charles City, Iowa; U.S. Route 218 to Cedar Falls, Iowa; Iowa Highway 58 and U.S. Route 20 around Cedar Falls and Waterloo, Iowa; Interstate 380 from Waterloo through Cedar Rapids to Interstate 80 near Coralville, Iowa and Iowa City, Iowa; U.S. 218 to Donnellson, Iowa; Iowa Highway 394 and Route B to Wayland, Missouri; and U.S. 61 and Interstate 64 from Wayland to St. Louis.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 made the Avenue of the Saints an official "high-priority corridor," and signs were put along the route by the end of the year. At that time the only four-lane segments were Interstates 35, 380, and 64; U.S. 20 around Waterloo; U.S. 218 from I-80 to Iowa Highway 22 near Riverside, Iowa; and two segments of U.S. 61 in Missouri (from La Grange to New London and from Bowling Green to St. Louis). The decision had also been made to build the Avenue of the Saints to expressway standards—with intersections at rural roads—rather than to full freeway standards as a cost-saving measure. Freeway segments would be built around cities that needed to be bypassed.

After the routing was approved, both Iowa and Missouri began constructing new four-lane segments. Iowa opened bypasses around Waverly (1998), Mason City (1999), Charles City (2000), Mount Pleasant (2001), and Donnellson (2004). A four-lane link between I-35 and I-380 was completed with the opening of a segment near Nashua in November 2003. Missouri completed four-lane segments from New London to Bowling Green in November 2000 and from Canton to La Grange in 2003.

In 2001 the Iowa Department of Transportation gave the Avenue of the Saints its own highway number: Iowa Highway 27. The number was added as an additional number to the existing routes; however, after the Donnellson bypass opened in 2004, Iowa 394 was decommissioned and Iowa 27 is now a standalone highway south of the split with U.S. 218.

Present status

On July 25, 2008, the final nine miles (14 km) of highway between the Lewis/Clark county line and Wayland, Missouri was open to four-lane traffic. A ceremony was held at the intersection of US 61 and Route 27 to commemorate the completion of the four-lane highway in Missouri. The Avenue of the Saints is now complete from suburban St. Louis to St. Paul (see Future construction below).

On December 8, 2004, a new four-lane bridge across the Des Moines River opened; this replaced an existing toll bridge operated by the Wayland Special Road District. A new four-lane road between the bridge and U.S. 61 south of Wayland also opened that day. This road was numbered Route 27 to match Iowa's number for the Avenue of the Saints.

In June 2005, a four-lane segment from the end of the Mount Pleasant bypass to the junction with Iowa Highway 16 east of Houghton was opened to four lanes of traffic. The segment of Iowa 27 between the split with U.S. 218 and the Des Moines River bridge opened to four lanes on August 25, 2005. The last remaining segment in Iowa was opened to traffic May 23, 2006.

The only portions of the road which do not bypass major towns are Waterloo, Iowa; Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri.

A "festival" was held from June 16–18 amongst towns along the corridor to celebrate the completion of Iowa's segment.

Exit numbers

As with many rural expressways in Iowa, the Avenue of the Saints has exit numbers in that state. The exit numbers correspond to the underlying U.S. Highway or Interstate Highway – U.S. 218, I-380, U.S. 20, U.S. 18 and I-35. The section along Iowa Highway 58 in Cedar Falls has no exit numbers, and the separate section south of Donnellson has one numbered exit—the northbound one to U.S. 218 south—based on Iowa 27's mileage.

Future construction

On July 25, 2008, the Avenue of the Saints was completed with the opening of the final nine-mile (14 km) segment from the Lewis County line to Wayland in Clark County, Missouri.

Ongoing construction projects and future proposals along the Avenue of the Saints include:

Exit list

Note: much of the road is not a freeway; there are many at-grade intersections.

Missouri
County Location Mile Exit Destinations Notes
St. Charles O'Fallon I-64 / US 40 / US 61 Continuation beyond south end.
9 Route K – O'Fallon
Route DD (Winghaven Boulevard)
Lake St. Louis Lake Saint Louis Boulevard
Wentzville I-70 / US 40 west – St. Charles, Lambert Airport, Kansas City North end of I 64/US 40 overlap.
Pitman Avenue northbound exit and southbound entrance
Route A – Wentzville
Lincoln Route C – Moscow Mills
Old Cap au Gris Road northbound exit and entrance
Route 47 – Troy, Winfield
Pike Route FF / Route D – Eolia
Route 161 – Bowling Green, Ashley
US 54 – Louisiana, Mexico

US 61 Bus. / Route UU – Bowling Green
Route B / Route C / Route ZZ – Frankford
Ralls
US 61 Bus. / Route 19 – Center, New London
Marion I-72 / US 36 – Downtown Hannibal, Monroe City, Springfield I-72's western terminus is at this intersection
US 24 west – Monroe City South end of US 24 overlap.

US 61 Bus. – Palmyra

US 61 Bus. / Route 168 – Palmyra
Route 6 west – Edina, Taylor
US 24 east – Quincy, Ill. North end of US 24 overlap.
Lewis
US 61 Bus. / Route B – La Grange, Wakonda State Park

US 61 Bus. / Route C – La Grange

US 61 Bus. / Route P – Canton
Route 16 to Route 81 – Canton, Monticello
Clark US 61 / Route 27 US 61 joins southbound and leaves northbound.
Route 27 begins northbound and ends southbound.
US 136 – Wayland, Kahoka
Des Moines River Iowa 27 north

Iowa
County Location Mile Exit Destinations Notes
Des Moines River 0.000 Route 27 south
Lee Charleston Township 10.395 10
18		 US 218 south – Keokuk South end of US 218 overlap
Donnellson 12.322 19 Iowa 2 – Donnellson, Fort Madison
Marion Township 22.409 Iowa 16
Henry Mount Pleasant 33.312 40 255th Street, Mount Pleasant – Old Thresher's Grounds
34.998 42A US 34 east / Iowa 163 east – Burlington South end of US 34/Iowa 163 overlap
42B
US 34 Bus. / US 218 Bus. – Mount Pleasant
38.872 45 US 34 west / Iowa 163 west – Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa North end of US 34/Iowa 163 overlap.
39.387
US 218 Bus. (Iowa 438) to US 34 west – Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa		 Southbound exit and northbound entrance only
Olds 47.096 Iowa 78
Washington Oregon Township 59.230 66

Iowa 92 – Washington, Columbus Junction
62.609 70 CR G36
Riverside 72.721 80 Iowa 22 – Kalona, Lone Tree
Johnson Liberty Township 77.671 85 Hills
West Lucas Township 81.845 89 CR F50 (Riverside Drive) – Iowa City Municipal Airport
Iowa City 83.455 91 Iowa 1 – Iowa City, Kalona
85.698 93 CR F46 (Melrose Avenue) – University Heights
Coralville 89.071 0 I-80 / I-380 north – Davenport, Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids South end of I-380 overlap.
Southbound exits signed as 0A (east) and 0B (west).
See Interstate 380 for exit list.
Black Hawk Waterloo 162.285 71A
232B		 I-380 north / US 218 north – Waterloo North end of I-380 overlap.
71B
232A		 US 218 south – La Porte City
163.793 230 Iowa 21 (Hawkeye Road) – Dysart
165.325 Ansborough Avenue
167.000 227 US 63 (Sergeant Road) – Hudson
Hudson 168.476 225 US 20 west / Iowa 58 south – Cedar Falls North end of US 20 overlap. South end of IA 58 overlap.
Cedar Falls 172.174 University Avenue (Iowa 934)
172.780 18th Street; Waterloo Road
174.257 US 218 south / Iowa 58 south – Waterloo – Waterloo Regional Airport North end of IA 58 overlap. South end of US 218 overlap.
Iowa 57 west – Cedar Falls East terminus of IA 57.
175.909 189 Lone Tree Road
Bremer Waverly 185.446 198
US 218 Bus. (IA 116) – Waverly
189.947 203 Iowa 3 – Waverly, Shell Rock
191.988 205
US 218 Bus. – Waverly – Waverly Municipal Airport
Plainfield 199.202 212 Iowa 188 – Plainfield
Chickasaw Nashua 206.506 220 Iowa 346 (east) / CR B60 (west) – Nashua
Floyd Charles City 215.728 218
US 18 east / US 218 Bus. / CR T64 – Charles City, New Hampton		 South end of US 18 overlap.
219.304 214 Iowa 14 – Charles City, Greene
221.428 212
US 218 Bus. / CR B35 – Charles City
Floyd 223.845 US 218 – Floyd North end of US 218 overlap. At-grade intersection.
Rock Grove Township 238.542 195 CR S70 – Nora Springs
Cerro Gordo Portland Township 243.679 190 CR S56 (California Avenue)
Mason City 247.731 186
US 18 Bus. / US 65 – Downtown Mason City, Rockwell
Lake Township 250.741 183 CR S36 (Eisenhower Avenue) – Mason City Municipal Airport
255.192 178 I-35 – Des Moines, Minneapolis South end of I-35 overlap.
See Interstate 35 in Iowa for exit list. Iowa 27 begins southbound and ends northbound at Minnesota state line.

Minnesota
County Location Mile Exit Destinations Notes
See Interstate 35 in Minnesota for exit list.

References

  1. ^ "2010 Volume of Traffic on the Primary Road System of Iowa" (PDF). Iowa Department of Transportation. January 1, 2010. http://www.iowadotmaps.com/trafbook/trafbook2010.pdf. Retrieved January 14, 2011. 
  2. ^ Jason Hancock. "Highway 27". Iowa Highways. http://iowahighways.home.mchsi.com/highways/iowa20-29.html#27a. Retrieved 26 October 2006. 
  3. ^ Jason Hancock. "Highway 394". Iowa Highways. http://iowahighways.home.mchsi.com/highways/iowa389-399.html#394. Retrieved 26 October 2006. 
  4. ^ Jason Hancock. "Highway 58". Iowa Highways. http://iowahighways.home.mchsi.com/highways/iowa50-59.html#58a. Retrieved 26 October 2006. 

External links