Iowa Highway 281

Iowa Highway 281
Route information
Maintained by Iowa DOT
Length: 28.166 mi[1] (45.329 km)
Major junctions
West end: Waterloo city limits
East end: Iowa 150 near Oelwein
Location
Counties: Black Hawk, Buchanan
Highway system

Iowa Primary Highway System
Interstates • U.S. Highways • State Highways

← Iowa 224 Iowa 296 →

Iowa Highway 281 (Iowa 281) is a 28-mile (45 km) long state highway in north-central Iowa. Iowa 281 begins at the eastern city limits of Waterloo and ends at Iowa Highway 150 south of Oelwein.

Contents

Route description

Iowa Highway 281 begins at the eastern city limits of Waterloo along what is Independence Avenue in Waterloo. It heads due east for 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) until it reaches an intersection with Black Hawk County Roads D20 (CR D20) and V54 (CR V54).[1] CR V54 connects Iowa 281 to an interchange with U.S. Route 20 located 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) to the south. At the intersection, Iowa 281 turns to the north, while CR D20 continues to the east.[2]

Iowa 220 travels north for 9 miles (14 km), passing through Dunkerton and crossing Crane Creek.[1] It turns to the east, 1⁄2 miles (0.80 km) south of the Bremer County line and crosses the Wapsipinicon River.[2] From the Wapsipinicon, it takes an S-curve to the north and east and enters Fairbank in Buchanan County, where it crosses the Little Wapsipinicon River. East of Fairbank, Iowa 281 takes another S-curve which places the highway on the Buchanan County / Fayette County line. Iowa 281 heads east along the county line until its end at Iowa Highway 150 south of Oelwein.[2]

History

Originally, Iowa Highway 281 was a spur route from U.S. Route 20 to Dunkerton. In 1957, when US 20 was rerouted to the south, Iowa 281 was extended along the former alignment of US 20 to US 63 in Waterloo.[3] In 1980, it was extended along County Road V3C in Black Hawk and Buchanan Counties and took over the routing of Iowa Highway 190, which was a spur route connecting Fairbank to Iowa Highway 150 south of Oelwein.[4][5] By 1986, the western end of the route had been pushed back to the eastern city limit of Waterloo.[6]

Major intersections

County Location Mile Destinations Notes
Black Hawk
 Waterloo 0.000 Independence Avenue
Barclay Township 5.082 CR D20 east / CR V51 south to US 20 Iowa 281 turns to the north
Lester Township 12.072 CR C54 Iowa 281 turns to the east
Buchanan
 No major junctions
Buchanan–Fayette
county line
 Oelwein 28.166 Iowa 150
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ a b c "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 July 11, 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c Iowa Department of Transportation (2010). Transportation Map (Map). http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/pdf/current/stmapmain.pdf. Retrieved July 11, 2010. 
  3. ^ Iowa State Highway Commission (1958). Iowa State Highway Map (Map). Waterloo inset. http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/historical/pdf/1958_back.pdf. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
  4. ^ Iowa Department of Transportation (1980). Iowa State Highway Map (Map). http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/historical/pdf/1980_front.pdf. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
  5. ^ Iowa Department of Transportation (1981). Iowa State Highway Map (Map). http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/historical/pdf/1981_front.pdf. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
  6. ^ Iowa Department of Transportation (1986). Iowa State Highway Map (Map). Waterloo inset. http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/historical/pdf/1986_back.pdf. Retrieved August 26, 2010.