Iowa Highway 163

Iowa Highway 163 marker

Iowa Highway 163
Route information
Maintained by Iowa DOT
Length: 165.902 mi[1] (266.993 km)
Major junctions
West end: US 69 in Des Moines
 
East end: US 34 at Burlington
Location
Counties:
Highway system
← Iowa 160Iowa 165 →

Iowa Highway 163 (Iowa 163) is a state highway that travels from U.S. Highway 69 in Des Moines to US 63 near Oskaloosa. The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) has signed Iowa 163 from Oskaloosa to Burlington along US 63 and US 34, but it does not officially recognize those sections of road as part of the route.

Iowa 163 is a divided highway with some freeway sections for most of its length and serves as a connector between Des Moines with Burlington.

Route description

Iowa 163 near the Iowa State Fairgrounds

Iowa Highway 163 begins at the corner of E. 14th Street, which carries U.S. Highway 69 (US 69), and E. University Avenue in Des Moines. It heads east along E. University traveling 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) to Interstate 235 (I-235).[1] There is no direct access to eastbound I-235 from eastbound Iowa 163. Traffic must take E. 21st Street to Easton Boulevard to access eastbound I-235. Highway 163 continues east past the Iowa State Fairgrounds on its way to Pleasant Hill where it meets U.S. Highway 65 at a diamond interchange.

It continues east and meets Iowa Highway 117 near Prairie City. It turns southeast and meets Iowa Highway 14 near Monroe. It continues southeast, passes Pella, then continues southeast, meeting Iowa Highway 92 west of Oskaloosa before intersecting U.S. Highway 63 south of that city.

This bison sculpture marks the interchange between Iowa 163 and Iowa 117

The Iowa 163 designation is then extended along U.S. Highway 63 between Oskaloosa and Ottumwa, and U.S. Highway 34 between Ottumwa and Burlington.

History

U.S. Highway 163
Location: Des Moines – Oskaloosa
Existed: 1926–1937

In 1926, when U.S. Highway 63 was formed, it followed the route of what became Iowa Highway 163. After U.S. 63 was extended north into Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1934, the route then became U.S. Highway 163.[2] In 1937, US 163 was deleted and was replaced by Iowa Highway 163.[2] In 1970, the US 163 designation was reused for an unrelated highway in Utah and Arizona.

Iowa Highway 163 was originally a two-lane road. In the 1970s the highway was divided through Polk County east of Pleasant Hill. During the 1990s, the highway began to emerge from a two-lane highway to a four-lane highway as part of an ongoing project to create a continuous four-lane highway from Des Moines to Burlington. The segments of 163 in rural areas were converted to four lanes, but the main highway still went through the city centers. That would soon change as bypasses were constructed around the towns along the route. The first freeway bypass, with three interchanges, opened around Pella on October 17, 1994. Bypasses of Monroe, Iowa (with two interchanges), Prairie City, Iowa (with one interchange), Otley, Iowa (with two turnoffs), and Oskaloosa, Iowa (with two interchanges) were later constructed. The last four-lane segment opened between Pella and Oskaloosa on September 30, 1999. Today 163 is divided its entire length, except for short stretches of undivided highway in the Des Moines area.

In October 2009, Iowa 163 was extended along the completed freeway from Oskaloosa to Burlington, overlapping both U.S. Highway 63 and U.S. Highway 34.[3]

Exit list

CountyLocationmi[1]kmExitDestinationsNotes
PolkDes Moines0.0000.000 US 69 (East 14th Street)
0.7681.236 I-235 westWestbound only. No direct access to I-235 east from Iowa 163
0.9821.580  To I-235 east (E. 21st Street)
Pleasant Hill5.3398.592 US 65
JasperPrairie City18.31129.46918 Iowa 117 / CR S6G – Prairie City, Colfax
Monroe25.86541.62625Monroe
29.37647.27629 Iowa 14 – Monroe, Newton
MarionPella40.35364.94240
Iowa 163 Business / CR G28 – Pella, Lake Red Rock
42.84668.95442Pella
45.06472.52344 CR G5T – Pella, New Sharon
MahaskaOskaloosa57.47992.50358 Iowa 92 to US 63 north – Oskaloosa, Knoxville
61.23098.54060 US 63 north – OskaloosaWest end of US 63 overlap, exit numbers follow US 63
Eddyville67.518108.66054Marino Avenue
Wapello69.260111.46353 Iowa 137 south – Eddyville, Albia
Ottumwa80.402129.39442Ottumwa Regional Airport, Industrial Park
81.790131.62840
US 63 Business south / Iowa 149 – Ottumwa
85.772138.03736Dahlonega Road
87.494140.80835Pennsylvania Avenue
88.378142.231191 US 34 west / US 63 south – OttumwaEast end of US 63 overlap; west end of US 34 overlap; exit numbers follow US 34
Agency92.156148.311195 CR V37 – Agency, Hedrick
Pleasant Township95.777154.138199 Iowa 16 east / CR V43 north – Eldon
JeffersonBatavia99.879160.740203 CR H43 – Batavia
Fairfield107.829173.534210
US 34 Business east (Burlington Avenue)
111.797179.920212 Iowa 1 – Fairfield, Keosauqua
114.761184.690214
US 34 Business west (Burlington Avenue)
HenryTippecanoe Township129.641208.637229
US 34 Business east – Mount Pleasant, Westwood		Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only
131.820212.144231 CR W55 – Mount Pleasant, WestwoodWestbound exit and eastbound entrance only
Mount Pleasant135.145217.495234
To US 218 north / Iowa 27 north (Iowa 438) / US 218 Business south – Mount Pleasant		Only access to northbound US 218 from eastbound US 34
135.867218.65745
US 218 north / Iowa 27 north		West end of US 218 / IA 27 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance only; exit numbers follow US 218
138.305222.58042
US 218 south / Iowa 27 south / US 34 Business east / US 218 Business – Mount Pleasant, Keokuk		East end of US 218 / IA 27 overlap
New London144.888233.175244 CR X23 – New London, Mount UnionExit numbers follow US 34
Des MoinesDanville Township156.383251.674255Middletown, Danville
Burlington159.550256.771258 CR X40 (Beaverdale Road) / Agency Road
160.824258.821259Mount Pleasant Street
162.086260.852260Gear Avenue, Bus Depot
163.689263.432261 US 61 (Roosevelt Avenue) – Fort Madison
164.481264.707262ACurran Street
165.343266.094262BCentral Avenue, Snake Alley
165.902266.993263 CR X99 (Main Street)
Mississippi River166.270267.586Great River Bridge, Iowa 163 ends at the state line
HendersonGulfport US 34 eastContinuation into Illinois
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Related route


Iowa Highway 163
Location: Pella

Iowa Highway 163 Business serves Pella, following the old alignment of Iowa 163 through Pella.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "2011 Volume of Traffic on the Primary Road System of Iowa" (PDF). Iowa Department of Transportation. January 1, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Other US highways in Iowa
  3. ↑ Van Nostrand, John (2009-10-16). "Converged highway gets name". The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa). Retrieved 2009-10-18.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 31, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.