Interstate 80 in Iowa

Interstate 80 (I-80) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey. In Iowa, the highway travels west to east through the center of the state. It enters the state at the Missouri River in Council Bluffs and heads east through the southern Iowa drift plain. In the Des Moines metropolitan area, I-80 meets up with I-35 and the two routes bypass Des Moines together. On the northern side of Des Moines, the Interstates split and I-80 continues east. In eastern Iowa, it provides access to the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Northwest of the Quad Cities in Walcott is Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop. I-80 passes along the northern edge of Davenport and Bettendorf and leaves Iowa via the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River into Illinois.

Before I-80 was planned, the route between Council Bluffs and Davenport, which passed through Des Moines, was vital to the state. Two competing auto trails, the Great White Way and the River-to-River Road, sought to be the best path to connect three of the state's major population centers. The two trails combined in the 1920s and eventually became US Highway 32 (US 32) in 1926. US 6, which had taken the place of US 32, became the busiest highway in the state. In the early 1950s, plans were drawn up for the construction of an Iowa Turnpike, to be the first modern four-lane highway in the state, along the US 6 corridor. Plans for the turnpike were shelved when the Interstate Highway System was created in 1956.

Construction of I-80 took place for over 14 years. The first section of the Interstate opened on September 21, 1958, in the western suburbs of Des Moines. New sections of the highway opened up regularly over the next 12 years, even though construction in eastern Iowa was completed in 1966. The final piece of I-80 in Iowa, the Missouri River bridge to Omaha, Nebraska, opened on December 15, 1972. By the 1980s, I-80 had fallen into disrepair in Iowa and across the country. Federal funding was freed up in 1985 to allow reconstruction of the highway.

I-80 is the longest Interstate Highway in Iowa. It extends from west to east across the central portion of the state through the population centers of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, Des Moines metropolitan area, and Quad Cities. The majority of the highway runs through farmland, yet roughly a third of Iowa's population live along the I-80 corridor. The route closely follows the Iowa Interstate Railroad, which was once the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Main Line in Iowa.

I-80 enters Iowa on a bridge over the Missouri River, where it leaves Omaha, Nebraska, to enter Council Bluffs. Almost immediately after landing on the Iowa side of the bridge, it meets I-29 and US 6 at a Y interchange. At the interchange, I-80 splits into a local–express lane configuration. The inner express lanes do not provide any connection to I-29 nor to any of the intermediate interchanges between the two junctions with I-29. The outer local lanes are concurrent with I-29 through southern Council Bluffs for three miles (4.8 km). The speed limit through this section is 65 mph (105 km/h). The South 24th Street interchange serves a commercial area anchored by the Mid-America Center and Horseshoe Casino. The South Expressway exit, which previously marked the southern end of Iowa Highway 192 (Iowa 192), is adjacent to a big-box store commercial center. At the East System interchange in Council Bluffs; I-29 heads south while I-80 and US 6 head to the northeast.

East of the I-29 split, I-80 travels northeast for the next 20 miles (32 km). It passes through eastern Council Bluffs where it serves a commercial/residential area. At exit 8, US 6 exits the freeway and heads west. The Interstate leaves Council Bluffs and speed limit increases to 70 mph (110 km/h). Here, I-80 roughly follows the course of Mosquito Creek past Underwood and Neola, both of which are served by interchanges. About two miles (3.2 km) of Neola, I-80 curves to the east as it meets the eastern end of I-880 at a directional T interchange.

For the next 50 miles (80 km), I-80 runs in more or less a straight line. Interchanges occur at regular intervals; three to six miles (4.8 to 9.7 km) of Pottwattamie and Cass county farmland separate each exit from the next. Near Avoca, it crosses the West Nishnabotna River and meets US 59. East of the interchange, the Interstate crosses the eastern branch of the West Nishnabotna River. As I-80 approaches the area north of Atlantic, there are three interchanges, Iowa 173, County Road N16 (CR N16), and US 71, which serve the western, central, and eastern parts of the city, respectively. Iowa 173, which serves Atlantic by way of Iowa 83, also connects to Elk Horn and Kimballton. US 71, which continues north toward Carroll, carries US 6 traffic to the Interstate. At this point, US 6 begins the first of three instances when its traffic is routed along I-80. In the eastern part of Cass County, the two routes meet the northern end of Iowa 148.

As I-80 and US 6 approach Adair, the highways curve slightly to the south to bypass the community. There are two interchanges in Adair; both of the intersecting roads, at one time or another, carried US 6. CR G30, the White Pole Road, was the original alignment of US 6, while CR N54 has not carried US 6 since 1980. Further east is an interchange with Iowa 25. About one mile (1.6 km) south of the interchange is Freedom Rock. Each year for Memorial Day, the rock is repainted with a patriotic scene by local artist Ray "Bubba" Sorenson II. Near Dexter, I-80 and US 6 graze the northwestern corner of Madison County. After two miles (3.2 km), the routes enter Dallas County and meet CR F60, another former alignment of US 6.