End of Iowa 145

(January 20, 1931-July 1, 2003)

WEST End: I-29 exit 20 or L31, Fremont County

Facing west on 145

Photo by Neil Bratney

In the four hundred feet west (ahead) of the spot this picture was taken, 145 end(ed), L31 intersects, and the road goes (went) from state highway to dirt. The yellow sign in the far background is one of those "Class B Minimum Maintenance Road - Enter At Your Own Risk" signs.

L31 is an interesting county road. Between IA 2 and the Pottawattamie/Mills line, it weaves in and out with I-29 (heading north), crossing it:

Just south of the J34 intersection south of Percival;
With J26 at exit 15 (Percival), going from just east of the highway to just west of it;
1.65 miles north of this photograph;
With J10 at exit 24 (Bartlett), going from just east to just west again (J10 only goes east from here);
Doesn't cross, but comes within 250 feet of I-29 (according to Street Atlas) 1.6 miles north of the Mills/Fremont line - in fact, the Mills PDF map places L31 practically on top of the interstate;
At the south US 34 interchange (with 978 near Pacific Junction), going from just west to just east, then through Pacific Junction, and stays east of the interstate until it ends east of the IA 370 exit.
Reader Dan Drackley tells me that IA 370 is only the end of L31 as it's marked on the Iowa map; it actually continues to the north, paralleling I-29 on the east side and then going half a mile east of I-29 on a gravel segment that ends on an old section of South Omaha Bridge Road left behind when the I-29/IA 92 interchange was built; today, Council Bluffs Lewis Central High School is on that road.

Facing east

Photo by Neil Bratney

Something to ponder: Who is this sign for? The only way to get here is by coming from the dirt road or L31, which crosses just behind you. How many L31 travelers head to Kansas City? (Well, there are those who live along the road, of course...) The first 145 sign is across from the "End" sign in the top picture.

Facing east on 145, the sign in the above picture

Photo by Neil Bratney

Usually, the bottom sign ("Interchange No.") is with the "Jct" sign, but there wasn't room for one between L31 and the intersection. Neil says, however, that this is not an exception: it's actually the norm for all five interchanges in Fremont County.

Facing south on 29

Photo by Neil Bratney

This BGS is the only one in Iowa that lists a town that's not on the Iowa map! Other BGSs list unincorporated places (Honey Creek and Plain View, for example), but McPaul isn't even on the map. Also note the centered exit tab and the lack of an "East" tag. The latter, it would appear, is the norm for I-29. Those wacky western Iowans. ;-)

Facing south on 29, post-decommissioning

The exit tabs, centered as they usually are in southwest Iowa, look older than the BGS themselves and also don't look like "20" was the original number placed on them.

EAST End: Stop sign/T intersection, US 275, Fremont County