WEST End: Interchange (was stop sign), US 218/IA 27, Nashua, Chickasaw County
I hope to get both ends as they appear today during a March trip. These photos show both ends in transition to interchanges.
Facing west on 346
Photo by Jason Hancock
The grading for the extension of 346 to the Avenue of the Saints is in the background. The end will still be in Chickasaw County, only even closer to the line than the half-mile it already is. Its westernmost west end was in the summer of 2002, when the detour for US 218/IA 27 ran due south from Charles City on T64 and 346 was 'extended' west six miles into Floyd County to meet it. (If you have a picture of the south junction of T64 and B60 please e-mail me so it can be included as a temporary end.)
Facing south on 218/27
Photo by Jason Hancock
During construction, this intersection became a three-way stop.
LGS in above picture
Photo by Jason Hancock
The original 346 was nominally a spur to the village of Bradford, northeast of Nashua. In reality, its designation was in order for the state to be in charge of a connection to the Little Brown Church. Bradford was dropped from the map between 1968 and 1972 as a result of disincorporation. Bradford is currently the only town to serve as the end of a spur that has been removed from the official map. That may change now that the town of Kent (IA 265, 1933-61) in Union County dissolved, as reported in February 2003.
After 346 leaves the Little Brown Church, it enters its straight post-1953 alignment to US 63. It's only by fortune and location that 346 lives; all the numbers around it were spurs (except, arguably, for IA 347) and all nearby numbers except 340 and 349 have been decommissioned. Since the decommssioning of IA 412 in 1983 it has been the seventh-highest non-spur number in Iowa. As recently as 1979 it was the fourth-highest, before extension of 363 and 415 and new versions of 394 and 403.
My plans for a Second Great Renumbering, bringing all non-spur highways down to a lower number and, as a bonus, restoring the original 1-107 program, would renumber 346 as a new IA 90. I know it's a pipe dream, but I'd be happy if they just knocked the eight numbers above 220 down to double digits (or at least IA 415 to, say, 47).
Surrounding area information: Nashua bypass
Facing north on 218/27
Photo by Jason Hancock
This, on the south side of Nashua, is where the freeway would split from the current road. This will actually be the third alignment of 218 in the Nashua area; the first used current Greeley Street and Charles City Road (natch). This was through downtown, 3/10 of a mile east of the present alignment, and was changed after 1944. This also means that IA 346 joins IA 117 as a route to have both of its ends physically moved (in the case of 346's east end, moved vertically) but the changes can't really be seen on the map.
Facing north, looking from B60
Photo by Jason Hancock
This is B60 at the new alignment of 218 and 27. This area is where 346's west end will be.
Facing south, looking from B60
Photo by Jason Hancock
This shows the future alignment a little better. The grade runs up to near B60 (pavement in the foreground).
EAST End: Interchange (was stop sign), US 63 and US 18, Chickasaw County
The construction has also made a mess of the east end. Pictures by Jason Hancock and Dennis Swanson illustrate the progress made in the fall of 2002. This site started a little late to get pictures of this intersection before construction of the interchange (and, for that matter, we nearly missed IA 24's pre-2002 west end).
Facing east on 346
Photo by Jason Hancock
This intersection is marked as "Williamstown", another Iowa community that doesn't exist anymore. Its name still shows up on various maps, though.
Facing east on 346
Photo by Jason Hancock
As you can see, construction has hit this old LGS a bit (and it may be gone now). Look to the left and you will see the new LGS.
Facing east on 346
Photo by Jason Hancock
With the junction signs and LGSs, it's deja vu all over again. Compare this to the earlier photo by Dennis Swanson, without the new freeway LGS. Also note the change in assembly just to the left of the rear "East 18 ^":
Facing east on 346
Photo by Dennis Swanson
Facing east on 346
Photo by Jason Hancock
Compare the two US 18 shields. The one on the left is the unusual one - unusual, that is, except every construction project in 2002 seems to have them. This is after the onramp to SB 63, on the west side of the bridge.
Looking north from 346 bridge
Photo by Dennis Swanson
The northbound exit ramp is an inner leaf; the interchange is a modified diamond.
Facing south on 346
Photo by Dennis Swanson
Dennis reported, "At the time of my trip [9/21/02], traffic was still using the temporary bypass to access the original pavement, which will be replaced by the new southbound lanes. The new temporary cross-over that will direct traffic on to the new northbound lanes was almost ready for use."
As you can kind of see in the picture, 63 used the northbound lanes and then crossed over to meet 18 and 346 at a four-way stop at what will be the southbound ramps. (Hence, above, the older junction and LGS farther west than the new ones.)
Facing west on 18
Photo by Dennis Swanson
Facing north on 63
Photos by Jason Hancock
Compare the font in the 196s. The one on the left is correct; the one on the right is very wide. There wasn't a full BGS at the interchange itself, and the "Exit" there is/was probably temporary. The signs along the 63 bypass may be some of the last new ones put up in Iowa not in "Butt-Ugly Kansas-Style Signage," meaning larger initial letters.
Facing south on 63
Photo by Dennis Swanson
This was on the ramp, as 63 was using it at the time. If this is southbound (I can't quite make out the LGS), the "Jct 18" is wrong.
Facing south on 18/63
Photo by Dennis Swanson
Dennis reported, "South of Chickasaw County Road B54/240th Street, new southbound lanes replace the original alignment. At the time of my road trip, all traffic was using the northbound lanes between B54 and IA 346 while the southbound lanes were being reconstructed. This jog to the southbound lanes is just north of IA 346."
For additional pictures of the New Hampton bypass, you can go to IA 24 and Business US 63.
Pictures by Jason Hancock: First-ninth, eleventh, fifteenth-sixteenth, 11/17/02
Pictures by Dennis Swanson: Tenth, twelfth-fourteenth, seventeenth-eighteenth, 9/21/02
Page created 2/28/03; last updated 2/27/04