WEST End [current/WEST segment]: Direct merge into US 30, Boone County

Facing west on 930 approaching 30

This is an area where "Lincoln Highway", "Old 30" and "US 30" are three separate roads. While this road is marked as Lincoln Way, it is NOT the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln went along the west side of the Iowa State campus on Sheldon and Hyland, then west on Ontario (which was named from the village of Ontario, since assimilated into Ames) into Boone County on what is now 220th St. (first alignment) or 210th St. (second alignment). In 1930, according to some old maps I have, 30 was changed from its Lincoln route (through Ontario and Jordan, which was flattened by a tornado in the mid-'70s) to a route continuing straight west of Ames and then angled northwest to Boone near what is IA 17 today.

By the mid-'60s, all of the Lincoln between Ogden and Marshalltown (except for between Duff and Sheldon avenues in Ames) was no longer part of 30, as this 1966 map shows. The rest of the Ames bypass was completed in 1972. Note the proposed I-35 interchange with E41/Lincoln Way instead of 13th Street (though this might be an error).

(Showing 30 and IA 64 sharing a piece of diagonal road is probably an error brought on by reconciling the old and new alignments of 30 on the map.)

By the late 1960s, the Lincoln between today's west end of 930 and IA 330 was in 'unnumbered primary' black on the official state maps. All of the route up until 1980 was state-maintained, and then Story County took over E41 (its county road name) from I-35 to the Marshall County line, while Ames took the in-city segment. The portions east and west of that were still state-maintained; see clips at the bottom of the 900s page. By the early 1990s, the only piece of IA 930 left was between R38, which runs on the Story/Boone line, and this interchange.

Facing west on 930, about where the car is in the top picture

The road on the left goes to Napier, and is also the road used for WB 30 to Lincoln Way and the onramp to EB 30. Continuing straight ahead leaves you no choice but 30 WB. The EB exit curves above 30 and becomes the EB part of this road.

Facing west, where a vehicle is in the above picture

There's nowhere to go but directly into 30 westbound, a path that reveals the 1930-1963 alignment.

Facing east on 30

We're still in Boone County; Ames is a good two miles away. The exit and bridge are two lanes.

EAST End [current/WEST segment]: R38, Story/Boone county line

The state-maintained portion begins where the tan car is. Although the black line on the state maps ends just east of here (behind us), 930's official mileage starts here at the line.

Facing (south)east

The car is about to start on 930, after it crosses the intersection. The sign at right is R38 with "Story County" underneath it. This picture was taken on the shoulder about 10 feet in front of the passenger side of the semi cab in the above picture.

Facing east on 930

This was taken about 10 feet to the west of the picture facing southeast. I seem to have a knack for hitting this intersection on cloudy days. Standalone county signs are also on secret 263 and 928.

Old EAST End [current/WEST segment]: City limits of Ames, Story County

Facing east on E41

According to Jason Hancock's research, in 1980 the segments through Boone and from the west city limits of Ames to the Marshall/Story line were turned over. However, the 1981 map still marks the segments inside the two cities. So just to cover the bases (but I won't bother with Boone), here's a picture of E41 at the east city limits of Ames, the bridge over I-35. The bike path is a paved shoulder on E41 between Ames and Nevada.

WEST End [old/EAST segment]: Story/Marshall county line

Facing west on 930 (now E41)

The green sign at right says "Lincoln Highway," since that's what it is. (The Lincoln Highway Map Pack actually indicates the earliest alignment of the Lincoln between State Center and Colo was a mile south at present US 30, but the modern E41 alignment is generally thought of when "the Lincoln" is mentioned.) The road narrows a bit in Story County.

Facing east on 930 (now E41)

There is no corresponding marker for Story County, possibly meaning that marking secret highways with standalone shields began after 1981. See the map segment at top for the 'east' part of 930. Mile markers are still up, including 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, and an 11 just past where current E41 splits from old 930 - see below. And that leads us to the east end.

EAST End [old/EAST segment]: Stop sign/T intersection, IA 330, Marshall County

Purple is 930, green is E41, orange is 330 after 1989. Approaching its end, just a bit of old pavement extends straight ahead while the road curves north and then east to meet 330 just north of its interchange with 330. The end 930 had at decommissioning in 1989, though, has been obliterated in the past two years. (See also map at bottom.)

Facing north, but heading east, on 930

This is all new concrete connecting the road to 330 north of where they previously met. Until recently it turned right about here. You can see the new northbound lanes for 330, which merge after the hill. The connection was moved north, away from where US 30 and IA 330 meet, which despite improvements is an underpowered interchange because it's still relying on the standard diamond for eight total lanes.

The pre-construction end was closer, but the east end of 930 is about 1.2 miles northwest of the confluence of 42 degrees north, 93 degrees west, which is nearly on the gravel road that S75 becomes south of 30.

US 30 in Marshall County: Transportation philosphy at work

This map goes from one end of Marshall County to the other, with the main iterations of the major east-west route. The BLUE line is more or less the original route of the Lincoln Highway and/or the first paved alignment of US 30 (1913/26 to 1948). The GREEN line, which runs under the red where not seen, is the perfectly straight alignment used for nearly 35 years (1962-96). The small PURPLE connector tied the blue route west of there with the green route east of there from 1948 to 1962. That is the easternmost part of 930. Finally, the RED line is the 2005 route of US 30, wider along the four-lane segment. All three routes share the segment between Shady Oaks Road, under the Lincoln Highway marker, and a point west of Le Grand - approximately 2 miles. The thin BROWN lines are the present routes of IA 330 and IA 14.

The alignment changes of US 30 in Marshall County, I think, exemplify the different eras of road-building philosophies in Iowa:

Before 1935	The shortest distance between two points is on whatever roads currently exist, and goes through the business district of nearly every town. (Original Lincoln route)
1935-1950	The shortest distance between two points is on the roads that currently exist, but the biggest kinks can be ironed out. (Straightening on the south side of Marshalltown)
1950-1985	The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Anything on that line needs a compelling reason to avoid being torn down. (Final realignments prior to four-laning)
1985-present	The shortest distance between two points is irrelevant. It's the fastest distance with least impact on presently existing development (or the environment) that matters. If it increases the actual mileage, so be it. Straight lines are merely a bonus. (Marshalltown and Le Grand bypasses)

All pictures by me: First, second, and fifth, 12/21/01; third and fourth, 12/20/02; sixth and seventh, 10/25/02; eighth, October 2001; ninth and tenth, 12/5/02; eleventh, 12/6/02; bottom map, 3/5/05

Page created 4/7/02; last updated 4/1/05

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