BUSINESS
The evolution of highways in the immediate Fort Dodge area can be seen in this set of maps.
WEST End: Stop sign, US 20, Moorland, Webster County
USDA/NRCS via ortho.gis.iastate.edu (2002)
The area surrounding the Business 20 end is completely redesigned from its existence as US 20 in order to keep traffic on the main route. The lake in the middle is the fill lake created during construction. The original route here was a straight diagonal. A stub piece of the old diagonal serves one house (bottom left).
Facing northwest, but heading west, on Business 20
Facing northwest, but heading west, on Business 20
In Webster County, all of US 20 east of this intersection is actually in the rural system as "Hwy 520." The 5xx designation was used when constructing bypasses. However, the "Hwy 20" designation to the old route only applies between this intersection and Fort Dodge.
Facing northeast, but heading east, on 20
Facing northeast, but heading east, on 20
The fill lake is on the right, and 20 curves around behind it.
Facing southwest, but heading west, on 20
Facing southwest, but heading west, on 20
Unlike many other business routes, this one has the decency to be signed in both directions.
Facing southeast, but heading east, on 20
For a short time the diagonal between here and Fort Dodge was a previous version of IA 934.
Facing northeast on stub
From this perspective you can see the old piece of road run right into the business route.
Future plans
2005 aerial photo (USDA/MIT via ortho.gis.iastate.edu)
The markings on the above map show the approximate plans for the four-lane extension of US 20 west of Fort Dodge. In July 2005, the four-lane segment was extended to just east of the bridge over old 20 and the railroad tracks, approximately where the thick black line begins. The other black lines indicate new roads planned along with an interchange for the westward extension of 20. I attended a public meeting about the relocation in Fort Dodge in December 2005. One thing I overheard a couple of people mention was the concern of everyone coming from Gowrie and Callender to work having to turn right at the T north of the interchange, and then having to turn left coming home. The erased roads mark which ones are planned to be taken out, and include moving the end of Business 20 westward, making the old Business 20 a stub access to the fill lake on the northeast corner. As of December 2005, plans have been scaled back to grade four lanes from this point west to IA 4 but pave only two of them in 2010; earth moving began in fall 2007. According to an article in the March 24, 2006, Fort Dodge Messenger, the DOT told the US 20 Corridor Association it would not proceed with plans until the counties involved agreed to take over old 20 between US 71 and Moorland. Were this to happen, it would create what I believe is an undesirable situation: Two county seats, Sac City and Rockwell City, would be off state-maintained routes. Sac City especially would be 'abandoned' because the west edge of Rockwell City does border IA 4. And then there's the question of what would happen with IA 196.
Along the route
Plenty of pictures along Business US 20 as it joins with and then splits from US 169 in Fort Dodge can be seen on the Business US 169 (IA 926) and IA 7 pages.
EAST End: Interchange, US 20, Coalville, Webster County
Facing south, but heading east, on Business 20
Facing south, but heading east, on Business 20
Facing south, but heading east, on Business 20 (March 2003 / September 2007)
This LGS is one of the many that had mileage changed, right, after completion of the new 20 through the Iowa River Greenbelt.
Facing north, but heading west, on Business 20
The road right behind the poles is P6D. The sign on the light pole is "North P59" as Business 20 is co-signed with two different county roads outside of Fort Dodge (D20 west, P59 east).
Running parallel to US 20 for 3.5 miles east of this interchange is P6D, a 'diagonal' that runs straight east-west and then turns north-south to Lehigh. It appears that this shield was originally for a P6X route and the D was pasted on.
Facing west on 20
Fifteen years after the present route of 20 was opened, Fort Dodge apparently decided that it wasn't getting enough attention on the signs. While both directions have "Fort Dodge Next 2 Exits" approaching US 169 and P59 (and Business 20 appears in both directions at both ends), neither BGS included Fort Dodge itself. So Harcourt and Otho were moved to supplementary BGSs and new sheets with Fort Dodge were pasted on the signs.
Facing west on 20
Between 1987 and 1990 all traffic had to exit and take P59 north.
Facing east on 20
Compare the BGS at right to the one below left.
Facing east on 20 / Facing north, but heading west, on Business 20
Photos by Jason Hancock
22nd and 23rd pictures by Jason Hancock: 11/10/02
Pictures by me: Second through tenth, 5/7/03; 11th-13th, 15th, and 16th, 3/20/03; 14th and 17th-19th, 9/26/07; 20th and 21st, 6/12/05
Page created 7/11/03; last updated 12/9/07