WEST End: Stop sign/T intersection, IA 3, Butler County
Highway 188 is another one of Iowa's sort-of-wacky highways. In this case, the road was designated in 1941, superseding a normal spur from IA 3 to Clarksville and then heading out of Clarksville, abruptly turning right, and continuing to US 63. There really doesn't seem to be any reason for the piece between Clarskville and US 218 at Plainfield to be a state highway, except maybe that it provides a more direct link from Clarksville to Plainfield and it's a connection from eastbound IA 3 to northbound US 63 without having to go through Waverly. IMO, everything west of Plainfield should be decommissioned. (Alternately, in a new Great Renumbering, I'd just make all of 188 a new 53, since 53 was the original number of the spur to Clarksville.)
Facing south on 188
Facing south on 188
This isn't the westernmost part of 188; that is where it changes direction at T64, 1/2 mile west of the "west" end.
Facing east on 3
Facing east on 3
The signage on eastbound 3 is non-standard, as the sign above should have a "3 ^" and another of the same with the second 188 shield.
Facing west on 3
There is also a "188 <up and right>" set on westbound 3. The motto on the Clarksville sign is "Friendly families and a family of friends."
So, which way are we going?
First sign north, at IA 3 / First sign west, at US 63
I'll let this pair of shields speak for themselves. They do a nice job of denoting the slight silliness of the route, although to be fair IA 136 is far more screwed up direction-wise.
EAST End: Stop sign, US 63, Bremer County
Facing east on 188
Facing east on 188
Facing north on 63
Facing north on 63
Facing south on 63
Photo by Dennis Swanson
Facing south on 63
Thirteenth picture by Dennis Swanson: 9/27/02
Pictures by me: First-seventh, 5/11/04; eighth-twelfth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, 5/18/04
Page created 11/22/02; last updated 6/1/04
