(1980-July 1, 2003)
WEST End: Maquoketa Caves State Park, Jackson County
Facing north, but heading west, on 428
Photos by Jason Hancock (widen your browser if they're not side by side)
Right before its end, 428 deviates from what was Y31 in 1980 and goes .4 miles west to the park entrance.
Highway 428 is an anomaly of a number. It has been a numbering quirk since the first 428 was commissioned in 1965. For reasons unknown, the last odd number given out was 419, to Victor. The numbers 416, 418, and 420 were all given to old pieces of US 20, but that sequence skipped 419 because they were designated in 1960 and 419 two years later. In 1963, the DOT gave out only even numbers in the 420s: 422, 424, and 426. In 2000, 421 was given as a secret number to old chunks of US 61, and then a completely arbitrary skip was made to 431, old US 218 northwest of Waverly in 1998, and 432, old IA 163 west of Oskaloosa in 1997.
In 1965, two years after the previous even-only designations, IA 428 was given to a piece of IA 64 into Anamosa after US 151 and 64 were rerouted to the present alignment on the east side. When that spur was decommissioned in 1980, the number migrated east to the road serving Maquoketa Caves park, a road that had once been a state highway (IA 130) but had not been one for 16 years. It's unclear why the redesignation was made.
Facing west on 428
Photo by Jason Hancock
EAST End: Stop sign, US 61, near Maquoketa, Jackson County
Facing east on 428 (2002)
Photo by Monte Castleman
At this point 61 is a divided highway. The up arrow with the "North" just means to cross the southbound lanes. If you look to the left of the light pole, where the car is, there is a "North 61 <-" assembly.
Facing east on 428 (2008)
LGS before above assemblies
Facing east on 428
Photo by Jason Hancock
According to Street Atlas, half a mile of 428 past this point was truncated when 61 was rerouted around Maquoketa. However, the 1974 map indicates the bypass was made shortly before then (a black 'secret route' line goes through Maquoketa), which would predate this incarnation of IA 428. At least four paved pieces of old 61 exist in Jackson County after straightening: Just south of Zwingle, at the intersection with D61, halfway between D61 and E17, and from Fulton south to IA 136, which no longer has a bridge across the Maquoketa River and intersects current 61 twice, at the northwest corner and south side of Maquoketa. (Street Atlas marks the last entry between the intersections as Business 61.)
Facing south on 61
The IA 64 interchange can be seen in the background; the 1-mile BGS is behind the camera.
Last seen: 2003
Fourth picture by Monte Castleman: Summer 2002
Pictures by Jason Hancock: First-third and seventh, 5/26/02
Pictures by me: Fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth, 9/2/08
Page created 11/23/02; last updated 1/7/09
