US 30 in Iowa

US 30 is a US Highway in the US state of Iowa. The road forms an east-west route through the center of the state, from the Nebraska border through Ames and Cedar Rapids to the Illinois border at Clinton. The route has little passing importance in the west of the state, more so in the east, as larger towns are located here. The road is 532 kilometers long.

• IAMACCEPTED: Provides a list of all colleges in Iowa, including contact information for both private and public schools within Iowa.

Travel directions

US 30 at Carroll in western Iowa.

US 30 in Nebraska comes from Blair and crosses the Missouri River to enter the state of Iowa. US 30 then forms a single-lane road through the agricultural valley of the Missouri River and crosses Interstate 29 at Missouri Valley. US 30 then heads northeast for about 90 kilometers, parallel to the Boyer River past Denison. After this, US 30 heads east again through an agricultural area. In western Iowa, US 30 passes through several small towns.

From Ogden, US 30 is a 2×2 divided highway and crosses the Des Moines River. Along Ames, US 30 is a full-fledged freeway and has an interchange with Interstate 35. East of Ames, US 30 has been run for another 90 kilometers with 2×2 lanes, but this part is not a full-fledged freeway. US 30 has a bypass along Marshalltown with short-lived highway features. After Tama, the US 30 is again a single lane road over a length of 40 kilometers.

West of Cedar Rapids the US 30 becomes a 2×2 divided highway again, the bypass of Cedar Rapids itself is a freeway. On the south side of Cedar Rapids follows an interchange with Interstate 380. Cedar Rapids also crosses the Cedar River. The riverbeds are the main elevation changes in this part of Iowa, which is otherwise fairly flat to at most undulating. Around Mount Vernon and Lisbon is a bypass on a freeway profile. East of Mount Vernon, US 30 becomes a single-lane road again for 70 kilometers to DeWitt.

At DeWitt, US 30 briefly coincides with US 61, which has been developed as a freeway. This is followed by a 30-kilometer stretch of 2×2 lanes to Clinton, an eastern city on the Mississippi River. US 30 passes through downtown Clinton and crosses the Misssippi River via the Gateway Bridge, before US 30 continues in Illinois to Sterling and Dixon.

• LIUXERS: Offers FAFSA school codes for colleges and universities in Iowa. Also covers Federal schools for each school of the Iowa.

History

De Gateway Bridge over de Mississippi River in Clinton.

US 30 at Marshalltown.

US 30 was created in 1926. It is one of Iowa’s primary east-west routes, primarily serving cities not served by US 6 or US 20, such as Ames, Marshalltown, and Cedar Rapids. US 30 follows the historic Lincoln Highway, one of the major auto trails in the United States. US 30 was not fully paved when the route was created, in 1931 the entire route in Iowa was paved.

In 1891 a bridge was built over the Mississippi River near Clinton. In June 1956, the new Gateway Bridge opened, which has been used by US 30 ever since. In 1955, US 30 was built on a new route outside Cedar Rapids. Beginning in the 1960s, US 30 was widened to 4 lanes, occasionally with freeway features (separate intersections). In 1965, an 18-mile four-lane section opened between Ogden and Boone, west of Ames. Ames’ four-lane bypass opened in 1973. In 1976, the section between De Witt and Clinton in eastern Iowa was widened to 4 lanes. In 1985 and 1989, the Cedar Rapids highway bypass opened.

In 1997 the highway opened along Marshalltown. In 2004 this four-lane section was extended further east from Marshalltown to Le Grand. On November 29, 2010, a four-lane section opened between Colo and State Center. A four-lane section around Toledo and Tama also opened that month. On July 7, 2011, a four-lane section opened between State Center and the Marshalltown bypass. This meant that a 120 kilometer long four-lane section was in use, partly as a freeway, but also partly at ground level.

In 2018-2019, a flyover was established at the interchange between I-35 and US 30 at Ames, for traffic from Des Moines to Ames. This was especially necessary because of periodically increased traffic flow to the Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, a major stadium for college football. The flyover opened to traffic on September 11, 2019. A short section of US 30 west of I-35 has also been widened from 2 to 3 lanes for this project.

A 13 kilometer bypass with freeway features has been constructed around Mount Vernon and Lisbon. It opened to traffic on November 15, 2019. Construction of the bypass coincided with the doubling of the existing US 30 between Cedar Rapids and Mount Vernon, but that portion is not a freeway. On June 3, 2021, 10 miles of US 30 with 2×2 lanes opened east of Tama.

Traffic intensities

In western Iowa, US 30 is a typical main route with 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles per day, with some minor peaks around larger towns. The section at Ames off I-35 has 22,000 vehicles and 7,000 vehicles at Marshalltown. South of Cedar Rapids there are 20,000 vehicles and to the east this drops to 2,500 vehicles to rise to 8,000 vehicles per day for Clinton.