The Iowa Highways Photo Gallery

Fort Dodge area

	The Karl King Viaduct over the Des Moines River opened December 7, 1960, as a new route for IA 5. IA 5 was renumbered IA 7 in 1969, and in 1990 it became part of Business US 169 after IA 7 was truncated. The viaduct was named for bandmaster and composer Karl L. King, who lived most of his life in Fort Dodge.
	The Fort Museum in Fort Dodge marks the north end of the Dragoon Trail, which meanders its way through the Des Moines River valley before ending near Knoxville.
	Fort Dodge was the first city in Iowa to have two business US highways; Sioux City became the second in November 2001, and Mount Pleasant and Ottumwa later joined them. Whereas Business US 20 followed the pre-1990 alignment of US 20, Business US 169 was created from old segments of US 20 and IA 7 during that same year. This photo was taken at the intersection of 8th Street and Kenyon Road, the former east end of IA 7, looking south.
	This overhead sign gantry is on northbound US 169 in front of the Union Pacific railroad overpass approaching Kenyon Road. Business US 169's south end is at that intersection while Business US 20 continues southwestward, along with County Road D20, toward US 20. (Business US 169 is a state highway, IA 926, but the standalone segments of Business US 20 are locally-maintained.)
	These signs are on Kenyon Road heading southwest toward US 169.
	This sign, opposite the arrangement of signs in the previous photo (heading northeast), shows the multiplex of Business US 20 and Business US 169.
	A rare wide-shield US 169 shield can be found on Avenue O and B Street. Two more oblong shields existed along frontage roads near the intersection of US 169 and Business US 20 but they had been replaced by mid-2008.
	Business US 169's north end is at a trumpet interchange with US 169. It's not your ordinary trumpet, though. Note that County Road D22 is signed on an separate assembly that is not part of the exit sign.
	What makes this trumpet unusual? The intersection with D22 is right in the middle of the ramp from southbound US 169.
	This distance sign is south of the trumpet interchange. "US 20" is indicated with text even though most distance signs in Iowa use shields.
	This sign is also on US 169, but heading north from the trumpet. Why is Storm Lake, which isn't even close to US 169, on this sign? It's probably a holdover from the days IA 7 went into Fort Dodge; nowadays its east end is right on the northwest edge of the city.
	This green "fork" sign can be found on eastbound US 20 approaching the intersection of County Road D20, which also serves as the west end of Business US 20.
	These signs are at the west end of both County Road D20 and Business US 20, heading east on US 20. Talk about 20/20/20 vision!
	Business US 20 follows County Road P59 east of Fort Dodge before joining US 20 again at this interchange near Coalville. This green sign on southbound P59 may be a leftover from the period between the time the four-lane US 20 ended here (1987) and the time the US 20 bypass of Fort Dodge opened (1990); it directed US 20 westbound traffic from P59 to the four-lane.
	During the 1970s and early 1980s the proposed four-lane US 20 across Iowa was referred to as "Freeway 520" by the DOT and the news media. Webster County keeps the 520 number alive by referring to the four-lane as such (like this sign east of Coalville shows) in its E-911 rural street numbering system. (The old US 20 west of Fort Dodge is referred to as "HWY 20" even though mainline US 20 follows what they call "HWY 520."
	For some reason, Fort Dodge appears in all-caps on signs on both off-ramps from US 20 to US 169. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
	This assembly is on eastbound IA 175 at the junction with US 169 near Harcourt. Note that US 169 is indicated on two separate sign assemblies.