I-29 at I-129/US 20
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The first advance signs for I-129/US 20/US 75 from northbound US 20 are visible from the Singing Hills Boulevard exit. Most of the signs along I-29 show I-129 in text rather than as a shield, for unknown reasons. The sign on the right was the exit for northbound US 75 before 2001, and the signs do not show that old US 75 is now Business US 75 even though there is plenty of room to note this.
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The former "wrong-way" multiplex of I-29 and US 75 is shown in this November 1999 photo by Eric Peterson, looking west on Singing Hills Boulevard. From 1984 to 2001, I-29 and US 75 shared the segment between US 20/I-129 and Singing Hills, but the multiplex was dropped when the US 75 bypass opened in November 2001.
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These signs are on northbound I-29 approaching I-129 and US 20. While the sign on the right was replaced to add US 75 and the control city of Le Mars (as shown in the second photo from June 2005), the sign on the left has not been replaced, and the text "I-129" is still around. (1999 photo by Eric Peterson; 2005 photo by Jeff Morrison)
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The sign in the first photo shows the advance exit sign for I-129/US 20 from southbound I-29. After US 75 became part of the freeway in 2001, US 20 and US 75 markers were retrofitted into the existing sign, but by mid-2004, the entire sign was replaced and I-129 is now depicted with a shield again. (1999 photo by Eric Peterson)
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This is the sign bridge for southbound I-29 at I-129/US 20. The first photo dates from November 2001; although the US 75 bypass had just opened, US 75 was still on the Singing Hills exit, but that was stripped a short time later and never replaced. The only note of Business US 75 along I-29 is at the southbound exit sign south of here. An additional note: Exits 144A and 144B split apart after exiting from I-29; this is one of two flyover ramps in this interchange. And "EXITS" is missing from that tab for some reason. (2001 photo by Neil Bratney; 2005 photo by Jeff Morrison)
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This view is looking northward from the sign bridge in the previous photo. The 100-foot high Sergeant Charles Floyd Monument, commemorating the man who died here during the Lewis & Clark Expedition in 1804, is in the background. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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The I-29/I-129/US 20 interchange is visible from the Sgt. Floyd Monument, looking south. To the right of the interchange is the Sgt. Floyd Memorial Bridge, which carries I-129, US 20, and US 75 into Nebraska.
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Here is a close-up view of what was then US 75 crossing under the US 20 freeway in this November 1999 photo. US 75 is now Business US 75, but either way, there is no direct connection between the road and US 20. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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This sign bridge is on eastbound I-129 at US 77. Note that the sign on the right squeezes in a US 75 shield below the "SOUTH" and that "Fair Grounds" was put in on a green panel as the destination. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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"Iowa" is frequently given as the control city on I-129 in Nebraska. This sign is on southbound US 77. Note that I-129 is not shown with westbound US 20, as its west end is not far away. Also unusual for this sign: "IOWA" is in all-caps.
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These are the first Iowa signs for I-129 after crossing the Missouri River. There used to be "NORTH" banners above both US 75 shields in this photo before the US 75 bypass opened. This is also the second Exit 1 for I-129 (US 77 in Nebraska is the other), and if that's not enough, there's yet another Exit 1 for US 20/75 at Lakeport Street. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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The "END I-129" assembly is visible on the second sign bridge heading east (toward the bottom right-hand corners of these photos); this is, as far as I know, the only free-standing I-129 shield in Iowa. The first photo was taken shortly after the US 75 bypass opened in November 2001, but there was no indication that US 75 continued onto US 20. That was changed shortly afterwards, as US 20 and US 75 markers and directional banners were retrofitted into the space above "Ft Dodge" in the sign. By June 2005, as the second photo indicates, it was replaced with a completely different sign. (2001 photo by Neil Bratney; 2005 photo by Jeff Morrison)
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The US 20/75 freeway
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All traffic from westbound US 20 uses one ramp to exit onto I-29, but that ramp splits into two after leaving US 20; this is the other flyover ramp at the I-29/I-129/US 20 interchange. Since this photo was taken in 1999, US 75 has been stripped from the sign on the left. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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This is a general view of US 20/75, looking west toward I-29. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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This is the first exit along the US 20/75 freeway east of I-29, photographed before exit numbers were added to the freeway in early 2001. Lakeport Road, which is now Exit 1, serves Southern Hills Mall and other shopping areas. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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Signage on eastbound US 20/northbound US 75, approaching the interchange where US 20 and US 75 split. "IA 12 NORTH" was on the sign in the middle before it was stripped from the sign in 2000; there is plenty of a room for Business US 20, but it has not been placed on any signs along US 20/75.
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US 75 northbound at the off-ramp to Gordon Drive. The original plan was for this interchange to be a full eight-ramp cloverleaf, but because of cost considerations the DOT made it a six-ramp cloverleaf/folded diamond hybrid where there are two exit ramps northbound but only one exit ramp southbound. Nevertheless, some "ghost ramps" are present at this interchange, and one such ramp where traffic from eastbound Gordon Drive would have merged into US 75 is visible in this photo.
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These signs are on southbound US 75, where it splits from its former alignment through Sioux City onto the freeway bypass that opened November 19, 2001. County Road D12 and Business US 75 (at its north end) are pictured on the right. One thing to note is that this is Exit 99 even though this interchange is eight miles north of US 75's entrance into Iowa; the pre-1984 mile markers are still used north of US 20. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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These overhead signs are westbound on US 20 at the US 20/US 75 junction. In the past there was an IA 12 north marker next to Business US 20 on the sign on the left, while the "TO I-29" on the sign on the right is a relatively recent addition. This is the east end of Business US 20. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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I-29 in downtown Sioux City
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The Sioux City skyline is visible underneath a railroad bridge in this November 1999 photo along I-29. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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The photo on the top was what the sign bridge on I-29 northbound at Exit 147B looked like in November 1999. ("Wesley Way" was boarded up because of the Perry Creek flood control project that ran from mid-1999 to November 2001.) By June 2005 (bottom), IA 12 was removed through Sioux City, Wesley Way reopened as Wesley Parkway, and the Municipal Auditorium was expanded into the Tyson Events Center. Yet there is no mention of Business US 20 on the new sign. (1999 photo by Eric Peterson; 2005 photo by Jeff Morrison)
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On southbound I-29, the sign for Exit 147B was also recently replaced with no mention of Business US 20. But the sign on the left, save for the exit tab, was completely blank when the first photo was taken on June 12, 2005. The top line read "Floyd Blvd" but was stripped off for some reason (the sign at the ramp still has it), while the second line read "Stockyards," which was taken off after the Sioux City Stockyards closed. In 2006 the sign on the left was completely replaced by a new sign showing Historic 4th Street as a destination. (2005 photo by Jeff Morrison)
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Exit signage for US 77 from northbound I-29. The I-29/US 77/Wesley Parkway exit is one of two "volleyball" interchanges in Iowa (the other is on I-380 in Cedar Rapids; see that photo page for more). It was dubbed "Iowa's Most Stupid Intersection" in a 1992 map of downtown provided by Main Street Sioux City. Before the Siouxland Veterans Memorial Bridge opened, a tight cloverleaf interchange (dating back from 1957) connected I-29 with the old Combination Bridge. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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US 77 and Hamilton Boulevard previously had separate exit ramps from southbound I-29, but the Hamilton Boulevard ramp involved sharp turns. In late 2005 the two exits were combined into one exit for southbound traffic. While the Hamilton Boulevard sign was replaced (see the US 77 terminus photo page for photos of the old signs), the existing sign for US 77 was completely stripped off save for the "NORTH"; an I-29 shield was then placed below the "NORTH".
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After the off-ramp crosses Hamilton Boulevard, traffic can either go toward the "volleyball" interchange or back toward I-29. Note the downward-pointing arrow on the sign on the left.
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Part of a pier from the Combination Bridge still stands in Larsen Park as a memorial to the old bridge, which ran right next to the current Veterans Memorial Bridge.
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Here is a close-up of the plaque that appears on the memorial in the above photo. The plaque gives a brief history of the bridge.
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The Siouxland Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 77 from Iowa into Nebraska across the Missouri River. It opened to two lanes of traffic on January 15, 1981, and was officially dedicated when it opened to four lanes on July 22 of that year. However, on May 6, 1982, a crack was discovered in one of the bridge's girders, and the bridge was closed for repairs. Traffic was routed on the Sgt. Floyd Memorial Bridge until December 9, 1982, when the center lanes of the bridge reopened. The bridge would not open to four lanes of traffic until May 1983. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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This is a view of the Veterans Memorial Bridge and part of the "volleyball" interchange from Prospect Hill in Sioux City. The Missouri River and South Sioux City, Nebraska, are visible here. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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This is another view of the "volleyball" interchange and I-29 looking eastward from Prospect Hill. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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All three decks are visible in this view looking southeast toward the "volleyball" interchange. (Photographed by Neil Bratney)
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These signs are looking westbound on the middle (interchanging) deck of the "volleyball" interchange. (Photographed by Neil Bratney)
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Two views of signs at the off-ramp from southbound I-29 where it intersects the southbound off-ramp from Wesley Parkway/US 77. Since the first photo was taken, "Wesley Pkwy" was put back on the sign on the left and the "TO IOWA 12 SOUTH" was stripped from the sign in the middle. (1999 photo by Eric Peterson)
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These signs are found heading south from the Wesley Parkway off-ramp toward the intersection with the I-29 north off-ramp. The sign on the right shows that Business US 20 follows US 77 into Nebraska, even though signage of Business 20 is sparse in South Sioux City. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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IA 12 was even on this sign in South Sioux City just before crossing the bridge, but when signs were removed from I-29, Nebraska removed the IA 12 shield from this sign as well.
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The north end of US 77 is visible on the first sign bridge on the Iowa side of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Note that US 77 is put on the same sign as I-29 and Business US 20 — and there was an IA 12 marker next to Business 20 in the past. Additional photos of Business US 20 can be found here.
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This sign assembly exists on Gordon Drive just before it merges into the off-ramp from northbound I-29 to Wesley Parkway. The blank space below the I-29 shield carried an IA 12 shield before its truncation, as far as signage goes, in 2000. US 77 is less than half a mile long in Iowa and there are no free-standing shields on Wesley Parkway, so this is likely the only free-standing US 77 shield in Iowa — and both the US 20 and the US 77 shields have Series D digits instead of the standard Series C. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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Other Sioux City-area sights
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A November 1999 view of Business US 20, which follows Gordon Drive east of downtown. (Photographed by Eric Peterson)
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Sioux City's two business highways, Business US 20 (Gordon Drive) and Business US 75 (Lewis Boulevard), intersect at a street-to-street interchange. This sign, pointing drivers to I-29 and US 77, is on southbound Business US 75. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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The gore sign for I-29 Exit 134 near Salix features both the exit number and the word "EXIT" in the same sign, instead of having a tab with the exit number. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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This unusual I-29 sign is present at the west end of IA 141 near Sloan. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)
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