Iowa Highway 17 (Iowa 17) is a 103-mile-long (166 km) north–south state highway that traverses primarily rural areas in central and north-central Iowa. Iowa 17's southern end is near Granger in Dallas County at a freeway interchange with Iowa Highway 141, and its northern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 18 at the Kossuth-Hancock county line near Wesley.

Iowa Highway 17 marker

Iowa Highway 17

Map
Iowa 17 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Iowa DOT
Length102.789 mi[1] (165.423 km)
ExistedJanuary 1, 1969[2]–present
HistoryIowa 60: 1919[3] – December 31, 1968[4]
Major junctions
South end Iowa 141 near Granger
Major intersections
North end US 18 near Wesley
Location
CountryUnited States
StateIowa
Counties
Highway system
Iowa 16 US 18

Route description edit

 
Iowa 17 near Wesley

Iowa Highway 17 begins at a trumpet interchange with Iowa Highway 141 near Granger. It goes north to Madrid, where it intersects Iowa Highway 210. It continues north through Luther and then intersects U.S. Highway 30 east of Boone. It proceeds north from U.S. 30 and has a one-mile (1.6 km) overlap with Iowa Highway 175 in Stanhope. It goes north, then turns northwest to go towards Webster City, and intersects U.S. Highway 20 there. They overlap going west from Webster City, then Iowa 17 turns north to go through Eagle Grove. It continues north to Goldfield, where it intersects Iowa Highway 3. Iowa 17 and Iowa 3 overlap to the border between Wright and Humboldt Counties, then Iowa 17 turns north. It passes through Renwick and Corwith, then ends on the border separating Hancock and Kossuth Counties east of Wesley.

History edit

Although Iowa 17 has only been designated since 1969, most of the route has been a part of the primary highway system since the system's inception in 1919. The route was designated Primary Road No. 60 and connected Des Moines and Goldfield via Webster City. By 1930, the only paved section of what was by then called Iowa 60 was the southernmost 20 miles (32 km) from Des Moines to south of Madrid.[5] In two years, paving extended to US 30 east of Boone.[6]

1932 saw many changes to Iowa 60. The route was extended 30 miles (48 km) to the north where it ended at US 18 in Wesley, and extended southward through Des Moines and Knoxville to the Missouri state line, effectively doubling its length.[7] The section of Iowa 60 south of Des Moines is now known as Iowa 5.

Little changed in the Iowa 60 north of Des Moines over the next twenty years. The only paving that was completed was in Wright County.[8] By 1957, that paving extended to the northern end at US 18.[9]

On January 1, 1969, the Iowa State Highway Commission renumbered several state highways in the state. They sought to create continuous numbers across state lines and remove unnecessary duplicate route numbers where they could.[10] Since it crossed the state line into Missouri, the southern half of the route was renumbered Iowa 5 to match Missouri Route 5. Throughout Des Moines, Iowa 60 overlapped many other routes, so the designation was removed between the I-35/now-Iowa 5 interchange to the intersection with Iowa 141 in Granger. The section of Iowa 60 north of Granger became Iowa 17.[2]

Since becoming Iowa 17, the route has changed little. By 1976, paving was completed and the southern end of the route was converted into an interchange with Iowa 141.[11] By the end of the 1970s, the highway was rerouted around Webster City when US 20 was realigned onto a new freeway.[12]

Major intersections edit

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
DallasPolk
county line
Granger0.0000.000  Iowa 141 – Grimes, Perry, Des Moines
Polk
No major junctions
BooneMadrid8.76414.104 
 
Iowa 210 west (1st Street) – Woodward
Southern end of Iowa 210 overlap
8.84214.230 
 
Iowa 210 east (North Street) – Slater
Northern end of Iowa 210 overlap
JacksonColfax
township line
19.65631.633  US 30 – Boone, Ames
HamiltonClear Lake Township36.90359.390 
 
Iowa 175 west – Stratford
Southern end of Iowa 175 overlap
Stanhope37.89860.991 
 
Iowa 175 east – Jewell
Northern end of Iowa 175 overlap
Webster City49.82580.186 
 
US 20 east – Waterloo
Southern end of US 20 overlap
Freedom Township54.37287.503 
 
US 20 west – Fort Dodge
Northern end of US 20 overlap
WrightGoldfield74.712120.237 
 
Iowa 3 east – Clarion
Southern end of Iowa 3 overlap
HumboldtWright
county line
LakeNorway
LibertyEagle Grove
township quadripoint
77.569124.835 
 
Iowa 3 west – Dakota City
Northern end of Iowa 3 overlap
KossuthHancock
county line
WesleyOrthel
township line
102.789165.423  US 18 – Britt, Algona
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References edit

  1. ^ a b 2009 Volume of Traffic on the Primary Road System of Iowa (PDF) (Report). Iowa Department of Transportation. January 1, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2011.
  2. ^ a b Iowa State Highway Commission (1969). State of Iowa Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Ames: Iowa State Highway Commission. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  3. ^ Iowa State Highway Commission (1919). State of Iowa Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Ames: Iowa State Highway Commission. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  4. ^ Iowa State Highway Commission (1968). State of Iowa Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Ames: Iowa State Highway Commission. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  5. ^ Iowa State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa State Highway Commission. 1929. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  6. ^ Iowa State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa State Highway Commission. 1931. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  7. ^ Iowa State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa State Highway Commission. October 1932. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  8. ^ Iowa State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa State Highway Commission. 1952. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  9. ^ Iowa State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa State Highway Commission. 1957. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  10. ^ "New Iowa Map Goes on Sale". Telegraph-Herald. Dubuque, Iowa. January 14, 1969. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  11. ^ Iowa State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa Department of Transportation. 1976. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  12. ^ Iowa State Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Iowa Department of Transportation. 1979. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
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