U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is a major east–west U.S. Highway which spans across the state of Iowa. It is the longest primary highway in the state and is maintained by the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT). The route in Iowa begins at the Missouri River crossing at Blair, Nebraska, and ends at the Mississippi River crossing at Clinton, Iowa. Along the way, it serves Denison and Carroll in western Iowa, Boone, Ames, and Marshalltown in central Iowa, and Tama, Cedar Rapids, and DeWitt in eastern Iowa. Cutting across the central portion of the state, US 30 runs within close proximity of the Union Pacific Railroad's Overland Route for its entire length.
US 30 was conceived as a part of the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States. A route through Iowa was chosen because of the important link between Omaha, Nebraska, and Chicago, Illinois. As the U.S. Highway System came into being in the 1920s, and the Lincoln Highway became US 30, federal money started to pay for paving Iowa's dirt roads. By 1931, the route had been paved across the entire state.
The route of the Lincoln Highway and US 30 has accommodated the changing needs of the traveling public. Early Lincoln Highway travelers were directed into many small towns as the route traveled across the state. Towards the middle of the 20th century, the route was straightened, bypassing most downtown areas and several towns altogether. More recently, long sections of US 30 have been upgraded to a four-lane expressway to accommodate increasing traffic. Since 2006, the highway has been designated an Iowa Heritage Byway by Iowa DOT, the first highway in the state with that distinction.
Route description
US 30 extends from west to east across the central portion of Iowa, with much of the highway traveling through rolling farmland. Small towns dot the entire route, which connects the larger cities of Denison, Ames, Cedar Rapids, and Clinton. Between Ogden and Mount Vernon, significant portions of the highway have been upgraded to a four-lane freeway.
Western Iowa
US 30 enters the western end of Iowa by crossing the Missouri River on the Blair Bridge, located east of the Nebraska town of the same name. Adjacent to the highway bridge is the Union Pacific Railroad's river crossing for the Overland Route. The highway runs roughly parallel to the rail line for its entire run across Iowa. For , traffic moves through the flat Missouri River bottoms, passing DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge on the way to Missouri Valley. At Missouri Valley, it intersects Interstate 29 (I-29) at a partial cloverleaf interchange. It enters the Boyer River valley through the Loess Hills, a region of wind-deposited silt extending from north of Sioux City to extreme northwestern Missouri. The rolling Loess Hills rise above the roadway while the land in the valley stays relatively flat. US 30 enters Logan and intersects the eastern end of Iowa Highway 127 (Iowa 127). The highway runs parallel to the Boyer River as well as the Overland Route in a general northeast direction from Logan. east of Logan is the western end of Iowa 44, which extends east to Des Moines.
The highway enters Crawford County north of Dunlap in Harrison County. For , US 30 passes through farmland and the small communities of Dow City and Arion. For through Denison, it overlaps US 59 and Iowa 141, which run concurrently through the town. The Iowa DOT refers to routes which overlap other routes as duplicate routes. It follows the East Boyer River through Denison as the Boyer River forks west of the northern intersection with US 59 / Iowa 141. US 30 travels north-northeasterly towards Vail. Between Vail and Westside, the highway ceases following the East Boyer River and heads due east towards Arcadia and Carroll in Carroll County.
At Carroll it intersects US 71 on the western side of the city. Continuing east, the highway goes through the town of Glidden and passes to the north of Ralston, west of the Greene County line. North of Scranton it meets the northern end of Iowa 25. Between Scranton and Jefferson, US 30 crosses the Raccoon River. US 30 crosses Iowa 4 and Iowa 144 on the northern edge of Jefferson and Grand Junction, the latter of the cities named for its location at the junction of the historic Chicago & Northwestern and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroads, now both owned by Union Pacific, respectively. East of Grand Junction, the highway passes over the Overland Route where it stays south of the railroad until Le Grand.