Iowa Highway 16 (Iowa 16) is a state highway running from west to east in southeastern Iowa. The highway has a length of 65.18 miles (104.90 km). The western terminus of Iowa Highway 16 is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 34 (US 34) between Agency and Batavia. The eastern terminus is located at Wever at an intersection with US 61.

Iowa Highway 16 marker
Iowa Highway 16
Map
Iowa 16 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Iowa DOT
Length65.488 mi[1] (105.393 km)
Major junctions
West end US 34 / CR V43 near Agency
Major intersections
East end US 61 / Great River Road at Wever
Location
CountryUnited States
StateIowa
Counties
Highway system
Iowa 15 Iowa 17

Route description

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Iowa 16 begins at an interchange with US 34 three miles (4.8 km) east of Agency in Wapello County. It heads south along a two-lane road where it passes the campus of Cardinal School District. The highway jogs to the east and then back to the south before it arrives in Eldon. Upon entering Eldon, the road turns to the southeast in order to follow the course of the Des Moines River; the roadway runs roughly parallel to the river until Selma. On the east side of Eldon, tourists are directed to the American Gothic House, made famous by the painting by Iowa artist Grant Wood. Southeast of Eldon, the road clips the northeastern corner of Davis County as it runs through the river's floodplain to Selma. Now in Van Buren County, it passes a quarry and then turns to the east. The highway meets Iowa 98[needs update] north of Douds. The road goes through a series of curves that take it further south until it straightens out near the northern intersection with Iowa 1.[2]

The two highways briefly overlap between Birmingham and Keosauqua; Iowa 16 turns off of Iowa 1 to continue east. Once it enters Lee County, the highway takes a sharp curve to the south and then another sharp curve to the east. It runs due east through Houghton and then meets the four-lane US 218 / Iowa 27, the Avenue of the Saints highway, at an at-grade intersection. The road continues its general east-and-south path through Denmark. The highway ends at an intersection with US 61 between Wever and the Skunk River.[2]

History

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The current version of Iowa Highway 16 is the second occurrence of the route number in the state; the route number first occurred on a highway that was decommissioned in 1930 and ran between the Minnesota and Missouri state lines.[3]

Major intersections

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CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
WapelloPleasant Township0.0000.000  
 
US 34 / CR V43 north – Ottumwa, Mount Pleasant
Davis
No major junctions
Van BurenVillage Township15.01524.164  CR V64 – Leando, LibertyvilleFormerly Iowa 98
Lick CreekUnion
township line
22.46536.154 
 
Iowa 1 north – Fairfield
Western end of Iowa 1 overlap
Van Buren Township24.67939.717 
 
Iowa 1 south – Keosauqua
Eastern end of Iowa 1 overlap
LeeMarion Township45.77773.671  
 
US 218 / Iowa 27 – Mount Pleasant, Keokuk
Green Bay Township65.488105.393   US 61 / Great River Road – Burlington, Fort Madison
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

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  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 15, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Iowa Highway 16" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  3. ^ "1928 Map - Historical Iowa Transportation Maps" (PDF). Iowa Department of Transportation. Iowa Department of Transportation. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
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