Interstate 880 (I-880) is an

auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a supplemental subset of the freeways within the Interstate Highway System of the United States. Auxiliary routes are generally classified as spur routes, which conn ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. Its route was created in 2019 from a section of I-680 in order to facilitate the movement of

I-29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba ...

traffic around

Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is loc ...

in the event of Missouri River flooding. It follows the same routing as Interstate 80N (I-80N), which originally connected I-29 and

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

from 1966 to 1973.

Route description

I-880 begins at a

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...

with

in the Missouri River alluvial plain near Loveland, which lies in the northeastern quadrant of the interchange. The four-lane road curves east into the

Loess Hills The Loess Hills are a formation of wind-deposited loess soil in the westernmost parts of Iowa and Missouri, and the easternmost parts of Nebraska and Kansas, along the Missouri River. Geology The Loess (, , or ) Hills are generally located bet ...

where the surrounding lands rise in elevation from the flood plain. east of the I-29 interchange, there is a scenic overlook for westbound traffic. The Loveland overlook gives a view of the Loess Hills and Missouri River valley. East of the overlook, there are

rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway serv ...

s for each direction. Near the interchange with County Road L34 (CR L34), the road straightens out and heads generally due east until it reaches I-80. About before its eastern end, it meets Iowa Highway 191 (Iowa 191) and CR G8L. I-880 ends at a

Y interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...

with I-80 just northeast of Neola.

History

In the initial drafts of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

in 1947, an east–west road that would come to be known as

was drawn across the center of Iowa, its western entry into the state would be in the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Two options for the route emerged. The first was a continuation of I-80's east–west path to I-29 near Loveland and then utilize the Mormon Bridge to cross into Nebraska. The second option routed I-80 to the southwest from Neola to

and then across the

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

–Iowa state line over the Missouri River into Omaha. The

Iowa State Highway Commission The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is the government organization in the U.S. state of Iowa responsible for the organization, construction, and maintenance of the primary highway system. Located in Ames, Iowa, DOT is also responsi ...

preferred the Loveland route, but the

Bureau of Public Roads The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

(BPR) allowed the commission to proceed with both routes and determine the more important route later. Within two years, priorities and route numbers were assigned. The Loveland option would be known as I-80N and was given a slightly higher priority than the second option, which would carry the I-80 number. Work on I-80N began in 1957; some overpasses and culverts were completed by 1960. Controversy began shortly even before construction began. Officials in Council Bluffs and Omaha were angered that the I-80N project took precedent over the mainline I-80 project that would pass through their cities. The head of the Iowa State Highway Commission at the time was Chris Larsen, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

from

Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

. Larsen used his position on the commission to protect the interests of northwestern Iowa; he vowed to not support the I-80 project at all if the Loveland extension was not included. Without the extension, Larsen argued that all I-80 traffic would be routed through Council Bluffs and little traffic would travel north to Sioux City. Democrats on the commission discovered and announced in late 1957 that the commission had already purchased of

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

for I-80N before any public meetings occurred and before the route was finalized. It was suggested that Larsen had begun construction on I-80N in order to futureproof it from changes by future commissions, a charge Larsen denied. Statewide construction priorities shifted, and, by the mid-1960s, I-80N was mostly graded but not paved. In the wake of the Larsen controversy, the commission affirmed a previous decision to complete I-80N before I-80 through Council Bluffs. They cited the previous grading and bridge work that had been completed as reasons to continue the project. In addition, BPR officials stated that such a project would not be approved in the future if there were more important projects. I-80N was open to traffic on December 13, 1966. I-880 iowa signage

In the early 1970s, the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United ...

(AASHTO) decided that Interstates with a directional suffix, such as I-80N, would have to be renumbered. By 1974, I-80N had been redesignated to I-680 to match Nebraska. Throughout the 2010s, I-29 and I-680 were subjected to flooding from the adjacent Missouri River.

Iowa Department of Transportation The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is the government organization in the U.S. state of Iowa responsible for the organization, construction, and maintenance of the primary highway system. Located in Ames, Iowa, DOT is also respons ...

(Iowa DOT) officials sought to reduce confusion among drivers who were forced to use I-680 and I-80 as a detour around floodwaters. They proposed to AASHTO to rename the section of I-680 from Loveland to Neola as I-880. The plan was approved on October 5, 2019. I-880 would follow the same routing that I-80N had 50 years earlier. Iowa DOT updated its online maps and announced that the signage would be changed just weeks after the official approval by AASHTO.

Exit list

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Interstate 880 (Iowa) 80-8 Iowa 80-8 8 Iowa Transportation in Pottawattamie County, Iowa