Iowa Highway 160 (Iowa 160) is a short

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

that runs east and west in central

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 the ...

. Its begins at Iowa 415 in Ankeny and ends at exit 90 of

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

(I-35) in Ankeny. Originally ending at a Y intersection, south of the current intersection with Iowa 415, the route has been straightened to run west and east. Iowa 160 passes Des Moines Area Community College near its intersection with U.S. Highway 69 (US 69).

Route description

Iowa 160 begins at an intersection with Iowa 415 in southwestern Ankeny. Iowa 415 comes from the south and the west, Iowa 160 begins heading east, and Ankeny's State Street continues north. Iowa 160, known locally as Oralabor Road, passes to the south of the main campus of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC). A short while later, it intersects US 69, also known as Ankeny Boulevard. Continuing east, it enters a dense commercial area of Ankeny. It passes beneath a pedestrian bridge built in 2022 as an extension of the

High Trestle Trail High Trestle Trail is a rail trail running from Ankeny to Woodward in central Iowa.

. Just from its eastern end, it intersects Delaware Avenue, a north–south street which diverts retail traffic exiting from

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

just to the east. Iowa 160 ends at an interchange, exit 90, with I-35.

History

Iowa 160 was designated in 1947 as a diagonal connector route from

Iowa 60 Iowa Highway 60 (Iowa 60) is a north–south state highway in northwest Iowa. The highway runs at a southwest-to-northeast angle. The southern end of Iowa Highway 60 is near Le Mars at a freeway interchange with U.S. Highway 75 and U.S. Hi ...

, now Iowa 415, to US 69. The roadway was originally constructed in 1942 as a connector to the Des Moines Ordnance Plant. It was built by 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 ...

, but the entire costs were borne by the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

as part of the war effort. In 1961, work began on reconstructing the intersection with Iowa 60 into a "one-level interchange", which provided each traffic movement a dedicated lane. That intersection was reworked starting in 1984 as the state highway commission, now the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT), and United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) sought to improve the connection between

and Iowa 415 and recreation areas near Saylorville Lake and

Big Creek State Park Big Creek State Park is a 3550-acre state park located in Polk County, Iowa. Geography Big Creek State Park is a park built alongside the manmade Big Creek Lake. Big Creek Lake was created as a result of a diversion dam to the Saylorville La ...

. The plans would also move the intersection of Iowa 415 and Iowa 160 farther north from its location at the time and it would become a

T intersection A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T ...

. On July 1, 1980, the Iowa DOT took over a segment of Oralabor Road between US 69 and I-35 and applied the Iowa 160 designation to it. Through most of 1985, the Oralabor Road interchange on I-35 was closed for reconstruction. That same year, Oralabor Road was widened to four lanes between US 69 and Delaware Avenue. As part of the Iowa 415 connection project, the Corps spent $9.95 million (equivalent to $ in ) on building the new intersection and relocating the two state highways. The new Iowa 415/Iowa 160 intersection was completed in early 1986 and both highways were realigned onto to their current roadways.

Major intersections

References

{{Attached KML 160 Transportation in Polk County, Iowa