Iowa Highway 86 (Iowa 86) is a

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 from north to south in northwest

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 ...

. It begins at

U.S. Highway 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstat ...

(US 71) in northern

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

and ends at the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

border northwest of Spirit Lake, where it continues onward as

Minnesota State Highway 86 Minnesota State Highway 86 (MN 86) is a highway in southwest Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 86 at the Iowa state line, near Spirit Lake, IA, and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 60 nea ...

Route description

Iowa Highway 86 begins at an intersection with US 71 north of

. It heads westward from this point before turning northward, passing through Wahpeton. It continues northward, passing along West Okoboji Lake along the way. West of Spirit Lake, it intersects with IA 9. Further north, it reaches the Minnesota state border, where the highway terminates. It continues into Minnesota as MN 86.

History

Prior to its current alignment, the highway was originally designated as

Iowa Highway 32 Iowa Highway 32 (Iowa 32), also known as the Northwest Arterial, was a state highway that ran through the northwest quadrant of Dubuque. At just over long, it was among the shortest state highways in the state. The highway began at U.S. H ...

. In February 1981, Iowa 32 was decommissioned from US 71 north of Milford to Iowa 9 west of Spirit Lake. The road was also extended from Iowa 9 northward to the Minnesota border. The old alignment of Iowa 32 was renumbered as the present day Iowa 86. In 2013, Iowa 86 was reconstructed north of Iowa 9 to the Minnesota state line. The project consisted of reducing the severity of the two sharp curves located at the state line, right-of-way widening, and "flattening" the road by cutting down the high points and filling in the low points.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML
End of Iowa 86
at Iowa Highway Ends 086 Transportation in Dickinson County, Iowa