Iowa Highway 146 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 ...

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 ...

. It runs in a north–south orientation and is long. Iowa 146 begins at an intersection with

U.S. Route 63 U.S. Route 63 (US 63) is a , north–south United States Highway primarily in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 (I-20) in Ruston, Louisiana; the northern terminus is at US ...

at New Sharon, and ends at a freeway interchange with

U.S. Highway 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

at Le Grand. While the route Iowa 146 takes has remained the same since its creation, the highway has been extended at least twice because of realignments of

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

near Le Grand. The northernmost were once part of the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

Route description

Iowa Highway 146 beings in the city of New Sharon at the corner of Main Street and Market Street. U.S. Highway 63 comes from the south along Main and turns east onto Market. Iowa Highway 102, existing only within New Sharon, but formerly extending to

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

, heads west on Market. Iowa 146 travels north on Main. Two miles () north of New Sharon, Iowa 146 crosses a

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

line and into Poweshiek County shortly thereafter. Highway 146 heads north for before curving west towards Searsboro. At Searsboro, Iowa 146 crosses the UPRR line again and turns to the northwest at the eastern end of former Iowa Highway 225, which was turned over to Poweshiek County and Jasper County in 2003. For two miles (), Iowa 146 heads northwest; then, it turns due north towards Grinnell. Just south of Grinnell, Highway 146 meets

Interstate 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 ...

at a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

. Three miles north of I-80, Iowa 146, now along West Street in Grinnell, intersects

U.S. Highway 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War Grand Army of the Republic, veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast fr ...

, which runs along 6th Avenue. Eight miles () north of Grinnell, Iowa 146 enters

Tama County Tama County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,135. Its county seat is Toledo. The county was formed on February 17, 1843 and named for Taimah, a leader of the Meskwaki Indians. Geog ...

, but only briefly. It turns west and enters Marshall County later, just east of Gilman. Highway 146 turns north on Elm Street in Gilman. From Gilman, it is an drive to Le Grand where Iowa 146 ends at Main Street. Prior to US 30 being relocated to the north along an expressway, Main Street carried US 30.

History

Iowa Highway 146 was designated along Primary Road No. 63. When the

U.S. Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

was created in 1926, 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 ...

had a policy of renumbering state highways to avoid duplicating U.S. Highway numbers; US 63, in this case. Iowa 146 has been extended northward at least twice. A section of the

became a part of U.S. Route 30 was straightened between Tama and

Marshalltown Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous settlement of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at ...

Popular culture

The song "Iowa 146" by

Squirrel Flower Squirrel Flower is the stage name of American musician Ella Williams. Early life Williams grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts. When Williams was a child, she gave herself the nickname Squirrel Flower. In 2014, she moved to Iowa to attend Grinne ...

is a reference to this highway. The song's composer, Ella Williams, attended

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-st ...

in Grinnell, which is bisected by Highway 146. Williams stated "The title is named after this road in Iowa that I spent a lot of time on driving and biking."

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML

146 146 may refer to: *146 (number), a natural number *AD 146, a year in the 2nd century AD *146 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *146 (Antrim Artillery) Corps Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers See also

* List of highways numbered 146 * {{Numbe ...