Iowa Highway 90 (Iowa 90) was 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. The highway was in service to traffic from 1932 through 1981 and took several forms over the years. It began as a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

from

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

to Commerce, now part of West Des Moines. At its greatest extent, it extended from Atlantic to

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

along the historical routing of

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 ...

(US 6). From 1966 through 1981, the highway existed in its final form—from

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 ...

(I-80) between Earlham and DeSoto to

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 ...

on the southern outskirts of West Des Moines.

Route description

Iowa 90 began at an interchange with I-80 between Earlham and DeSoto. The Interstate Highway at this location ran in a south-southwest–to–north-northeast orientation. The Iowa 90 roadway curved northward at the interchange and continued as County Road P58 (CR P58). The highway straightened out and headed due east and intersected US 169 about south of DeSoto. Just before this intersection it passed over a line of the Rock Island Railroad. It continued east along a section line until it met CR R16 on the southern edge of Van Meter. Prior to 1980, CR R16 was called Iowa 293. The highway eased slightly to the north, putting traffic on a north-northeasterly vector parallel to the Rock Island line. It crossed the Raccoon River just west of Booneville. It entered Polk County to the southwest of West Des Moines. The roadway curved around to cross to the north side of the railroad tracks at a perpendicular level crossing. From there, it continued a short distance to a

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...

with

. The roadway continued into West Des Moines, and ultimately

, as Grand Avenue.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{cite web , last1=Morrison , first1=Jeff , title=End of Iowa 90 , url=http://www.iowahighwayends.net/ends/ia90.html , website=www.iowahighwayends.net 090 U.S. Route 6