Iowa Highway 28 is a state highway located in south 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 ...

. The route begins at

Iowa Highway 92 Iowa Highway 92 (Iowa 92) is a state highway that runs from east to west across the state of Iowa. Iowa 92 is long. It begins at the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, where it is a continuation of Nebraska Highway 92. It stretches across ...

at Martensdale and ends at

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 ...

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 ...

in Johnston. It is the first major north–south highway east of Interstate 35 in the

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, ...

metropolitan area.

Route description

Iowa Highway 28 begins at

at Martensdale in

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

. From Martensdale, it continues north through Prole and Norwalk before crossing into

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

. Just across the county line, Iowa 28 meets

Iowa Highway 5 Iowa Highway 5 is a highway in southern Iowa. It is a north–south highway with a length of . It is the northernmost segment of a three-state "Highway 5" also involving Missouri Route 5 and Arkansas Highway 5. Portions of the highway are ...

at a partial-cloverleaf interchange. Just north of the interchange is Army Post Road, a former alignment of Iowa Highway 5. Iowa 28 crosses the

Raccoon River The Raccoon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 26, 2011 tributary of the Des Moines River in central Iowa in the United States. As measured using the longes ...

just south of Railroad Avenue in

West Des Moines West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the ...

. From the river to the Interstate 235 interchange, the east side of the street is 63rd Street in

, while the west side of the street is 1st Street in West Des Moines. The dual designation of street names is particularly confusing to drivers and residents alike. North of I-235, Iowa 28 continues north through Windsor Heights until reaching

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 ...

at Hickman Road in

. U.S. Route 6 and Iowa Highway 28 run together for , first east on Hickman Road, then north on Merle Hay Road. US 6 and Iowa 28 split at Douglas Avenue near

Merle Hay Mall Merle Hay Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall in Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States. Opened in 1959, it is the oldest regional shopping center in Iowa, and was the largest mall in Iowa in terms of gross leasable area before the 20 ...

. Iowa 28 continues north along the Urbandale / Des Moines city limit line before ending at exit 131 of

at the Johnston / Urbandale city limit line.

History

Iowa Highway 28 was designated on 16 October 1926 from

Iowa Highway 2 Iowa Highway 2 (Iowa 2) is a state highway which runs across the southernmost tier of counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. At no point along its route is Iowa 2 more than from the Missouri state line, except for a small section near its ea ...

in Martensdale to U.S. Highway 65 in Des Moines. Iowa 28's routing changed often until 1961 when it ended at Army Post Road. In 1980, it was extended northward to Hickman Road. In 1990 it was extended northward its current northern end when Iowa Highway 401 was turned over to local jurisdictions. Iowa 401 ran from the current US 6 / Iowa 28 intersection near Merle Hay Mall to

Camp Dodge Camp Dodge is a military installation in the city of Johnston, Iowa, Johnston, Iowa. Centrally located near the capital of Iowa, it currently serves as the headquarters of the Iowa National Guard. History Original construction of the post began i ...

in Johnston. In 1995, Iowa 28 was expanded to four lanes road between Grand Avenue and Army Post Road. When the

freeway was built, a diagonal connector was built from the freeway to Army Post Road. Upon completion, Iowa 28 was shifted to the new diagonal road and the old segments became Iowa Highway 296, an unsigned designation. By March 2011, the final segment of Iowa 296 had been turned over to local jurisdictions.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML
End of Iowa 28
at Iowa Highway Ends 028 Transportation in Warren County, Iowa Transportation in Polk County, Iowa