Iowa Highway 4 - History

History

Iowa 4 was created on January 1, 1969, during an effort by the Iowa State Highway Commission (IHC) to renumber Iowa's state highways. The goal of the effort was to reduce confusion among drivers crossing into Iowa from other states by aligning Iowa's route numbers with their adjoining routes in other states. However, most of the route on which Iowa 4 is now applied has been in the primary highway system since the system was created in 1920.

At its designation, Primary Road No. 17 was a much longer route than Iowa 4 is today. Primary Road No. 17 began in Albia at Primary Road Nos. 8 (now US 34) and 59 (now Iowa 5) and headed northwest through Knoxville and Des Moines. It continued west and north by passing through Adel and Perry before turning more northerly at Jefferson. It entered Rockwell City, Pocahontas, Emmetsburg, and Estherville. It ended at the intersection of Primary Road Nos. 4 (now US 71) and 9 in Spirit Lake.

In 1926, when the U.S. Highway System was introduced, Iowa 17 was shortened on both ends. A service bulletin from the IHC in late 1925 listed Iowa 17 would begin in Jefferson and follow the same route to Estherville. However, maps published the highway commission in 1927 show the route extended south to Adel ending at US 6. By 1931, it had been extended north to the Minnesota state line along what was then Emmet County Road H (CR H).

Ten years later, the southern end of the route shifted west to its current in end Panora, replacing Iowa 150 in its entirety. The sections that were duplicate routes with US 30, US 169, and Iowa 141 were removed, while the standalone section between Grand Junction and Perry became part of Iowa 144. Over the next 28 years, sections of Iowa 17 were straightened and the paving of the route was completed.

As of 2011, construction of a new four-lane expressway for US 20 has caused a portion of that route to be rerouted onto Iowa 4. The expressway begins eastbound at Iowa 4 and extends across the rest of the state to Dubuque.