Highway History: US 32 Traditional Cache
Hidden : 5/16/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Stretch your legs and enjoy some highway history.

Interstate 80 is 2,899.54 miles long from US 101 in San Francisco, CA to I-95 in Teaneck, NJ. 306.01 of those miles are in Iowa. Before the Interstate Highway System was created in 1956, there were plans to build the Iowa Turnpike, a modern four-lane highway following US 6 across Iowa. The stretch of I-80 in Iowa took 14 years to build, from 1958 to 1972.

US highway 6, also known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, is 3,198.87 miles long as it runs from US 395 in Bishop, CA to the tip of Cape Cod at Provincetown, MA. Just about one tenth of the route or 319.6 miles are in Iowa. US 6 used to be even longer after extensions in 1931 and 1937 took it all the way to Long Beach, CA from its original western end in Erie, PA. This brought US 6 to a total length of 3,652 miles! However, California shortened it to Bishop in 1964.

The stretch of US 6 in Iowa was originally US highway 32. The original US 32 was 505 miles long and went from Council Bluffs to Chicago. In 1931, it was shortened to 181 miles ending at the Iowa-Illinois state line in Rock Island, IL when the portion in Iowa was absorbed into US 6. Then in 1934, US highway 34 was extended east from its east end in Sheffield, IL taking over the rest of US 32 that wasn't already sharing a route with US 6.

There was also US highway 38, which was 598 miles long and ran from Greeley, CO to Omaha, NE, not that far from where US 32 began in Council Bluffs. It too was absorbed into US 6 in 1931.

Before the US highway system was created in 1926, the main routes from Council Bluffs to Davenport were two auto trails, the Great White Way and River-to-River Road.

We hope you enjoyed reading about the different names and numbers for this route.

Here's a few links for more details and the sources used:
FHWA - U.S. 6 - The Grand Army of the Republic Highway
Wikipedia - US 6, Interstate 80
US Ends - End of US highway 34

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