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EspañolAVENUE OF THE SAINTS
The 'Avenue of the Saints' is a 560-mile highway that connects St. Paul, Minnesota, and St. Louis, Missouri.
| Contents |
| History |
| Present status |
| Exit numbers |
| Future construction |
| Cities and attractions along its path |
| In Minnesota |
| In Iowa |
| In Missouri |
| Nearby cities and attractions |
| Exit list |
| External links |
History
The Avenue of the Saints was the idea of Mount Pleasant, Iowa businessman Ernest Hayes, who envisioned a four-lane highway between St. Paul and St. Louis in the 1980s. The Iowa Department of Transportation decided to study the idea in 1988. Several politicians endorsed the idea, including Mount Pleasant mayor (and future Iowa governor) Tom Vilsack, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, and Congressmen David Nagle and Fred Grandy of Iowa and Dick Gephardt of Missouri.
By the end of 1989, four possible routes for the Avenue of the Saints were under consideration by the Federal Highway Administration. Two of the rejected routes would have followed U.S. Highway 52 and U.S. Highway 63 from St. Paul through Rochester, Minnesota, to Waterloo, Iowa. Another rejected route would have followed U.S. Highway 61 from St. Paul through La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa, to Davenport, Iowa, and U.S. Highway 67 from Davenport to St. Louis.
In 1990 the FHWA chose its route for the Avenue of the Saints. It would follow Interstate 35 from St. Paul to a point south of Clear Lake, Iowa; U.S. Highway 18 to Charles City, Iowa; U.S. Highway 218 to Cedar Falls, Iowa; Iowa Highway 58 and U.S. Highway 20 around Cedar Falls and Waterloo, Iowa; Interstate 380 from Waterloo through Cedar Rapids to Interstate 80 near Coralville, Iowa; U.S. 218 to Donnellson, Iowa; Iowa Highway 394 and Route B to Wayland, Missouri; and U.S. Highway 61 and Interstate 64 from Wayland to St. Louis.
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 made the Avenue of the Saints an official "high-priority corridor," and signs were put along the route by the end of the year. At that time the only four-lane segments were Interstates 35, 380, and 64; U.S. 20 around Waterloo; U.S. 218 from I-80 to Iowa Highway 22 near Riverside, Iowa; and two segments of U.S. 61 in Missouri (from La Grange to New London and from Bowling Green to St. Louis). The decision had also been made to build the Avenue of the Saints to expressway standards — with intersections at rural roads — rather than to full freeway standards as a cost-saving measure. Freeway segments would be built around cities that needed to be bypassed.
After the routing was approved, both Iowa and Missouri began constructing new four-lane segments. Iowa opened bypasses around Waverly (1998), Mason City (1999), Charles City (2000), Mount Pleasant (2001), and Donnellson (2004). A four-lane link between I-35 and I-380 was completed with the opening of a segment near Nashua in November of 2003. Missouri completed four-lane segments from New London to Bowling Green in November of 2000 and from Canton to La Grange in 2003.
In 2001 the Iowa Department of Transportation gave the Avenue of the Saints its own highway number: Iowa Highway 27. The number was added as an additional number to the existing routes; however, after the Donnellson bypass opened in 2004, Iowa 394 was decommissioned and Iowa 27 is now a standalone highway south of the split with U.S. 218.
Present status
As of August 2007, the Avenue of the Saints is open to four lanes from St. Paul to Wayland, Missouri, and from north of Canton, Missouri, to St. Louis. Nine miles of highway between the Lewis/Clark county line and Wayland, Missouri remains two-lane highway.
On December 8, 2004, a new four-lane bridge across the Des Moines River opened; this replaced an existing toll bridge operated by the Wayland Special Road District. A new four-lane road between the bridge and U.S. 61 south of Wayland also opened that day. This road was numbered Route 27 to match Iowa's number for the Avenue of the Saints.
In June 2005, a four-lane segment from the end of the Mount Pleasant bypass to the junction with Iowa Highway 16 east of Houghton was opened to four lanes of traffic. The segment of Iowa 27 between the split with U.S. 218 and the Des Moines River bridge opened to four lanes on August 25, 2005. The last remaining segment in Iowa was opened to traffic May 23, 2006.
The only portions of the road which do not bypass major towns are Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri. Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is located just 3 miles away from the Avenue of the Saints. An Avenue of the Saints sign is placed on its entrance drive, making it the only school in Iowa located directly (if unofficially) on the Avenue. Its nickname is the Saints. In Hannibal, Missouri, Hannibal High School, Hannibal Middle School, and Hannibal-LaGrange College are located directly on the Avenue.
A "festival" was held from June 16-18 amongst towns along the corridor to celebrate the completion of Iowa's segment.
Exit numbers
As with many rural expressways in Iowa, the Avenue of the Saints has exit numbers in that state. The exit numbers correspond to the underlying U.S. Highway or Interstate Highway - U.S. Highway 218, Interstate 380, U.S. Highway 20, U.S. Highway 18 and Interstate 35. The section along Iowa 58 in Cedar Falls has no exit numbers, and the separate section south of Donnellson has one numbered exit - the northbound one to US 218 south - based on Iowa 27's mileage.
Future construction
The remaining Avenue of the Saints segment, following U.S. 61 from Wayland to Canton, has been affected by a lack of funding from the Missouri Department of Transportation. However, in recent years, Missouri has set aside funding to complete the remaining two lane segments in Lewis County and Clark County by June 2008. Construction was completed on the Lewis County portion in August 2007. Construction began on the final Clark County portion in August, 2006.
Cities and attractions along its path
In Minnesota
★ Albert Lea
★ 'Saint Paul'
In Iowa
★ Cedar Falls
★ 'Cedar Rapids'
★ Charles City
★ 'Iowa City'
★ Keokuk
★ Mason City
★ Mount Pleasant
★ 'Waterloo'
★ Waverly
In Missouri
★ Bowling Green
★ Canton
★ 'Hannibal'
★ La Grange
★ Wentzville
★ 'Saint Louis'
★ Troy
★ ''Wyconda State Park''
Nearby cities and attractions
★ Quincy, Illinois
★ Lost Island Water Park
★ Riverside Casino and Resort
Exit list
Note: much of the road is not a freeway; there are many at-grade intersections.
| # | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 232B |   | I-380 joins southbound and leaves northbound; exit number signed southbound only |
| 232A | | exit 71A northbound |
| 230 | Iowa 21 - Hawkeye Road; Dysart | |
| 227 |  | |
 | US 20 joins southbound and leaves northbound; IA 58 joins northbound and leaves southbound | |
| University Avenue (Iowa 934 east) | ||
| 18th Street; Waterloo Road | ||
| US 218 joins northbound and leaves southbound; IA 58 ends northbound and begins southbound | |
| Iowa 57 west - Cedar Falls | ||
| Lone Tree Road | ||
| 198 |  | |
| 203 | Iowa 3 - Waverly; Shell Rock | |
| 205 | | |
| 212 | Iowa 188 - Plainfield | |
| 220 | Iowa 346; County Road B60 - Nashua | |
| 218 |   | US 18 joins northbound and splits southbound |
| 214 | Iowa 14 - Charles City; Greene | |
| 212 | | US 218 joins northbound and splits southbound at an intersection two miles north of here at Floyd |
| 195 | County Road S70 - Nora Springs | |
| 190 | County Road S56 - California Avenue | |
| 186 |  | |
| 183 | Eisenhower Avenue - Airport (County Road S36) | |
| 178 | | I-35 joins northbound and leaves southbound; exit number is northbound only |
External links
★ High-Priority Corridors: The Avenue of the Saints
★ Missouri Department of Transportation: Avenue of the Saints
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