Old WEST End: Main St. at US 30/US 75/Broadway, Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County
For photos of this location, which was 34's west end for about nine years, see Dale Sanderson's Council Bluffs page.
US 34 could have died...
In the fall of 1930, Chief Engineer Fred White received a letter from the Cleveland-Chicago Pike Association encouraging him to lobby for a new highway number to cross the state. The association wanted US 6 to continue westward from Union City PA, using various state and federal highways in the Midwest, including US 34 in Iowa and US 38 in Nebraska. At the time, 34 still went north to Council Bluffs. This routing was later changed, however, and 6 ended up absorbing US 32 through Iowa and Illinois before using US 38. One can only wonder what impact would have been made on Iowa's and Nebraska's highway history if this original plan had been followed through.
WEST Iowa line: Missouri River (toll bridge), Plattsmouth NE, Mills County IA/Sarpy County NE
Facing west
Spell-check? We don't need no stinking spell-check.
Facing west on 34
Facing west on 34
Here you can see the ornate ironwork on the bridge approach. The bridge looks like it may have been painted red at one point, but is now somewhere between red and rust.
State-line sign on north side of bridge (hard to see because it's parallel to the roadway)
Facing east on 34
This bridge is the oldest currently in use on Iowa's part of the Missouri River; in fact, it was the fourth non-railroad bridge to be built. It was constructed in 1929, though it didn't open until February 1, 1930, and US 34 was not routed onto this bridge until the first weekend of September 1935. The next oldest one, the Veterans Memorial/South Omaha Bridge, was built in 1935. About 3 miles east of this point, 34 joins a four-lane interstate and then gets its own 1970s-era four-lane road.
Facing east
Just getting to this bridge on the Nebraska side means following some winding roads that recall the earliest days of the US highway system. Lack of funding and some dispute over the route between I-29 and US 75 have meant the continued use of this bridge.
Facing east on 34
Old EAST Iowa line: Mississippi River (MacArthur Bridge), Burlington IA/Gulfport IL, Des Moines County IA/Henderson County IL
While in western Iowa, a 1970s four-lane eventually gives way to a Depression-era bridge, in eastern Iowa, for nearly two decades a 1970s four-lane was routed right onto a World War I-era bridge!
Facing east on 34
Library of Congress photo
While this picture shows two lanes of traffic on the bridge at the same time, the below picture from the Illinois side indicates this may not have been the case at all times.
Facing west on 34
Library of Congress photo
Facing west on 34
Library of Congress photo
In the reverse angle of the shot two photos up, cars that pay the toll can immediately take a ramp to IA 99.
Facing west on 34
Library of Congress photo
This shot shows the freeway behind this bridge, built in 1917. Eventually, this entire area would have to be reworked to make way for the new bridge in the same area.
EAST Iowa line: Mississippi River (Great River Bridge), Burlington IA/Gulfport IL, Des Moines County IA/Henderson County IL
Facing east on 34
"Toll Bridge" used to be under "Illinois"; the 1970s freeway through Burlington fed into the old bridge for 20 years. The BGSs in June 2006 still said County Road 99 instead of the newer designation X99 for the former IA 99.
Facing east on 34
Facing east on 34
The exit is right at the west bank of the bridge. Two lanes of the new bridge across the river opened in August 1993, the other lanes opened Oct. 4, and the bridge was formally dedicated on Aug. 14, 1994. (The use of "1993" and "river" in the same sentence may conjure up waterlogged memories for Iowans who lived through the Flood of 1993.)
Facing east on 34, entering Illinois
Gulfport interchange on Illinois side, last before bridge
Pictures by me: First-fourth and seventh, 7/29/07; fifth and sixth, 1/19/03; twelfth-sixteenth, 6/16/06
Pictures by Library of Congress: Eighth-eleventh, October 1987
Page created 8/10/06; last updated 8/28/07